As I mentioned in my blog yesterday (”A Brief Note on Child Support and Undue Hardship“), there are two kinds of child support payable in Ontario - the basic amount and the extraordinary amount. While the basic amount refers to the amount set out in the Child Support Guidelines,* what constitutes “extraordinary expenses” is subject to interpretation.

For the purposes of this blog, we will refer to the federal version of the Guidelines.

According to the regulation, the term “extraordinary expenses” means “expenses that exceed those that the spouse requesting an amount for the extraordinary expenses can reasonably cover, taking into account that spouse’s income and the amount that the spouse would receive under the applicable table.”

In plain language, the term refers to the extra costs of raising the children that the recipient spouse can not seasonably afford on his or her own. The granting of extraordinary expenses means that the other spouse will have to help pay part of these costs.

Examples of extraordinary expenses may include the following:

• child care expenses
• medical and dental insurance premium attributed to the child
• tuition or fees for educational programs to meet the child’s particular needs
• expenses for post-secondary education
• costs for extracurricular activities

In determining whether the extraordinary expenses are allowable, the court may also consider the following:

• the amount of expense in relation to the income of the spouse requesting such expenses
• the nature and number of the educational programs and extracurricular activities
• any special needs and talents of the children
• the overall cost of the program and activities

*Ont. Reg. 391/97 (provincial), Can. Reg. 97-175 (federal)

Note: Please keep in mind that this article is provided for information and educational purposes. It does not constitute legal advice and should not be regarded as such. The law may have changed since the publication of the article.

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