Getting divorced with children in Ontario in 2026 involves $679 in mandatory court fees, a one-year residency requirement, and resolving parenting arrangements under the federal Divorce Act and Ontario's Children's Law Reform Act. Since the March 1, 2021 reforms, Ontario no longer uses the words "custody" or "access." Courts now allocate decision-making responsibility and parenting time, and every parenting decision turns on a single test: the best interests of the child under Divorce Act § 16. Child support follows the Federal Child Support Tables, which were updated on October 1, 2025 — their first revision since 2017.
This guide explains how divorce with children Ontario actually works in 2026: the filing process, the cost, how parenting time and decision-making responsibility are decided, how child support is calculated, the new relocation rules, and the enforcement system that backs it all up.
Key Facts: Divorce With Children in Ontario (2026)
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Filing Fee (total court costs) | $679 ($669 provincial + $10 federal) |
| Waiting Period | 1 year separation (sole ground for divorce) |
| Residency Requirement | One spouse ordinarily resident in Ontario for 12 months |
| Grounds for Divorce | Marriage breakdown (Divorce Act § 8) |
| Property Division Type | Equalization of net family property (Family Law Act) |
| Parenting Terms | Decision-making responsibility + parenting time |
| Governing Statute (parenting) | Divorce Act § 16.1; CLRA for unmarried parents |
| Child Support Basis | Federal Child Support Tables (updated Oct 1, 2025) |
| Relocation Notice | 60 days written notice (Divorce Act § 16.9) |
Fees as of June 2026. Verify with your local Superior Court of Justice clerk before filing.
How Much Does It Cost to Divorce With Children in Ontario?
The mandatory court fee to divorce in Ontario is $679 in 2026, broken into a $224 installment when you file the Application for Divorce (Form 8A), a $445 installment when you file the Affidavit for Divorce (Form 36), and a $10 federal Central Registry of Divorce Proceedings fee. These fees are set by O. Reg. 293/92 under the Administration of Justice Act and are non-negotiable, whether or not you hire a lawyer.
Court fees are only the baseline. A contested divorce involving disputed parenting arrangements adds significant cost: motions and case conferences each carry a $280 fee, and process servers charge $85 to $170 per attempt when you cannot file a joint application. Low-income applicants receiving Ontario Works or ODSP may apply for a Fee Waiver that eliminates the $669 provincial portion entirely, though the $10 federal registry fee can never be waived. A divorce certificate, often needed to remarry, costs roughly $24. Filing a joint application with a cooperative spouse eliminates the process-server expense because both parties sign the documents together. As of June 2026, verify all amounts with your local clerk.
What Is the Residency Requirement to File for Divorce in Ontario?
To file for divorce in Ontario, at least one spouse must have been ordinarily resident in Ontario for the full 12-month period immediately before filing, under Divorce Act § 3. "Ordinarily resident" means Ontario is your habitual, customary home — not a temporary stay. This federal rule applies uniformly across all 13 Canadian provinces and territories.
This residency rule is separate from the ground for divorce itself. Under Divorce Act § 8, the sole ground for divorce in Canada is marriage breakdown, most commonly proven by living separate and apart for one year. You can begin the divorce application before the full year of separation has elapsed, but the court will not grant the final divorce order until the 12-month separation is complete. Spouses can live "separate and apart" under the same roof if they have genuinely ended the conjugal relationship — a common arrangement when children make immediate physical separation difficult. The one-year residency requirement is strictly enforced for simple divorces, with narrow exceptions for foreign divorces and certain same-sex marriage situations under the Civil Marriage Act. Confirm your eligibility before filing.
How Are Parenting Arrangements Decided in an Ontario Divorce?
Parenting arrangements in Ontario are decided exclusively by the best interests of the child under Divorce Act § 16, with primary consideration given to the child's physical, emotional, and psychological safety, security, and well-being. Since March 1, 2021, courts allocate "decision-making responsibility" and "parenting time" rather than the old "custody" and "access."
The terminology change reflects a substantive shift. Under Divorce Act § 16.1, a court may make a parenting order allocating decision-making responsibility — the authority to make significant decisions about a child's health, education, religion, language, and major extracurricular activities — and parenting time, the schedule during which a child is in each parent's care. The 2021 reforms removed the old "maximum contact" presumption. Divorce Act § 16(6) now states a child should have as much time with each spouse as is consistent with the child's best interests, but creates no presumption of equal or shared parenting time. For unmarried parents, the parallel provisions sit in Ontario's Children's Law Reform Act, modernized by the Moving Ontario Family Law Forward Act (Bill 207), which received Royal Assent on November 20, 2020. Every allocation is a fact-based, case-by-case analysis.
What Factors Determine the Best Interests of the Child?
Under Divorce Act § 16(3), Ontario courts weigh eleven enumerated best-interests factors, with the child's safety, security, and well-being taking primary consideration over all others. No single factor automatically controls; judges assess the complete picture of each child's circumstances.
The section 16(3) factors include: the child's needs given age and stage of development, including the need for stability; the strength of the child's relationship with each parent, siblings, and grandparents; each parent's willingness to support the child's relationship with the other parent; the history of care; the child's own views and preferences, weighted by age and maturity; the child's cultural, linguistic, religious, and spiritual heritage, including Indigenous heritage; any plans for the child's care; each person's ability to meet the child's needs; each person's ability to communicate and cooperate with the other; and, critically, any family violence and its impact. Family violence under Divorce Act § 16(3)(j) directly affects whether a court will require parents to cooperate at all. This child-focused framework governs every parenting plan, parenting order, and co-parenting dispute in an Ontario divorce.
How Is Child Support Calculated in Ontario?
Child support in Ontario is calculated using the Federal Child Support Tables, which were updated on October 1, 2025 — their first revision since 2017. The base amount depends on the paying parent's gross annual income from Line 15000 of their T1 General Tax Return, the number of children, and Ontario residency. A parent earning $100,000 pays roughly $1,485 per month for one child in 2026.
The table amount is presumptive and largely non-negotiable for incomes up to $150,000, set in $1,000 increments. As of the October 2025 update, parents earning $16,000 or less annually now have a base table obligation of $0, reflecting the federal basic personal amount. On top of the table amount, parents share "special or extraordinary expenses" under section 7 of the Guidelines — daycare, healthcare premiums, post-secondary costs, and significant extracurricular activities — typically in proportion to their incomes. Where a parent exercises at least 40% of parenting time, the section 9 shared-parenting formula can adjust the amount, one of the most litigated issues in 2026. Courts may impute income to a parent who is intentionally underemployed or who shelters income through a corporation. Verify exact figures against the official Department of Justice Canada tables.
Sample Child Support Amounts: Ontario 2026 Tables
The Ontario child support table amount rises with both the payor's gross income and the number of children. The figures below illustrate monthly base amounts under the Federal Child Support Tables updated October 1, 2025; your exact obligation depends on precise income and special-expense sharing.
| Payor Gross Income | 1 Child | 2 Children | 3 Children |
|---|---|---|---|
| $16,000 or less | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| $50,000 | ~$461 | ~$755 | ~$998 |
| $100,000 | ~$1,485 | ~$2,396 | ~$2,952 |
These amounts are estimates based on third-party calculators applying the 2025 tables and are presumptive baselines, not legal advice. Section 7 special expenses — daycare, orthodontics, tutoring, and similar costs — are added on top and divided in proportion to each parent's income. For incomes above $150,000, the tables provide a base amount for the first $150,000 plus a percentage of the excess. Always confirm your figure with the official Federal Child Support Tables for Ontario (regulation SOR/97-175) or a family lawyer, especially where parenting time approaches the 40% shared-parenting threshold under section 9 of the Guidelines.
What Is a Parenting Plan and Do You Need One?
A parenting plan is a written agreement setting out how separated parents will share decision-making responsibility and parenting time for their children. Ontario courts strongly encourage parenting plans, and a clear, detailed plan filed with the court can become a parenting order under Divorce Act § 16.1, making it legally enforceable.
An effective parenting plan addresses the practical realities of raising children across two households. It specifies the regular schedule (which days and overnights the child spends with each parent), holiday and school-break rotation, birthday arrangements, and how exchanges happen. It allocates decision-making responsibility — whether parents share decisions about health, education, and religion, or whether one parent decides specific categories. Under Divorce Act § 16.4, each parent with parenting time is entitled to request information about the child's health and education from the other, so plans often specify communication protocols. Strong plans also include a dispute-resolution clause, often requiring family mediation before either parent returns to court. Parents who reach agreement avoid the $280 motion and conference fees and the unpredictability of having a judge impose a schedule. When parents cannot agree, the court builds a parenting order applying the best-interests factors.
What Are the New Relocation Rules for Parents?
A parent who wants to relocate with a child must give the other parent at least 60 days' written notice under Divorce Act § 16.9, using the prescribed form. The notice must state the moving date, the new address, and a proposal for adjusting parenting time and decision-making responsibility. The other parent has 30 days to object.
The 2021 reforms created Canada's first structured relocation framework. If the non-moving parent objects within 30 days — by filing an Objection to Relocation form or applying to court — the move cannot proceed without a court order or the other parent's consent. If no objection is filed and no existing order prohibits the move, the relocating parent may proceed. When a court must decide a contested relocation, Divorce Act § 16.92 requires judges to weigh additional factors: the reasons for the move, the impact on the child, the time the child spends with each parent, and whether the parties complied with notice requirements. The Supreme Court of Canada confirmed in Barendregt v. Grebliunas (2022 SCC 22) that the crucial question remains the child's best interests. Where family violence is a concern, Divorce Act § 16.9(3) lets a parent seek an ex parte exemption from giving notice. Ontario's Children's Law Reform Act mirrors these rules for unmarried parents.
How Is Child Support Enforced in Ontario?
Child support in Ontario is enforced by the Family Responsibility Office (FRO), which automatically receives every court-ordered support obligation. When a court orders support, the clerk files the order with the FRO and the court simultaneously issues a Support Deduction Order, allowing the FRO to collect payments directly from the payor's employer.
The FRO operates under the Family Responsibility and Support Arrears Enforcement Act, 1996, and holds broad escalating powers. If a payor falls behind, the FRO can garnish wages, seize funds from bank accounts, intercept federal payments such as income tax refunds and GST credits, suspend a driver's licence under a staged section 34 / section 37 process, and report defaults to credit bureaus — all without returning to court for each step. Critically, the FRO does not decide how much support is owed and will not reduce the amount because a payor's income dropped; it enforces the existing order until a court formally varies it. Parents who want the FRO to enforce a support clause in a separation agreement rather than a court order must first file the domestic contract with the Ontario Court of Justice. Parents may also mutually agree to opt out of FRO enforcement. This system gives Ontario children reliable access to the support they are owed.