Child support when you’re on OW or ODSP
This resource explains the rules about child support when someone is getting assistance from Ontario Works or the Ontario Disability Support Program.
Child support rules in family law
Family law says that all parents must support their “dependent” children.
Children are usually dependent until they’re at least 18 years old and sometimes longer.
Parents must provide financial support even if they have never lived with their child. This is true even if the parents have never been married to each other or lived together.
When parents do not live together, it’s often the parent who the child lives with most of the time who has more expenses for the child.
The other parent must help by paying money to the parent the child lives with. This is called child support.
Calculating child support
You can use the Child Support Guidelines and the Government of Canada’s child support tables to see how much child support you may be able to get.
Go to stepstojustice.ca/child-support for more information about calculating, applying for, and collecting child support.
Child support and the amount of money you get from OW or ODSP
Child support payments do not affect the amount of money you get from Ontario Works (OW) or the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP).
So, if you get child support, you get to keep that money plus your money from OW or ODSP.
But this rule does not apply to child support that should have been paid before:
- January 1, 2017, if you get ODSP
- February 1, 2017, if you get OW
The time period that matters is when the child support should have been paid. Not when you actually get the money.
Child support owed earlier
If you get child support payments now that should have been paid before those dates, they’re counted as income.
This means your OW or ODSP may go down or you may have to pay back OW or ODSP.
Getting child support
If you apply for or are getting assistance from OW or ODSP, they will not force you to try to get child support.
But if you do get child support payments, you must tell them.
Reporting child support
If you get the same amount of child support as you got the month before, you do not have to report it.
But if the amount you get goes up or down, you have to tell OW or ODSP. You can do this:
- online through your MyBenefits account
- by filling out the form that OW or ODSP sends you each month to report changes to your income
- by giving your caseworker a copy of a new agreement or court order that shows the change
If you disagree with a decision
If you disagree with an OW or ODSP decision, you may be able to appeal to the Social Benefits Tribunal (SBT). The SBT can change the decision.
To appeal to the SBT, you must first ask OW or ODSP to give you:
- a decision in writing, and
- an internal review.
Usually, you must ask for an internal review within 30 days.
For more information about appealing a decision by OW, go to stepstojustice.ca/disagree-OW-decision.
And for information about appealing a decision by ODSP, go to stepstojustice.ca/disagree-ODSP-decision.
Get legal help
If you have questions about OW or ODSP rules or do not agree with a decision OW or ODSP makes, contact your local community legal clinic.
To find the clinic nearest you, visit Legal Aid Ontario’s website at legalaid.on.ca/legal-clinics.
Or call them:
- Toll-free: 1-800-668-8258
- TTY: 711
Legal Aid Ontario may also be able to give you a certificate to get free legal advice about family law.