For people receiving support

In June 2019, changes were made to two pieces of legislation related to family law: Family Orders and Agreements Enforcement Assistance Act (FOAEAA) and the Garnishment, Attachment and Pension Diversion Act (GAPDA). Certain changes came into force on Royal Assent (June 21, 2019). Other changes to GAPDA came into force in December 2020. Changes to FOAEAA Part I came into force on November 15, 2023, while other changes to FOAEAA will come into force within the next two-year period. This website will be updated as those changes in law come into effect.

Child support and parenting time are separate issues. You cannot deny the other parent time with their children because they have not paid support. In most cases, regular contact with both parents is beneficial to children, even if one is not paying support that is owed.

To have child or spousal support enforced, you need either:

• a support order from a court; or
• a written support agreement signed by you and your former spouse.

If you do not have a court order or a written agreement, you need to get one first, and then make arrangements to have it enforced. A verbal agreement to pay you support cannot be enforced. You can find helpful information in the sections on child support and spousal support.

Get help to enforce a support order or agreement

Your provincial or territorial Maintenance Enforcement Program can help you enforce your support order or written agreement. To get their help, the support order or agreement must be registered with the Program. Programs may use a variety of measures to enforce support. For example, they may:

• garnishee wages, bank accounts and certain federal government payments such as income tax refunds and employment insurance benefits,
• seize personal or real property,
• require the party in default to file financial information,
• suspend or deny provincially issued licences such as a driver's licence, and
• ask the federal government to suspend passports and certain federal marine and aviation licences.

You may find information on how to register your support order or agreement on the Maintenance Enforcement Program's website or you can contact Program officials for information. If you are not registered with a Maintenance Enforcement Program, you may be able to enforce the order on your own through available court processes and by submitting an interception application under the Family Orders and Agreements Enforcement Assistance Act or under the Garnishment, Attachment and Pension Diversion Act.

How the federal government helps

Federal, provincial, and territorial governments share responsibility for family law. Provinces and territories are primarily responsible for enforcing family support obligations. The federal government can, however, assist in several ways. For example, at the request of a court official, a Maintenance Enforcement Program or a Provincial Child Support Service, the federal government may:

• search certain federal information banks to find out where a parent or a support payer lives or works and/or obtain their income information;
• intercept certain federal payments owed to the support payer; and
• suspend or refuse to issue a Canadian passport and certain federal licences held by the person who owes you support.

Garnisheeing federal payments

If the federal government owes money to the support payer, all or part of that money may be seized to pay the support debt. Either you or a Maintenance Enforcement Program can ask the government to do this.

Two federal laws allow the government to intercept federal payments for support. These are:

the Family Orders and Agreements Enforcement Assistance Act, and

the Garnishment, Attachment and Pension Diversion Act.

Below, you can find information on what types of payments may be intercepted under each Act. You can also find information on how you can apply for garnishment of these payments.

Family Orders and Agreements Enforcement Assistance Act

Several types of federal payments can be intercepted under this Act to pay a family support debt. Some examples are tax refunds and employment insurance benefits.

To apply, you need the following two documents:

a garnishee summons issued within the previous 30 days; and

a completed Application Form I01 (HTML, PDF, 576 KB).

Mail these documents to the following address:

The Department of Justice
Family Orders and Agreements Enforcement Assistance Unit
284 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario  K1A 0H8

Garnishment, Attachment and Pension Diversion Act

Under Part I of the Garnishment, Attachment and Pension Diversion Act (GAPDA), you or a Maintenance Enforcement Program may apply to intercept:

wages of employees by the federal government; or

contract fees owed by the federal government to an individual contractor.

These payments may be intercepted to pay any type of judgment debt, including support.

Salaries that can be intercepted include those paid to:

employees of federal departments and agencies;

employees of some Crown corporations;

members and employees of the House of Commons;

Senators and Senate employees;

judges and prothonotaries to whom the Judges Act applies; and

some court employees such as employees of the Supreme Court or the Federal Court of Canada; and

employees of the Library of Parliament, Office of the Senate Ethics Officer, Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, Parliamentary Protective Service, Parliamentary Budget Officer.

To apply, you need the following three documents:

a completed GAPDA application form (HTML, PDF, 648 KB);

a copy of the judgment or order against the debtor (payor) issued by a court; and

a garnishee summons issued within the previous 45 days.

If the debtor (payor) is an employee of a Crown corporation, send the documents to the corporation's head office. In all other cases, you must send the documents to the garnishment registry serving the location where the garnishee summons was issued. You can find more information in the Garnishment and Attachment Regulations. Before sending it, you may find it helpful to review this checklist to make sure your application is complete.

Under Part II of the Garnishment, Attachment and Pension Diversion Act, you may intercept certain federal pension benefits to satisfy a family support debt but not any other type of debt. You can find out what information you need to include in your application and where to send your application in the Pension Diversion Regulations.

If you wish, you may use the application form on the website of Public Works and Government Services Canada to intercept a pension administered by that department.

Suspending passports and licences

At the request of a Maintenance Enforcement Program, the federal government may suspend or refuse to issue a Canadian passport and certain federal marine and aviation licences in cases where a support payer:

has missed three or more support payments; or

is behind in support payments by $3,000 or more.

The Family Orders and Agreements Enforcement Assistance Act gives the government the authority to do this.

Canada cannot suspend a passport issued by another country. However, some countries may agree to suspend a passport to enforce a Canadian support order if:

they have a reciprocal arrangement with the province or territory that is trying to enforce the order; and

the laws of that country allow a passport to be suspended to enforce support.