Family arbitration awards now treated as enforceable support orders under Ontario's family support enforcement law

Plain-language summary · AI-assisted · not legal advice

Amendments that were previously listed as "not yet in force" have now been given a force date, bringing family arbitration awards (those enforceable under section 59.9 of the Family Law Act) fully within the definition of "support order" under Ontario's family support enforcement legislation. This means such awards are now subject to the same income-deduction and enforcement machinery — including automatic support deduction orders — that applies to court-issued support orders and domestic contracts. The rules around which court is deemed to have made a related support deduction order, and which court has jurisdiction to vary such an order, have also been updated to address family arbitration awards specifically. Individuals who pay or receive support under a family arbitration award, and their legal advisors, should be aware that the Director of the Family Responsibility Office can now enforce and administer those awards in the same way as court orders. Payors subject to such awards should review their compliance obligations under the FRO enforcement framework.

Who this affects: payors with support obligations under family arbitration awards · recipients of support under family arbitration awards · family law practitioners and arbitrators · parties currently enrolled with the Family Responsibility Office