Estimate child support, spousal support, section 7 expenses, shared parenting offsets, and tax impacts during separation in Ontario — all in one structured workflow you can save and revisit.
AgreeWell is an organizational tool. It is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. Calculator outputs are estimates for planning purposes.
People often arrive at a support calculator hoping for one clean answer. In practice, support calculations involve several moving pieces — and that's a normal part of the process, not a sign something is wrong.
A few realities tend to make support feel confusing during separation in Ontario:
None of this is unusual. The goal of a calculator isn't to give you the "right answer" — it's to give you a clear, shared starting point you can explore and refine together.
Child support in Canada follows the Federal Child Support Guidelines, with Ontario provincial tables for most situations. The calculation depends mainly on the payor's income, the number of children, and the parenting arrangement.
When children live primarily with one parent, child support typically follows the federal table amount based on the payor's gross annual income, the number of children, and province of residence. The table provides a consistent, predictable starting figure.
The calculator uses the federal Ontario table for child support amounts.
When children spend roughly 40% or more of their time with each parent, child support is often calculated as an "offset": the table amount each parent would owe is calculated, and the higher earner pays the difference. This recognizes that both households are carrying day-to-day costs.
Shared parenting calculations involve judgment beyond the simple offset, but the offset is the most common starting point.
Keeping records of parenting time can make these conversations much smoother.
Section 7 expenses sit alongside table support. They cover things like child care for work, medical and dental costs not covered by insurance, post-secondary education, extracurriculars that go beyond ordinary participation, and similar items. They're typically shared in proportion to each parent's income.
See our shared parenting expenses guide for how to track these in practice.
Spousal support in Canada is guided by the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines (SSAG). Unlike child support tables, the SSAG produces a range — a low, mid, and high estimate — and the actual amount depends on the family's circumstances and the agreement reached between the parties.
The SSAG uses two main formulas:
The guidelines also offer guidance on the duration of support — sometimes a fixed range of years, sometimes longer or indefinite, depending on factors like length of relationship and ages.
Spousal support involves judgment. Two thoughtful advisors looking at the same family can reasonably land on different points within the range. That's expected — the calculator is there to map the range, not to declare a single right answer.
The calculator shows the low, mid, and high SSAG estimates so you can see the full range and think about where in the range makes sense for your family.
Mid-range is a common starting point for discussion, but not the only valid choice.
One number on a calculator can hide a very different real-world picture once tax is considered. This is one of the most important — and most misunderstood — parts of support planning.
Periodic spousal support payments are generally tax-deductible to the person paying and taxable as income to the person receiving. That changes both households' after-tax positions in ways that aren't obvious from the gross monthly number.
Child support is not tax-deductible to the payor and not taxable to the recipient. The number you see is the number that moves between households — no further tax adjustment needed.
This is one reason child and spousal support are calculated and shown separately, even when both apply.
Tax estimates from the calculator are approximate planning figures. For an exact tax position, speak with an accountant or tax professional who can review your full circumstances. AgreeWell does not provide tax advice.
Monthly child and spousal support are only part of the picture. Many separated families also share ongoing costs that fall outside the basic table amount.
Common section 7 categories include:
These are usually shared in proportion to each parent's income, sometimes with a net-of-tax adjustment depending on which parent claims the expense. Tracking them clearly avoids most of the friction that comes from re-litigating who owes what each month.
For a deeper guide on tracking these in practice, see our shared parenting expenses page.
The calculator is a starting point. AgreeWell connects support calculations to the rest of your separation workflow — so the numbers don't live in a one-off spreadsheet that gets lost or re-done from scratch every conversation.
The goal isn't to replace professional advice — it's to make sure the conversations you have with mediators, lawyers, and each other start from the same organized picture.
A predictable, step-by-step flow that produces a clear estimate you can save, compare, and bring into the rest of your separation workflow.
Annual gross income for the payor and the recipient, along with ages. The calculator uses these to derive the table amount and SSAG range.
Number of children and parenting time split. Shared parenting triggers an offset calculation; primary parenting uses table amounts directly.
Optional. Add ongoing expenses like child care, extracurriculars, or medical costs to see proportional shares alongside the monthly support figure.
Select with-child or without-child formula, and choose where in the range (low, mid, high) you want to model.
See the after-tax view for both households so the gross numbers can be compared to real net positions.
Save calculations to your case to compare options — for example, "interim, mid-range" vs "final, low-range with section 7" — without losing earlier work.
Link the chosen scenario to an interim or final agreement draft, and reference it during mediation or with a lawyer.
Child support in Ontario follows the Federal Child Support Guidelines and the federal child support tables. The table amount depends on the payor's gross annual income, the number of children, and the province of residence. Shared parenting arrangements (roughly 40% or more time with each parent) typically use an offset calculation rather than a straight table amount.
In a shared parenting arrangement, each parent's table amount is calculated as if they were the payor. The higher-earning parent then pays the difference — the "offset" — to the other parent. This recognizes that both households are absorbing day-to-day costs of caring for the children.
Periodic spousal support payments in Canada are generally taxable as income to the recipient and tax-deductible to the payor. This is different from child support, which is tax-neutral. Lump-sum spousal support is generally treated differently. The calculator's after-tax view is an estimate — for exact tax positions, speak with an accountant.
Section 7 of the Federal Child Support Guidelines covers special and extraordinary expenses that sit alongside the table amount. Common examples include necessary child care, medical and dental costs not covered by insurance, post-secondary education, and extracurricular activities beyond ordinary participation. They're typically shared between parents in proportion to their incomes.
Yes. Support can be reviewed and adjusted as circumstances change — incomes shift, parenting arrangements evolve, children grow up, and new section 7 expenses come and go. Many families revisit support annually, often after tax filings when the previous year's incomes are confirmed.
No. Calculator outputs are estimates for planning purposes only. To make a support arrangement legally binding, families typically formalize it in a separation agreement or court order, with each party having had an opportunity to receive independent legal advice.
No. AgreeWell is an organizational tool — not a law firm. The calculator and the platform help families organize information, scenarios, and agreements, but they do not provide legal or tax advice. We strongly encourage each party to seek independent legal advice before signing any support agreement.
Support calculations are only one part of separation. AgreeWell helps families organize disclosure, agreements, expenses, and ongoing collaboration in one structured workflow.
AgreeWell is an organizational tool. It is not a law firm and does not provide legal or tax advice.