Child care
Expenses incurred as a result of a parent's employment, illness, disability, or education or training for employment.
Child Support in Alberta
Child support is the amount one parent pays the other towards a child's day-to-day costs, set by guidelines rather than negotiated from scratch. The Federal Child Support Guidelines apply under the Divorce Act (Canada), and the Alberta Child Support Guidelines (Alta Reg 147/2005) apply under the Family Law Act (Alberta) where the parents are not proceeding under the Divorce Act.
How Child Support Is Calculated in Alberta
The basic table amount is a lookup with three inputs: the federal table for the province or territory where the paying parent lives, that parent's annual income, normally line 15000 of the most recent return, and the number of children.
A family lawyer in Calgary advises you on how the amount is set, gathers the income information the guidelines run on, and negotiates or applies for child support where the parents do not agree.
That lookup gives the basic table amount only. Section 7 special or extraordinary expenses and any shared-parenting adjustment are worked out separately.
The 2025 Federal Tables took effect on October 1, 2025. They do not automatically change an order made before that date, so an earlier order is changed by a new agreement or by a court order.
What a particular parent pays turns on the income figures and the parenting arrangement in each file.
Worked example
A Worked Example, Hypothetical
These facts are invented for this example. Two parents both live in Alberta and have two children. One parent's annual income is $90,000, the other parent's is $60,000, and the children live mainly with the parent whose income is $60,000, so the paying parent is the one earning $90,000.
Step 01
The Table Amount
Against the Alberta table in the 2025 Federal Child Support Tables, in force from October 1, 2025, a paying parent earning $90,000 a year with two children has a basic table amount of $1,316 a month, before any section 7 expense or shared-parenting adjustment.
Step 02
A Section 7 Expense
Child care expenses incurred as a result of a parent's employment are one of the categories section 7 of the Federal Child Support Guidelines names. Take an invented child care cost of $6,000 a year. Any subsidy, benefit, income tax deduction or credit relating to that child care is taken into account first, and any contribution from the child is deducted. The parents then share what remains in proportion to their two incomes. Whether the expense qualifies at all turns on whether it is necessary in the best interests of the child and reasonable given the means of both parents.
Step 03
40 Per Cent Parenting Time
Where the paying parent has the children for not less than 40 per cent of the parenting time over a year, the amount takes account of both parents' table amounts, the increased costs of the shared arrangement, and the circumstances of each parent and child. It is not a halving of the table amount and does not follow automatically from reaching 40 per cent.
Section 7 Special or Extraordinary Expenses
Section 7 of the Federal Child Support Guidelines names the expenses that can be added to the table amount.
Medical & dental
The portion of the premiums attributable to the child.
Health-related
Health care costs for the child beyond what insurance reimburses, such as orthodontic treatment, counselling or physiotherapy.
School
Extraordinary expenses for primary or secondary school, or for another educational program that meets the child's particular needs.
Post-secondary
Expenses for a child's post-secondary education.
Extracurricular
Extraordinary expenses for a child's extracurricular activities.
The parents share these expenses in proportion to their incomes, after deducting any contribution from the child. Subsidies, benefits and income tax deductions or credits relating to an expense are taken into account before the shared figure is settled.
"Extraordinary" is a defined test, not a description of how expensive something feels. It weighs what the requesting parent can reasonably cover out of that parent's income and the table amount.
When Support Is Not Paid
Child support set by a court order, or set by an agreement filed with the court, can be enforced through Alberta's Maintenance Enforcement Program, and the guide on when child support is not paid sets out how.
- A separate question from the amount
- Enforcement is a separate question from the amount. The amount is set under the guidelines and changed by a new agreement or by a court order, not by the enforcement process.
- Ask what it involves
- A parent who is not receiving the support an order requires can ask a family lawyer what enforcement through the Program would involve.
How a Child Support Lawyer Helps
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Establishing income
Identifying and documenting the income the calculation runs on, including where a parent is self-employed or the income is disputed.
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Agreeing or applying for an amount
Negotiating the amount and putting it into an agreement or a consent order, or applying to the Court of King's Bench of Alberta or the Alberta Court of Justice.
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Section 7 expenses
Setting out which expenses qualify and each parent's proportionate share.
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Changing an amount
Applying to vary an amount where an income or the parenting arrangement has changed.
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Responding to an application
Filing a response and the financial disclosure the court requires.
Child support and spousal support are separate obligations, calculated under separate rules, and a separation may involve one, both or neither.
Why THEBIL Law
Nne Christiana Udo is the family lawyer at THEBIL Law and a member of the Law Society of Alberta. She advises and represents parents in Alberta child support matters, in negotiation and in court.
THEBIL Law had 87 Google reviews when the count was read on September 21, 2026.
The office serves Calgary and surrounding areas from 5920 Macleod Trl SW Ste 720, Calgary, AB T2H 0K1, Canada.
Frequently Asked Questions
The amount for one child is a lookup, not a set figure, read from the federal table for the province or territory where the paying parent lives, using that parent's annual income and the number of children.
Book a Consultation With a Calgary Family Lawyer
Contact THEBIL Law to discuss child support and the questions you want to address.
What a child support matter costs depends on how much of the income picture is in dispute and whether a court application is needed. To ask about your own situation, including the retainer, send a consultation request at any time or call 403-457-3128 during office hours. The office makes contact to arrange a meeting. Consultations at THEBIL Law are paid consultations. The charge is confirmed with you before the meeting and paid in advance.