Most parents who come in on a child support file want the same thing. They want to do right by their kids and they want to know the number. They expect a fight over feelings. What they usually get is arithmetic. Child support in Alberta is more mechanical than people assume. Once you know the paying parent’s income and the number of children, the rest is mostly lookup and adjustment.
Where the Numbers Come From
Child support in Alberta is governed by two statutes and two sets of guidelines, and which one applies depends on your family’s situation.
If you are married and going through a divorce, your child support falls under the federal Divorce Act, RSC 1985, c 3 (2nd Supp). The amount is set by the Federal Child Support Guidelines, SOR/97-175, a regulation made under section 26.1 of the Divorce Act.
If you are unmarried, or separated but not divorcing, you fall under Alberta’s Family Law Act, SA 2003, c F-4.5. Section 49 of the Family Law Act directs the court to apply either the Alberta Child Support Guidelines, Alta Reg 147/2005, or the Federal Child Support Guidelines. The two sets of guidelines mirror each other on the core calculation, so the answer ends up largely the same either way.
The central idea behind both is simple. The paying parent’s income, the number of children, and the province of residence drive a table amount. That is the starting point for what the other parent receives each month.
You do not add both parents’ incomes together for the base calculation. That is a common misunderstanding. The receiving parent’s income matters for special expenses and shared parenting, but it does not change the basic table number.
Finding the Table Amount
The Federal Child Support Tables set out a monthly dollar figure for every income level and number of children, by province. Alberta has its own table because the amounts are built on provincial income tax rates.
The tables were updated effective October 1, 2025, under SOR/2025-166. If your order pre-dates October 1, 2025, the 2017 tables still determine support up to that date, and the 2025 tables apply going forward. A change in the table amount can be a material change in circumstances justifying a variation, but the switch is not automatic.
To find your number, use Justice Canada’s 2025 Child Support Table Look-up. Enter the paying parent’s gross annual income, the province, and the number of children. The tool returns the monthly base amount.
A Worked Example
Let me run a realistic Alberta scenario.
Jordan and Sam separated last year. They have two children, ages 8 and 11. Both live in Alberta. The children live primarily with Sam. Jordan earns $80,000 gross from employment. Sam works part-time and earns $35,000.
Step one is the table amount. Using the 2025 Federal Child Support Tables for Alberta, two children, at a paying-parent income of $80,000, the basic monthly amount is $1,166. That is what Jordan owes Sam each month as base child support, before any special expenses are added.
Notice what we did not do. We did not subtract Sam’s income from Jordan’s, and we did no averaging. Sam’s income becomes relevant only for section 7 expenses.
Step two is whether section 7 expenses apply. Daycare, major extracurriculars, or significant uncovered health costs are added on top of the $1,166.
Step three is the parenting arrangement. If Jordan has the children less than 40 percent of the time, the table amount stands. At 40 percent or more, we are in shared parenting territory and the calculation shifts.
If Sam has the kids most of the time and there are no section 7 expenses, the answer is $1,166 per month.
Section 7 Expenses (What Is Added On Top)
Section 7 of the Federal Child Support Guidelines allows the court to order contributions toward “special or extraordinary expenses” beyond the table amount. The list in section 7(1) is closed:
- Child care expenses necessary because the parent with majority parenting time is working, ill, disabled, or in school
- The portion of medical and dental insurance premiums attributable to the child
- Health-related expenses exceeding insurance reimbursement by at least $100 annually (orthodontics, counselling, physiotherapy, prescription drugs, hearing aids, glasses)
- Extraordinary primary or secondary school expenses
- Post-secondary education expenses
- Extraordinary extracurricular expenses
The expense must be necessary for the child and reasonable in relation to the parents’ means. Not every activity qualifies. A weekend soccer league is usually not a section 7 expense. Competitive hockey with travel, tournament fees, and equipment often is.
Once an expense qualifies, the cost is shared between the parents in proportion to their incomes, after deducting any subsidies, tax credits, or benefits that offset it.
Back to Jordan and Sam. Suppose after-school care costs $800 per month and the full amount qualifies. Combined parental income is $115,000. Jordan’s share is $80,000 divided by $115,000, or about 69.6 percent. Jordan’s contribution is roughly $557 per month, on top of the $1,166 table amount.
Total monthly child support: $1,723.
Shared Parenting Changes Everything
If each parent has the children for at least 40 percent of parenting time over the course of a year, section 9 of the Federal Child Support Guidelines applies. The ordinary table amount no longer controls.
Under section 9, the court considers the table amount each parent would owe if the other had majority parenting time, the increased costs of shared parenting, and the conditions, means, needs, and circumstances of each parent and child.
In practice, the starting point is a “set-off.” You calculate what each parent’s table amount would be, and you subtract the lower from the higher. The higher-earning parent pays the difference.
If Jordan and Sam shared time equally, Jordan’s table amount at $80,000 is $1,166. Sam’s table amount at $35,000 is about $530. The set-off is $636 per month payable by Jordan to Sam.
Set-off is only the starting point. The Supreme Court of Canada confirmed in Contino v. Leonelli-Contino, 2005 SCC 63, that a judge in a shared parenting case has broad discretion to depart from the set-off figure to ensure the children enjoy a comparable standard of living in each home.
The 40 percent threshold is about time actually exercised. Courts look at what is happening in practice, not what the paper schedule says.
When Income Is Not What They Say It Is
Section 19 of the Federal Child Support Guidelines lets a court impute income where a parent’s reported income does not reflect their real earning capacity. Listed circumstances include intentional under-employment or unemployment, diverting income, failing to produce income information, unreasonably deducting expenses, or living off sources taxed at preferential rates. Self-employed payors are a frequent subject of imputation because business write-offs can understate real cash flow.
Section 10, undue hardship, is the other side of the coin. It lets a paying parent argue for a reduction from the table amount based on unusually high debts from the relationship or unusually high parenting-time travel costs. The threshold is heavy, and the applicant must also show that their household would not end up with a higher standard of living after the reduction. Most undue hardship claims fail.
What Not to Do
A few hard-won rules.
Do not pay support directly to the child. Money handed to a teenager for phone bills or Starbucks is a gift. It does not discharge your obligation to the other parent.
Do not stop paying because parenting time is being blocked. Child support and parenting time are legally separate issues. Withholding support because the other parent is denying you time with the children is a breach, not a remedy. Bring a parenting enforcement application and keep paying.
Do not rely on handshake deals. A side agreement that says “I pay you $400 a month instead of the table amount and we keep it off the books” is not enforceable against the child’s right to support. It can surface years later as retroactive arrears.
If you are starting a family law matter, you will also be subject to Alberta’s new Family Focused Protocol, which affects how your case is filed and managed in the Court of King’s Bench.
If you need help working out the right number in your case, you can reach me through the contact page or learn more about my family law services.