Ruling upholds motion judge's determination of quantum of retroactive support

The Ontario Court of Appeal upheld a finding of a material change in circumstances where the father had less than 40 percent of parenting time during the making of child support orders in 2015, then had over 40 percent since 2017.

In Douglas v. Faucher, 2025 ONCA 293, the parties married in 2002 and had three children. The father has been a quadriplegic since 2010 due to a catastrophic injury. The parties separated in 2013.

A June 2014 parenting assessment report recommended a phased transition to a 50-50 parenting regime by September 2018. The parties divorced in 2015. A January 2015 consent final order imposed parenting arrangements, while a December 2015 order addressed support obligations and property issues.

The parties implemented the first phase of the planned transition to equal shared parenting time in 2016. The father alleged he had 41 percent of the parenting time by 2017, but the mother refused to implement equal parenting time in September 2018.

The father filed a motion seeking shared parental decision-making, equal parenting time, and a retroactive adjustment to child support for 2017 onward based on the parties’ incomes as required by s. 9 of the Federal Child Support Guidelines, S.O.R./97-175. The father earned around ...

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