An Act to amend the Divorce Act, the Family Orders and Agreements Enforcement Assistance Act and the Garnishment, Attachment and Pension Diversion Act and to make consequential amendments to another Act (S.C. 2019, c. 16)

International Conventions

Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance

Definitions

Marginal note:Definitions

28 The following definitions apply in this section and in sections 28.1 to 29.5.

2007 Convention

2007 Convention means the Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance, concluded at The Hague on November 23, 2007, set out in the schedule. (Convention de 2007)

Central Authority

Central Authority means any person or entity designated under Article 4 of the 2007 Convention that is responsible for carrying out the duties that are imposed on it by the 2007 Convention. (autorité centrale)

competent authority

competent authority means a court that has the authority to make an order, or another entity that has the authority to make a decision, with respect to support under this Act. (autorité compétente)

creditor

creditor means a former spouse to whom support is owed or who seeks to obtain support. (créancier)

debtor

debtor means a former spouse who owes support or from whom support is sought. (débiteur)

State Party

State Party means a State other than Canada in which the 2007 Convention applies. (État partie)

Implementation, Interpretation and Application of the 2007 Convention

Marginal note:Force of law

• 28.1 (1) The provisions of the 2007 Convention have the force of law in Canada in so far as they relate to subjects that fall within the legislative competence of Parliament.

• Marginal note:Inconsistency

  (2) The 2007 Convention prevails over this Act and any other federal law to the extent of any inconsistency between them.

Marginal note:Explanatory Report

28.2 In interpreting the 2007 Convention, recourse may be had to the Explanatory Report on the Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance, adopted by the Twenty-First Session of the Hague Conference on Private International Law held from November 5 to 23, 2007.

Marginal note:Application

28.3 Sections 28.4 to 29.5 apply if either the creditor or the debtor, as the case may be, resides in a State Party and the other resides in a province in respect of which Canada has made a declaration extending the application of the 2007 Convention to that province. However, the application of those provisions does not exclude the application of the other provisions of this Act unless there is an indication to the contrary.

Application of Creditor to Central Authority

Marginal note:Recognition of State Party decision varying child support order

• 28.4 (1) A creditor may, through the Central Authority designated by the State Party in which the creditor resides, submit to the Central Authority in the province in which the debtor is habitually resident an application for recognition and, if applicable, for enforcement of a decision of the State Party that has the effect of varying a child support order.

• Marginal note:Spousal support order

  (2) A creditor may also in the same manner submit an application for recognition and, if applicable, for enforcement of a decision of the State Party that has the effect of varying a spousal support order if the application is also for recognition and, if applicable, for enforcement of a decision of the State Party that has the effect of varying a child support order.

• Marginal note:Registration and recognition

  (3) The decision of the State Party is registered in accordance with the law of the province and that law, including the laws respecting reciprocal enforcement between the province and a jurisdiction outside Canada, applies in respect of the recognition of the decision.

• Marginal note:Enforcement

  (4) A decision that is recognized in accordance with the law of the province is deemed to be an order made under section 17, has legal effect throughout Canada and may be enforced in any manner provided for by the law of that province, including its laws respecting reciprocal enforcement between the province and a jurisdiction outside Canada.

Marginal note:Establishment or variation of child support order or calculation or recalculation of amount

• 28.5 (1) A creditor may, through the Central Authority designated by the State Party in which the creditor resides, submit to the Central Authority in the province in which the debtor is habitually resident an application to be sent to the competent authority in the province.

• Marginal note:Types of applications

  (2) An application may seek

  • (a) to obtain or to vary a child support order; or

  • (b) to have the amount of child support calculated or recalculated, if the provincial child support service in the province in which the debtor habitually resides provides such a service.

• Marginal note:Sending of application

  (3) The Central Authority shall, in accordance with the law of the province, send the application to the competent authority of that province.

• Marginal note:Application of section 19

  (4) Subsections 19(5) to (12) and (16) apply with necessary modifications to the application except that a reference to a “respondent” shall be read as “debtor”, a reference to “designated authority” shall be read as “Central Authority in the province in which the debtor is habitually resident”, a reference to “responsible authority in the designated jurisdiction” shall be read as “Central Authority designated by the State Party in which the creditor resides” and “applicant” shall be read as “creditor”.

• Marginal note:Order

  (5) The court referred to in subsection 19(6) may, on the basis of the evidence and the submissions of the creditor and of the debtor, whether presented orally before the court or by affidavit or any means of telecommunication permitted by the rules regulating the practice and procedure in that court, make a child support order or an order varying a child support order, retroactively or prospectively.

• Marginal note:Application of certain provisions

  (6) Subsections 15.1(3) to (8), section 15.3 and subsections 17(3), (4), (6) to (6.5) and (11) apply, with any necessary modifications, in respect of an order referred to in subsection (5).

• Marginal note:Exception

  (7) Subsections (1) to (6) apply despite sections 4 and 5.

Application of Debtor to Central Authority

Marginal note:Recognition of State Party decision suspending or limiting enforcement of child support order

• 29 (1) A debtor may, through the Central Authority designated by the State Party in which the debtor resides, submit to the Central Authority in the province in which the creditor is habitually resident an application for recognition of a decision of a State Party that has the effect of suspending or limiting the enforcement of a child support order.

• Marginal note:Spousal support order

  (2) A debtor may also in the same manner submit an application for recognition of a decision of a State Party that has the effect of suspending or limiting the enforcement of a spousal support order, if the application is also for recognition of a decision of the State Party that has the effect of suspending or limiting the enforcement of a child support order.

• Marginal note:Registration and recognition

  (3) The decision of the State Party shall be registered in accordance with the law of the province and that law, including the laws respecting reciprocal enforcement between the province and a jurisdiction outside Canada, apply in respect of the recognition of the decision.

• Marginal note:Enforcement

  (4) A decision that is recognized in accordance with the law of the province is deemed to be an order made under section 17, has legal effect throughout Canada and may be enforced in any manner provided for by the law of that province, including its laws respecting reciprocal enforcement between the province and a jurisdiction outside Canada.

Marginal note:Variation of child support order or recalculation of amount

• 29.1 (1) A debtor may, through the Central Authority designated by the State Party in which the debtor resides, submit to the Central Authority in the province in which the creditor is habitually resident an application to be sent to the competent authority in the province.

• Marginal note:Types of applications

  (2) An application may seek

  • (a) to vary a child support order; or

  • (b) to have the amount of child support recalculated, if the provincial child support service in the province in which the creditor habitually resides provides such a service.

• Marginal note:Sending of application

  (3) The Central Authority shall, in accordance with the law of the province, send the application to the competent authority of that province.

• Marginal note:Application of section 19

  (4) Subsections 19(5) to (12) and (16) apply with necessary modifications to the application except that a reference to a “respondent” shall be read as “creditor”, a reference to “designated authority” shall be read as “Central Authority in the province in which the creditor is habitually resident”, a reference to “responsible authority in the designated jurisdiction” shall be read as “Central Authority designated by the State Party in which the debtor resides” and “applicant” shall be read as “debtor”.

• Marginal note:Order

  (5) The court referred to in subsection 19(6) may, on the basis of the evidence and the submissions of the creditor and of the debtor, whether presented orally before the court or by affidavit or any means of telecommunication permitted by the rules regulating the practice and procedure in that court, make an order varying a child support order, retroactively or prospectively.

• Marginal note:Application of certain provisions

  (6) Subsections 17(3), (4), (6) to (6.5) and (11) apply, with any necessary modifications, in respect of an order referred to in subsection (5).

• Marginal note:Exception

  (7) Subsections (1) to (6) apply despite section 5.

Spousal Support Orders

Marginal note:Declaration in respect of a province

29.2 If Canada declares under Article 2 of the 2007 Convention that the application of Chapters II and III of that Convention is to extend, in respect of a province, to spousal support orders, the applications described in sections 28.4 to 29.1 of this Act may also be made in respect of those orders and in that case those sections apply with any necessary modifications.

Application of Creditor to Court

Marginal note:Recognition of State Party decision varying support order

• 29.3 (1) A creditor may submit to a court in the province in which the debtor is habitually resident an application for recognition — and, if applicable, for enforcement — of a decision of a State Party that has the effect of varying a support order.

• Marginal note:Registration and recognition

  (2) The decision of the State Party shall be registered in accordance with the law of the province and that law, including the laws respecting reciprocal enforcement between the province and a jurisdiction outside Canada, applies in respect of the recognition of the decision.

• Marginal note:Enforcement

  (3) A decision that is recognized in accordance with the law of the province is deemed to be an order made under section 17, has legal effect throughout Canada and may be enforced in any manner provided for by the law of that province, including its laws respecting reciprocal enforcement between the province and a jurisdiction outside Canada.

Application of Debtor to Court

Marginal note:Recognition of State Party decision suspending or limiting enforcement of support order

• 29.4 (1) A debtor may submit to a court in the province in which the creditor is habitually resident an application for recognition of a decision of a State Party that has the effect of suspending or limiting the enforcement of a support order.

• Marginal note:Registration and recognition

  (2) The decision of the State Party shall be registered in accordance with the law of the province and that law, including the laws respecting reciprocal enforcement between the province and a jurisdiction outside Canada, applies in respect of the recognition of the decision.

• Marginal note:Enforcement

  (3) A decision that is recognized in accordance with the law of the province is deemed to be an order made under section 17, has legal effect throughout Canada and may be enforced in any manner provided for by the law of that province, including its laws respecting reciprocal enforcement between the province and a jurisdiction outside Canada.

Limits on Divorce Proceedings

Marginal note:Support decision obtained in State Party

• 29.5 (1) If a divorce proceeding is commenced in the province in which the debtor is habitually resident, the court of competent jurisdiction is not authorized to make an order under section 15.1 if the creditor has, in the State Party in which the creditor habitually resides, obtained a decision that requires the debtor to pay for the support of any or all of the children of the marriage.

• Marginal note:Exceptions

  (2) Subsection (1) does not apply if

  • (a) the creditor accepts the jurisdiction of the court, either expressly or by defending on the merits of the case without objecting to the jurisdiction at the first available opportunity;

  • (b) the decision-making authority that made the decision in the State Party has no jurisdiction to vary the decision or make a new one or refuses to exercise its jurisdiction to do so; or

  • (c) the decision cannot be recognized or declared enforceable in the province in which the debtor is habitually resident.

Convention on Jurisdiction, Applicable Law, Recognition, Enforcement and Co-operation in Respect of Parental Responsibility and Measures for the Protection of Children

Definitions

Marginal note:Definitions

30 The following definitions apply in this section and in sections 30.1 to 31.3.

1996 Convention

1996 Convention means the Convention on Jurisdiction, Applicable Law, Recognition, Enforcement and Co-operation in Respect of Parental Responsibility and Measures for the Protection of Children, concluded at The Hague on October 19, 1996, set out in the schedule. (Convention de 1996)

State Party

State Party means a State other than Canada in which the 1996 Convention applies. (État partie)

Implementation, Interpretation and Application of the 1996 Convention

Marginal note:Force of law

• 30.1 (1) The provisions of the 1996 Convention have the force of law in Canada in so far as they relate to subjects that fall within the legislative competence of Parliament.

• Marginal note:Inconsistency

  (2) The 1996 Convention prevails over this Act and any other federal law to the extent of any inconsistency between them.

Marginal note:Explanatory Report

30.2 In interpreting the 1996 Convention, recourse may be had to the Explanatory Report on the 1996 Hague Child Protection Convention, adopted by the Eighteenth Session of the Hague Conference on Private International Law that was held from September 30 to October 19, 1996.

Marginal note:Application

30.3 Sections 30.4 to 31.3 only apply in a province if

• (a) Canada has made a declaration extending the application of the 1996 Convention to that province; and

• (b) the child of the marriage concerned is under 18 years of age.

Jurisdiction

Marginal note:Child habitually resident in State Party

30.4 If a child concerned is habitually resident in a State Party, a court in a province does not have jurisdiction to hear and determine an application in respect of the child for a parenting order, a contact order or a variation order in respect of either such order, except in the circumstances set out in section 30.6, 30.7, 30.9 or 31.

Marginal note:Wrongful removal or retention

30.5 In the case of a wrongful removal or retention, as defined in Article 7(2) of the 1996 Convention, a court in a province has jurisdiction to hear and determine an application for a parenting order, a contact order or a variation order in respect of such orders only if the child has become habitually resident in that province and the conditions set out in subparagraphs 7(1)(a) or (b) of that Convention have been met.

Marginal note:Child present in province

30.6 If one or more of the circumstances set out in Article 6 of the 1996 Convention exist and the child is present in a province, a court in that province that would otherwise have jurisdiction under any of sections 3 to 5 of this Act has jurisdiction to hear and determine an application in respect of the child for a parenting order, a contact order or a variation order in respect of either such order.

Marginal note:Divorce proceeding — child habitually resident in State Party

• 30.7 (1) For the purposes of Article 10 of the 1996 Convention, if the child is habitually resident in a State Party, a court in a province that would otherwise have jurisdiction under section 3 of this Act has jurisdiction to make a parenting order or contact order in respect of the child if

  • (a) at least one of the spouses has parental responsibility in respect of the child;

  • (b) the spouses and any other person who has parental responsibility accept the jurisdiction of the court; and

  • (c) the court is satisfied that it is in the best interests of the child to exercise jurisdiction.

• Marginal note:Definition of parental responsibility

  (2) For the purposes of subsection (1), parental responsibility has the same meaning as in Article 1(2) of the 1996 Convention.

Transfer of Jurisdiction

Marginal note:State Party better placed to assess child’s best interests

30.8 For the purposes of Articles 8 and 9 of the 1996 Convention, a court in the province in which a child is habitually resident that would otherwise have jurisdiction under any of sections 3 to 6 of this Act, or that has jurisdiction under section 30.6 of this Act, may decline to exercise jurisdiction to make, in respect of the child, a parenting order, a contact order or a variation order in respect of such an order if the conditions of Article 8 or 9, as the case may be, are fulfilled and there is agreement between the court and the competent authority of a State Party that the latter will have jurisdiction.

Marginal note:Canadian court better placed to assess child’s best interests

30.9 For the purposes of Articles 8 and 9 of the 1996 Convention, only the court in a province that would otherwise have jurisdiction under any of sections 3 to 5 of this Act may exercise jurisdiction to make a parenting order, a contact order or a variation order in respect of such orders if the conditions of Article 8 or 9, as the case may be, are fulfilled and there is agreement between the competent authority of a State Party and the court that the latter will have jurisdiction.

Urgency

Marginal note:Urgent cases

31 For the purposes of Article 11 of the 1996 Convention, a court in a province that does not have jurisdiction under sections 30.4 to 30.9 of this Act but that would otherwise have jurisdiction under any of sections 3 to 5 of this Act, may, in urgent cases, make a parenting order, a contact order or a variation order in respect of either such order if the child who would be the subject of the order is present in that province.

Recognition

Marginal note:Recognition by operation of law

• 31.1 (1) For the purposes of Article 23 of the 1996 Convention, a measure taken by a competent authority of a State Party is a measure that has the effect of varying, rescinding or suspending a parenting order or contact order.

• Marginal note:Measure taken deemed to be variation order

  (2) A measure taken by a competent authority of a State Party that is recognized by operation of law under Article 23(1) of the 1996 Convention is deemed to be an order made under section 17 of this Act.

• Marginal note:Extent of validity

  (3) Despite subsection 20(2), the measure referred to in subsection (2) is valid only in any province to which the 1996 Convention applies.

Marginal note:Jurisdiction respecting recognition

• 31.2 (1) For the purposes of Article 24 of the 1996 Convention and on application by an interested person, a court in a province has jurisdiction to decide on the recognition of a measure referred to in section 31.1 of this Act if there is a sufficient connection between the matter and the province.

• Marginal note:Effect of recognition

  (2) The court’s decision recognizing the measure is deemed to be an order made under section 17 and has legal effect throughout Canada.

• Marginal note:Effect of non-recognition

  (3) The court’s decision refusing to recognize the measure has legal effect throughout Canada.

Marginal note:Enforcement

31.3 For the purposes of Article 26 of the 1996 Convention, a measure taken by a competent authority of a State Party that is enforceable in that State Party and that is to be enforced in a province may, on application by an interested person,

• (a) be declared to be enforceable by a court in the province and enforced in that province as an order of that court; or

• (b) be registered for the purposes of enforcement in the court in that province and enforced in that province as an order of that court.