McGuinty Government Makes Ontario A Leader In Enforcing Family Support Payments

June 9, 2005

New Law Will Mean Tougher Enforcement, Improved Fairness And Enhanced Efficiency At The Family Responsibility Office

TORONTO – Ontario is set to become a national leader in enforcing family support payments thanks to new legislation that gives stronger enforcement authority to the Family Responsibility Office (FRO), Minister of Community and Social Services Sandra Pupatello announced today.

"This legislation will help the FRO crack down on the worst offenders who are ignoring their

court-ordered support payments," said Pupatello. "This legislation is just one of our initiatives that will help the FRO get families the money they are owed."

The legislation will:

Increase enforcement by extending the maximum jail term for failure to comply with court orders.
Improve fairness by allowing the FRO to enforce a lesser amount of support when the number of children entitled to support decreases.
Enhance efficiency by encouraging employers and other income sources to send payments to the FRO electronically.

The government will phase in the legislation over the next 24 months to coincide with other operational changes that are being put in place at the FRO, including an overhaul of the FRO's technology.

"We are pleased to see the government's commitment delivered with the passage of this bill," said Renate Diorio, Founder of Families Against Deadbeats (FAD). "This move will ensure that Ontario families finally get what they deserve."

In addition to the legislative and technology changes, the government has implemented a broad range of service improvements at the FRO that have resulted in:

Almost 200,000 additional calls handled by the FRO's new customer service unit since February 2004, a 36 per cent increase.
Over $112 million being collected as a result of the credit bureau initiative. This initiative informs support payors who are in arrears that they may be reported to the credit bureau.

"Today we are taking a giant step forward to make parents live up to their family responsibilities, while at the same time making the system fairer for the majority of parents who do live up to their support obligations," said Pupatello. "Finally, after many years and calls for change, the FRO will have the tools it needs to make sure people live up to their support obligations."

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