Maintenance Enforcement Survey: Child and spousal support

The report Child and spousal support: Maintenance Enforcement Survey statistics, 2001/02 provides data on the collection and enforcement of child and spousal support payments.

Maintenance enforcement programs were created in each province and territory during the 1980s and 1990s to assist recipients in obtaining their support payments without having to go before the courts. Data are collected directly from the maintenance enforcement programs.

These programs vary in a number of important aspects, including client profile, enforcement powers and practices, the enrolment process, how payments are handled and registered, and the responsibilities of recipients. These differences have important implications for interpreting the survey data.

It is estimated that these programs handle less than one-half of all support orders and agreements in Canada. In some provinces, all support orders and agreements are registered with the maintenance enforcement program; in others, enrolment is voluntary. In the latter situation, it is the more difficult cases - those in arrears or default - that tend to be registered.

This report includes data for six provinces: Ontario and Quebec, which have mandatory registration, and British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Prince Edward Island, which have voluntary registration. Combined, these six provinces represent about 90% of Canada's population.

As of March 31, 2002, there were nearly 362,000 cases enrolled in a maintenance enforcement program in the six reporting provinces. These included 2,100 cases in Prince Edward Island, 94,100 in Quebec, 172,100 in Ontario, 7,900 in Saskatchewan, 45,500 in Alberta and 40,100 in British Columbia.

The level of enrolment varied from month to month, but appeared to be increasing. Compared with April 2000, the caseload in March 2002 was up 19% in Prince Edward Island, 7% in Alberta and 6% in British Columbia. Quebec's caseload was up 18% from May 2000.

In Ontario, enrolment was up a marginal 1%, while in Saskatchewan, enrolment declined 2%.

The majority of cases involved a support amount for children. On March 31, 2002, 97% of cases registered with the maintenance enforcement program in British Columbia included a support amount for children, as did 90% of cases in Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan, 81% in Alberta and 75% in Ontario.

For all six reporting provinces, more than one-half of registered cases had a regular monthly payment between $1 and $400. This was the situation for 52% of cases in Ontario, 53% in Alberta, 58% in Quebec, 66% in British Columbia, 67% in Saskatchewan, and 69% in Prince Edward Island.

There are many ways of looking at compliance with support orders. One measure considers the amount paid as a proportion of the regularly scheduled amount due. In 2001/02, Prince Edward Island collected 69% of the money that was due in the form of regular monthly payments; British Columbia collected 71% and Saskatchewan, 79%.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 3324.

The report Child and spousal support: Maintenance Enforcement Survey statistics, 2001/02 (85-228-XIE, $27) is now available.

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Information and Client Services (1-800-387-2231; 613-951-9023), Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.