Section 7 special or extraordinary expenses explained

Section 7 expenses can include child care, medical costs, some education costs and certain extracurricular expenses — but not every child-related cost automatically qualifies.

What kinds of expenses can fall under section 7?

The Federal Child Support Guidelines list categories that can be covered by a child-support order. They include child-care expenses related to employment, illness, disability or employment education/training; certain medical and dental insurance premiums; health-related expenses above the regulatory threshold; extraordinary educational expenses; post-secondary education; and extraordinary extracurricular expenses.

The category matters. Calling something “for the child” does not automatically make it a section 7 expense.

The expense must also be necessary and reasonable

Section 7 tells the court to consider the necessity of the expense in relation to the child's best interests and the reasonableness of the expense in relation to the means of the spouses and child and the family's spending pattern before separation.

This is why parents can genuinely disagree about an activity even when everyone agrees the activity costs a certain amount. The dispute may be about whether the expense qualifies, whether the amount is reasonable, or whether it should have been discussed in advance.

“Extraordinary” has a specific meaning for some categories

That is why a $300 activity can be ordinary in one family and disputed as extraordinary in another. The label does not come from the name of the activity; it comes from the guideline test applied to the family's circumstances.

For extraordinary educational and extracurricular expenses, the Guidelines include a definition of “extraordinary.” The court can look at whether the requesting parent could reasonably cover the expense after considering income and table support. It can also consider the amount of the expense, the number and nature of programs or activities, the child's special needs or talents, the overall cost and similar factors.

Use the net expense, not always the sticker price

Justice Canada's Worksheet 2 says special or extraordinary expenses should be calculated as net amounts. Subsidies, benefits, reimbursements and relevant tax deductions or credits can reduce the amount that is actually shared.

If child care costs $8,000 but a subsidy or tax benefit effectively reduces the net cost, simply splitting $8,000 by income can overstate the amount.

How proportional sharing works

After the net amount is identified, the Guidelines commonly use the parties' incomes to estimate their respective shares. However, the Worksheet 2 process uses guideline income information and contains adjustments in some circumstances. Shared parenting also introduces additional discretion.

The Section 7 proportional-share calculator handles the simple arithmetic layer only. It lets you subtract reimbursements and then split the remaining amount proportionally. It does not decide whether the expense qualifies or calculate every tax or income adjustment in Worksheet 2.

For example, if the net qualifying expense is $2,000 and the guideline incomes used for the calculation are $70,000 and $30,000, a simple proportional starting point would be 70% and 30%. But that example assumes the expense qualifies and the income figures are the right ones. Those are separate legal questions.

Section 7 says the guiding principle is that the expense is shared in proportion to the spouses' respective incomes after deducting any contribution from the child. The Guidelines also require relevant subsidies, benefits and income-tax deductions or credits to be taken into account.

Document the expense clearly

For practical purposes, keep invoices, receipts, subsidy information and any written discussion about the expense. If an agreement or order is going to make a section 7 contribution enforceable, Justice Canada's guidance notes the value of specifying the dollar amount or share clearly.

Keeping a simple annual spreadsheet of the expense, reimbursement, net amount and each parent's share can prevent a surprising amount of later conflict.

Talk about expenses before they happen when possible

Many disputes are not really about multiplication. They are about whether an expense was agreed to, whether it was necessary, whether a cheaper option existed, or whether one parent committed to a large activity without discussion. If your agreement or order has a process for advance consent, receipts or reimbursement deadlines, follow it.