BACKGROUND
The parties met in 2014 and had one child together. The Applicant Mother brought an Application for a restraining order and parenting orders as well as child support via an Amended Application. The Respondent Father worked as a personal fitness trainer and was a Paralympian in track and field as well as a Senior Carded Athlete with Sports Canada. The parties entered into a Consent Order in 2024 for interim child support, based on the Respondent Father’s claimed income of $31,000. The Applicant Mother then sought retroactive child support prior to that Consent Order, and argued his income should be imputed as higher than $31,000
ISSUES
- Should there be retroactive child support ordered agaisnt the Respondent Father?
- If so, should an income be imputed to the Respondent Father and in what amount?
- Should any portion of athletic grants the Respondent Father received through Sports Canada be imputed to him and grossed up as non-taxable income?
ANALYSIS
Start Date of Retroactive Child Support
The Applicant Mother gave effective notice that she was seeking child support to the Respondent Father verbally on November 30, 2018. She then gave formal notice to the Respondent Father that she was seeking child support, in her Case Conference Brief, on April 17, 2024.
Because the presumptive start date for retroactive child support cannot be more than three years from the date of formal notice, the court therefore set the set the start date for retroactive child support at April 17, 2021. For ease of enforcement, the Court ruled that the start date would be May 1, 2021 which was the first day of the month after the presumptive start date.
Imputation of Income
The Court then pivoted to determine the Respondent Father’s appropriate income during the retroactive period. Though the Respondent Father claimed his income was $31,148 in 2023, he received non-taxable grants from Sports Canada in the amount of $5,295. He also claimed his income in 2024 was approximately $24,000, though he received $15,875 in Sports Canada grants. The Applicant Mother sought to include same in his income for support purposes.
The Court looked to Section 19(1)(h) of the Child Support Guidelines, which permits the Court to impute income to a payor where they derive a significant portion of their income from tax-exempt sources.
The Court then reviewed the nature of the Sports Canada grants. They noted that a “Carded Athlete” is given financial support to reduce their need for employment while they train and they can receive tuition support while attending post-secondary education.
The Court commented that they likely would have excluded portions of the grants if they were used for certain purposes like paying for coaching or competition fees. Since the Respondent Father provided no evidence they were used for such purposes, an adverse inference was drawn agaisnt him, and the grants were included in his income.
The Respondent Father did not receive any Sports Canada grants in 2025, but the Applicant Mother sought to impute him minimum wage for that year. Because he failed to provide financial disclosure, the Court drew another adverse inference agaisnt him and imputed him an income of $35,000 for 2025. This was a reasonable income to attribute to a personal trainer, which was the job he had previously worked.
CONCLUSION
The Sports Canada grants that the Respondent Father received in 2023 and 2024 were grossed up and included in his income for support purposes.
After imputing his income in the amount of $35,000 for 2025 and accounting for the minimal child support payments he did make, the Court ordered the Respondent Father to pay $12,431.26 in child support arrears.
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