Case information

Family law — Spousal support — What procedural fairness protections should be in place when an appeal court interprets a prior decision as binding on the basis of horizontal stare decisis — Whether the applicant should be given an opportunity to argue the issue before a super panel — How should the broad interpretation of means adopted in Leskun v. Leskun, 2006 SCC 25 and Strang v. Strang, [1992] 2 S.C.R. 112, be implemented when appropriate levels of support are almost exclusively determined by guideline calculations — Whether all sources of income or means no matter how characterized, be translated into guidelines income.

Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

Following a 23-year marriage, a final order of spousal support was ordered in favour of the applicant. The order allowed for a review of spousal support after the youngest of the parties’ three children was no longer dependent, or in the event of a material change of circumstances. The youngest child achieved independence in 2020 and the applicant initiated a review. She sought $1,763 in monthly spousal support until she reached the age of 65, based on an updated income for the respondent. She also sought retroactive spousal and child support. In response, the respondent asked that his obligation to pay spousal support be terminated. The reviewing judge declined to terminate spousal support, but did not agree with the amount sought by the applicant. The judge ordered that effective August, 1, 2022, the respondent pay $838 per month in spousal support until October 2031. The judge also ordered $13,977 in retroactive spousal support and $6,277 in retroactive child support. The Court of Appeal dismissed the respondent’s appeal and the applicant’s cross-appeal.