Family Responsibility Office (FRO)
The Family Responsibility Office is an Ontario agency that enforces court orders and agreements for spousal and child support. When a support order is filed with the FRO, the office takes responsibility for collection — receiving payments from the payor and forwarding them to the recipient. Where the payor falls behind, the FRO has broad enforcement powers that can intersect with criminal matters in important ways.
Mass Tsang LLP does not practice family law, but the firm's criminal lawyers are familiar with the FRO landscape where it bears on criminal files.
Enforcement tools
FRO enforcement tools include: garnishment of wages, bank accounts, and EI benefits; interception of tax refunds and lottery winnings; reporting to credit bureaus; suspension of driver's licences; suspension of passport, federal licences, and CRA-issued numbers; vehicle and other asset seizure; and bringing the matter before the court for further enforcement. The tools combine to create significant leverage on payors in arrears.
Default hearings and contempt
Where arrears accumulate and informal enforcement fails, the FRO can bring the payor before the court for a default hearing. The court can order payment plans, find the payor in contempt, or — in extreme cases — order imprisonment for non-payment. The Charter requires that imprisonment for non-payment be conditioned on a finding that the payor has the ability to pay and is wilfully refusing to do so, not on mere inability.
Intersection with criminal matters
FRO matters intersect with criminal practice in several ways. A driver's licence suspended by the FRO is, for criminal driving purposes, a valid suspension — driving during the suspension supports a section 320.18 charge of driving while disqualified. Conversely, criminal-driving prohibitions do not satisfy FRO arrears. Bail conditions in domestic-violence cases sometimes need to be coordinated with the parties' family-law obligations. Some custody-and-access disputes spill into criminal allegations (criminal harassment, threats, breach of court order).
Strategy for clients with FRO issues
Where a criminal client has parallel FRO issues, the criminal defence strategy must take FRO consequences into account. Avoiding a custodial sentence is often more important than usual where FRO obligations would continue accruing during incarceration. Avoiding a driving prohibition matters where the client needs to maintain employment to fund FRO payments. Where the FRO is the source of a licence suspension, restoration of payments can lead to reinstatement.
Related glossary terms
