Vol. 137, No. 21 — October 8, 2003

Registration
SOR/2003-324 25 September, 2003

FAMILY ORDERS AND AGREEMENTS ENFORCEMENT ASSISTANCE ACT

P.C. 2003-1419 25 September, 2003

Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Justice, pursuant to section 61 (see footnote a)  of the Family Orders and Agreements Enforcement Assistance Act (see footnote b) , hereby makes the annexed Regulations Amending the Family Support Orders and Agreements Garnishment Regulations.

REGULATIONS AMENDING THE FAMILY SUPPORT ORDERS AND AGREEMENTS GARNISHMENT REGULATIONS

AMENDMENT

1. Paragraph 3(a) of the Family Support Orders and Agreements Garnishment Regulations (see footnote 1)  is replaced by the following:

(a) sections 164 and 216 of the Income Tax Act as they relate to the personal return of income of a taxpayer, for a particular taxation year, excluding subsection 164(1.4) of that Act when it applies with respect to an amount payable pursuant to provincial income tax legislation that specifically excludes that amount from garnishment for the purposes of the Act;

COMING INTO FORCE

2. These Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered.

REGULATORY IMPACT
ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the Regulations.)

Description

Part II of the Family Orders and Agreements Enforcement Assistance Act (Act) provides for the garnishment of designated federal monies to satisfy support orders and provisions.

The Regulations developed pursuant to the Act set out which federal monies can be intercepted, establish a fee for the administration of applications to the interception service, and define the application and interception processes.

The federal monies that can be intercepted may include a refund on account of taxes imposed by a province or as a result of a deduction in computing the taxes imposed by a province and when the Government of Canada has agreed to make the refund on behalf of the province. Some provinces have expressly excluded a refund of certain amounts from garnishment, for example their equivalent to the Canadian Child Tax Benefit, in their respective income tax legislation.

The amendment would ensure that certain provincial payments, expressly excluded from garnishment in the provincial legislation (e.g., the equivalent of the Canadian Child Tax Benefit) are not garnished by the federal government to satisfy support orders and provisions. This change is minor and technical in nature.

Alternatives

This amendment will provide a uniform and consistent treatment of all child tax benefits throughout Canada by ensuring that none can be garnisheed to satisfy support orders and provisions. Without this amendment the treatment of monies payable but excluded from garnishment in certain provinces (for example child tax benefits) could vary and create inconsistencies. This amendment will also avoid the need to proceed to subsequent amendments to the Regulations as other provinces amend their income tax legislation to expressly exclude amounts payable from garnishment. Proceeding on a case-by-case basis as provinces amend their legislation would be inefficient and incur greater costs.

Benefits and Costs

This amendment has no cost implications for the program. The benefit is that it will eliminate any ambiguity surrounding what constitutes "garnishable monies" under the Act. With this amendment it will now be clear that any monies payable under a provincial Act, which are expressly excluded from garnishment in that legislation, are not available for garnishment pursuant to the Act.

Consultation

The Regulations were developed through ongoing discussions with the provinces since the spring of 1996. In addition, the Department has consulted with Canada Customs and Revenue Agency and the Family Law Assistance Section.

This regulation was pre-published in the Canada Gazette, Part I, on May 31, 2003 and no comments were received.

Compliance and Enforcement

Compliance will continue to be ensured through the Family Law Assistance Section, as this amendment will have no impact on its operation.

Contact

Danièle Ménard
Legal counsel — Coordinator
Support Enforcement Policy and Implementation
Family, Children and Youth
Department of Justice
Ottawa (Ontario)
K1A 0H8
Telephone: (613) 957-0229
E-mail: daniele.menard@justice.gc.ca

Footnote a 

S.C. 1993, c. 8, s. 18

Footnote b 

R.S., c. 4 (2nd Supp.)

Footnote 1 

SOR/88-181

NOTICE:
The format of the electronic version of this issue of the Canada Gazette was modified in order to be compatible with hypertext language (HTML). Its content is very similar except for the footnotes, the symbols and the tables.

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