Law360 Canada (June 4, 2026, 4:17 PM EDT) --

Jasmine Daya

As a civil litigation lawyer who has practised in Ontario for more than two decades, I have spent much of my career navigating the province’s justice system.

Over the years, I have been vocal about the challenges facing Ontario’s courts, including growing backlogs, procedural delays and the difficulties lawyers and self-represented litigants often encounter when seeking assistance from court staff. Like many members of the legal profession, I have advocated for modernization and improved access to justice.

However, as concerning as those issues may be, they pale in comparison to what I have personally witnessed and experienced while attempting to navigate Ontario’s Family Responsibility Office (FRO).

The FRO performs one of the most important functions in Ontario’s family justice system. It is responsible for collecting, distributing and enforcing court-ordered child and spousal support payments. For many families, support payments are not discretionary income. They are relied upon to pay rent, purchase groceries, cover educational expenses and provide stability for children.

When enforcement systems function effectively, families benefit. When they do not, the consequences can be significant. My own experience attempting to register and enforce a support order has now stretched beyond eight months.

The process began in August 2025 when the required documentation was submitted by fax. I chose fax transmission because FRO does not accept documents by email and I was concerned that regular mail could be delayed or “lost.” Like many Ontarians, I assumed that once the documentation was received, the file would proceed through the registration process and that I would be provided with the information necessary to monitor its status.

That did not happen. Months later, I received a letter requesting information that had already been provided. I responded and resubmitted the materials. Since then, I have received no substantive update.

As of the date of writing, approximately eight months after the process began, I still do not have the access code required to view my file online. I have no meaningful information regarding the status of the enforcement process. In practical terms, I have little more information today than I did when I first submitted the documents.

The communication challenges have been equally concerning. Like many Ontarians, I spent hours on hold attempting to reach someone who could provide assistance. At one point in early December 2025, out of equal parts frustration and curiosity, I began calling FRO each morning during my commute to work. Upon arriving at the office, I would hand my phone to an assistant and ask her to remain on the line while she worked. For approximately two weeks, this became part of our daily routine.

Day after day, hours would pass while the same elevator music played in the background. Eventually the calls would disconnect or drop. Not once during that period did we successfully reach a representative.

As my frustration grew, I consulted experienced family law practitioners to determine whether my experience was unusual. Unfortunately, it was not. The consistent response was that lengthy delays, communication difficulties and challenges obtaining timely assistance from FRO are concerns that many family law lawyers encounter when assisting clients. While these conversations were anecdotal, the uniformity of the responses was striking and suggested that the issues may be more systemic than isolated.

The reality is that I have resources that many Ontarians do not. I have legal training. I have administrative support. I know who is responsible for what and what should be obtained from where and from whom. Despite this, I have been unsuccessful, which begs the question: how can we expect the average person to navigate FRO?

The single parent working multiple jobs, the recipient relying on support payments to purchase food, or the nervous self-represented litigant attempting to navigate the system alone cannot reasonably be expected to spend hours each week waiting on hold in the hope that a call might eventually be answered.

When access to assistance becomes this difficult, the issue ceases to be an inconvenience and becomes a barrier to justice. The challenges facing FRO are not merely anecdotal. Oversight bodies have been raising concerns for years.

Ontario’s auditor general has previously reported significant delays in the registration and enforcement of support orders, noting that such delays can create hardship for recipients awaiting support payments. The auditor general also identified concerns relating to enforcement timeliness, case management practices and administrative inefficiencies. More recently, the auditor general undertook a further review of FRO operations, demonstrating that concerns regarding service delivery remain sufficiently significant to warrant continued scrutiny.

Likewise, complaints relating to FRO have repeatedly appeared in reports issued by the Ontario Ombudsman. The Ombudsman has historically received substantial numbers of complaints regarding delays, communication challenges, customer service issues and enforcement concerns involving the organization.

One fundamental question I have had throughout this process is why Ontarians in 2026 are still being required to use fax machines, regular mail and hours-long telephone queues that are only available during business hours to interact with a government agency responsible for enforcing child support. Interactions with FRO continue to depend upon communication methods that feel increasingly disconnected from modern expectations.

The solution is not complicated. Technology is available to completely overhaul the system and benefit Ontarians. For example, if Ontarians could upload documents from the outset, artificial intelligence could review and advise the applicant within seconds of what is missing or what documents are incorrect.

Family law litigants already face significant emotional and financial burdens. The enforcement system should reduce those burdens, not add to them. The Family Responsibility Office performs essential work. There is no question that the service is necessary. The question is whether Ontario is prepared to provide that service using the tools, technology and accessibility standards that Ontarians should reasonably expect in 2026.

Families who rely upon child support deserve nothing less.

Jasmine Daya is a civil litigation lawyer practising in the area of personal injury law at her firm, JD & Co., in Toronto and is co-owner of Geraci LLP.

The opinions expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the views of the author’s firm, its clients, Law360 Canada, LexisNexis Canada or any of its or their respective affiliates. This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal advice.

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