Federal and provincial laws give the OSE the authority to use various methods to collect overdue support payments. These methods include, but are not limited to the following:
- Initiate a Payment Order. Some examples of monies that can be garnished include: wages, pensions, income tax refunds, GST credits, workers’ compensation benefits, and bank accounts, including jointly held accounts;
- Demand information about a payer’s location, contact information, salary, employment, assets, or any other information that is considered necessary to enforce the order. The information demands can be made to anyone and may be done through direct searches of designated information banks. Information demanded must be provided within 14 days;
- Report a payer to a credit bureau if the payer owes an amount greater than three months of support payments;
- Suspend or revoke a payer’s driver's licence if the payer owes an amount greater than four months of support payments;
- Make corporations liable for support owed by a payer if the payer or the payer’s family owns the corporation;
- Ask the federal government to suspend, refuse to issue, or refuse to renew the payer’s passport and/or federal aviation or marine licence if the payer owes an amount greater than three months of support payments OR greater than $3,000;
- Bring the case to Court for a Judge or Court Administrator to decide on additional enforcement action. This is called an enforcement hearing.