DCL-02-18, Changes in Canadian Reciprocal Family Support Legislation and Procedures

DCL-02-18

DATE: July 25, 2002

TO: ALL STATE IV-D DIRECTORS

RE: Changes in Canadian Reciprocal Family Support Legislation and Procedures

Dear Colleague:

The Canadian Federal Provincial Territorial Reciprocal Enforcement of Maintenance/Support Orders Working Group has sent the enclosed letter to each of its foreign reciprocating jurisdictions. The Working Group, composed of representatives of each province and territory, is charged with enhancing and unifying child support laws within Canada. The Working Group has asked us to forward this information to each U.S. state child support agency.

Similar to U.S. states’ adoption of the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act, each Canadian jurisdiction is in the process of preparing new laws and procedures to deal with the establishment, registration, and modification of reciprocal support orders. The Working Group’s letter provides an update on the changes that you can expect in provincial/territorial laws and procedures, as well as a list of contacts in each province and territory. In distributing the enclosed letter, we have been asked to advise you of the following:

The effect of the new laws and procedures, which will replace the current provisional order process with a U.S.-like application, should be seen by early 2003 rather than by "the autumn of this year" as indicated in the second paragraph.
As each province/territory's law is enacted, it will be sent to the U.S. Central Authority for International Child Support for distribution to each U.S. state. We hope that the new laws will also be available electronically.
Individual U.S. states need not respond to the request for contact information and other questions on page 3 of the letter, because the U.S. Central Authority has responded on your behalf. The questions were targeted at the non-U.S. jurisdictions with which the provinces/territories have reciprocity. Please note that the Canadian jurisdictions obtain the most current U.S. contact information from the online Interstate Resource and Referral Guide (IRG) at http://ocse3.acf.hhs.gov/ext/irg/sps/selectastate.cfm, which you should ensure is up to date for your state.

We are pleased to convey this information on upcoming improvements in Canadian laws and procedures that complement the progress we are making in achieving Federal-level reciprocity

with Canadian provinces and territories. We look forward to your cooperation and support of our colleagues across the border as they transition to new ways of cooperation.

Sincerely,

Sherri Z. Heller, Ed.D.
Commissioner
Office of Child Support Enforcement

Enclosure

Letter from the Canadian Federal Provincial Territorial Reciprocal Enforcement of Maintenance/Support Orders Working Group

Contacts and Provinces