Family law · Spousal support
SSAG income ceiling and floor check.
Enter the payor's gross annual income to see whether the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines formulas apply automatically, and how much of the income sits above the ceiling.
The SSAG formulas apply between a payor gross income of $20,000 (the floor) and $350,000 (the ceiling). Above the ceiling support can and often will go higher, case by case. Below the floor there should generally be no spousal support.
Inputs
Income check
Enter an income and press Calculate.
What the ceiling and floor mean
Ceiling. The ceiling is a gross annual payor income of $350,000. The guidelines say the formulas should no longer be automatically applied to divide income beyond that threshold, but it is not a cap: spousal support can and often will increase for income above it, on a case-by-case basis. The formulas stay available as one method of arriving at an amount. For the with child support formula, the guidelines describe a "minimum plus" approach, where the formula sets a minimum at the ceiling and a court may add to it, as an alternative to pure discretion.
Floor. There should generally not be any amount of spousal support payable until the payor's gross income exceeds $20,000 per year, and below that the amount and duration formulas do not operate. There may be exceptional cases where support is paid. Between $20,000 and $30,000 there is no presumption against support, but the lower end of the formula ranges may need to be reduced for ability to pay.
Both limits are the figures published in the 2008 guidelines.
Frequently asked questions
What is the SSAG income ceiling?
A gross annual payor income of $350,000. Above it the formulas are not automatically applied to the extra income, and the guidelines say support can and often will increase above that level on a case-by-case basis.
What is the SSAG income floor?
A gross annual payor income of $20,000. Below it the guidelines say the amount and duration formulas do not operate and there should generally not be any amount of spousal support payable, although exceptional cases may exist.
Does spousal support stop above $350,000?
No. The ceiling is not a cap. It marks where the formulas stop applying automatically, and a court can set a higher or the same amount.
Do these limits apply to both SSAG formulas?
Chapter 11 sets the ceiling and floor for the formulas generally, and describes how the ceiling works separately for the without child support and with child support formulas.
What happens between $20,000 and $30,000?
The guidelines say there is no presumption against support in that range, but the lower end of the formula ranges may need to be reduced for the payor's ability to pay.
Sources
Checked
- Justice Canada: Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines (July 2008), ch. 11, ceilings and floors
- Justice Canada: Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines (July 2008), ch. 7, the without child support formula
The $350,000 ceiling, $20,000 floor and the $20,000 to $30,000 comment are from chapter 11 of the 2008 guidelines. Runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you type is sent or stored.
Estimate only — not legal or tax advice
This tool only classifies an income against two published reference points. It does not calculate support, test entitlement or predict what a court will order.