Bill implementing international convention will apply where a party lives outside the province
The Saskatchewan government has announced the introduction of Bill No. 30 – the Inter-jurisdictional Support Orders Amendment Act, 2025 – which implements the Hague Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance.
According to a news release from the Saskatchewan government, the Convention’s clear rules provide a system of cooperation among participating countries to establish, recognize, alter, and enforce child support orders and agreements.
Per Saskatchewan’s news release, through implementing the Convention, the legislation seeks to:
- Improve the enforcement of child support orders across national and international jurisdictions in situations where one of the parties resides outside the province
- Enable the enforcement in Saskatchewan of child support orders made in other countries
- Permit the enforcement in other countries of child support orders made in the province
- Ensure that children in Saskatchewan feel safe, secure, and supported
“When separated families have connections across different countries it can quickly become unclear what processes should be followed to resolve family law issues,” said Tim McLeod, Saskatchewan’s justice minister and attorney general.
In the news release, McLeod explained that the legislation implementing the Convention aims to add a mechanism for creating and enforcing child support orders across provincial and national boundaries, thereby helping children receive the support they require to thrive.
According to the bill’s explanatory notes, the legislation will:
- Provide that the Convention will be law in Saskatchewan on and after the day it comes into force in the province
- If a contracting state is also a reciprocating jurisdiction, deem Saskatchewan and the reciprocating jurisdiction as having a reciprocity arrangement under article 52 of the Convention
- State the procedure for Convention applications made to the central authority
- Not require an applicant or a child to attend a hearing pursuant to the Convention
More on Convention
Since the establishment of the Convention (also known as the Hague Maintenance Convention or the Hague Child Support Convention) in 2013, 56 countries – including Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, the US, and multiple European nations – have signed and implemented it.
In ratifying the Convention in October 2023, Canada enabled its provinces to implement it through provincial legislation and their own family law systems. Saskatchewan has joined Manitoba, Ontario, and BC in recently doing so.
In its news release, Saskatchewan expressed its support for Canada’s participation in the Hague Conference. This international body aims to advance cooperation in family law, civil procedures, and other legal areas.
In 2024, the province joined Canada’s other jurisdictions in implementing the Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents (Apostille Convention), which sought to ensure streamlined authentication requirements and consistent standards for birth certificates and other public documents used abroad.
