Bill 30 (The Inter-jurisdictional Support Orders Amendment Act, 2025)
Second Reading

From Hansard (5 November 2025)

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Hon. Tim McLeod: — Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to move second reading of The Inter-jurisdictional Support Orders Amendment Act, 2025.

Mr. Speaker, Saskatchewan parents seeking to obtain, vary, or enforce child support orders should be able to benefit from all available legal avenues. The primary change to the legislation is the addition of the 2007 Hague Convention on Maintenance.

Since 2003, in support order situations where one parent lives outside Saskatchewan, they have been able to rely on the provisions of The Inter-jurisdictional Support Orders Act. This Act establishes a procedure for obtaining, varying, or enforcing a support order where one parent lives in Saskatchewan and the other parent lives in another Canadian jurisdiction.

The Act also applies in 25 other reciprocating jurisdictions as designated within the regulations, Mr. Speaker. However the last time a new reciprocating jurisdiction was added to the list was 2007. Mr. Speaker, since 2007, 56 countries have adopted the Hague Convention to simplify obtaining, varying, or enforcing child support orders where parents live in different countries. With the introduction of the 2007 Hague Convention, many signatories to that convention have declined to enter into reciprocal agreements under The Inter-jurisdictional Support Orders Act.

Many Saskatchewan families have connections to more than one country. In many of those countries the Hague Convention applies, but the inter-jurisdictional support order process does not. By adopting the 2007 Hague Convention on Maintenance, we will expand the options available to Saskatchewan parents to obtain, enforce, or vary child support orders. This will ensure Saskatchewan parents have multiple options to ensure support for their children.

Mr. Speaker, the proposed amendments will not change the existing support order process for countries that are not covered by the Hague Convention. That process will continue to operate where one parent lives in Saskatchewan and the other lives in another Canadian province or one of the 25 reciprocating jurisdictions that has an agreement in place with Saskatchewan.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to move second reading of The Inter-jurisdictional Support Orders Amendment Act, 2025.

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