Child support and Maintenance Enforcement in PEI.
A parent may have a support obligation, but the caregiver needs to distinguish an existing enforceable order from an assumption that support is automatically owed.
Part of our Financial Help resource series. See the main Financial Help guide for the wider topic and related resources.
Information reviewed September 2026. Laws, program rules and services can change, so use the linked official source for current information.
Child benefits, GACP and child support are different systems.
A caregiver may receive Canada Child Benefit, GACP support or another benefit while child-support questions remain unresolved. One payment does not automatically determine the others.
What PEI Maintenance Enforcement does.
The PEI Maintenance Enforcement Program, MEP, manages and enforces child and spousal support payments contained in a court order or legal agreement that has been registered with the program.
MEP does not create a new support obligation simply because a child lives with a grandparent or relative.
PEI Maintenance Enforcement Program
If you already have a support order or agreement.
Ask whether it can be registered with MEP. The program can receive payments, keep account information and use enforcement tools when registered support obligations fall into arrears.
There is no fee to enrol, although PEI may charge the payor fees connected with late payment or enforcement action.
If there is no support order.
MEP cannot decide how much support should be paid. A caregiver may need legal advice about whether they can seek support, who should pay and how any application fits with custody, guardianship, GACP or an existing family-court proceeding.
Read Going to Family Court in PEI
Do not confuse informal money from a parent with enforceable support.
A parent may contribute money voluntarily, pay particular expenses or buy items for the child. That may help the household but is not necessarily the same as an enforceable support obligation.
Special or extraordinary expenses can be separate from ordinary support.
Some support arrangements include additional expenses beyond the regular monthly amount. If a registered order or agreement contains enforceable special expenses, PEI MEP has procedures for submitting them. Check your actual order and MEP guidance rather than assuming a particular activity or bill qualifies.
What if payments stop?
If the order or agreement is registered, contact your MEP enforcement officer rather than negotiating arrears through the child. MEP has authority under provincial law to take enforcement action on registered support obligations.
Family violence and safety.
PEI MEP says clients should tell the program if a former partner has been violent so the case can be handled carefully. Do not disclose an address or create direct contact simply to collect support when there are safety concerns.
When the child moves again.
If the child returns to a parent, moves to another caregiver or the legal arrangement changes, get advice about whether the support order needs to change. MEP enforces the order or agreement it has; it does not automatically rewrite it because family circumstances changed.
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