How it works
The Maintenance Enforcement Program (MEP) collects court-ordered child support, spousal and partner support, and enforces as needed.
Equifax cybersecurity breach
We have been advised Equifax Inc. was the victim of a cybersecurity breach, where unauthorized access was gained to US and some Canadian customer personal information from May through July 2017. Please visit https://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com/ for more information.
The Maintenance Enforcement Program, Claims and Recoveries, and the Office of the Public Trustee utilize Equifax, but the databases used by these programs were not accessed.
As a precaution you may wish to contact your bank and any credit card companies and carefully monitor all accounts for unusual transactions. You can find more information about identity theft on this Service Alberta tip sheet (PDF).
Public opinion survey
The Child Support Recalculation Program (RP) wants to learn how they can better assist parents with their child support orders. This short survey will take less than five minutes to complete and will help us improve our services.
Take the survey
Penalty and service fee increases
An increase to all penalties and service fees charged by the MEP has been approved effective August 1, 2017.
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MEP changes – contact info and arrears
To improve our service, we regularly review and update our legislation. amendments on November 22, 2016 have changed our processes for contact info and arrears.
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Maintenance for adult children
Effective March 8, 2016 MEP has changed its policies on enforcement of child support for a child over the age of majority. If the court order doesn’t give direction when child support ends, MEP will stop enforcement at the age of majority unless the child is a full-time student. This new policy doesn’t affect enforcement when the child is under the age of majority or when the court order clearly provides direction on when support ends. We apologize for the delay in reviewing child status reports during the course of our policy review.
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Accessing your account
On June 19, 2016, changes were made to improve the security of account information. If you did not speak with MEP staff after June 20, 2016 to obtain your new PIN, please call our Client Services Centre at 780-422-5555 (toll-free in Alberta at 310-0000) during business hours and ask for a new PIN (to access the MEP Info Line) and registration ID number (to access MEP Accounts Online).
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Section 7 expenses
MEP has changed how it enforces some types of section 7 expenses. The change doesn’t affect you if your court order or agreement sets an amount for expenses, or specifies what expenses are payable. MEP will no longer enforce percentage or proportionate share of expenses unless the type of expense is clearly stated in the court order or agreement, or the parties agree on the expenses to be shared.
Learn more about the changes
Recipient of support
The recipient of support – or creditor – is the person who receives child, spousal or partner support payments. As the recipient of support, you must do all of these:
Payor of support
The payor of support – or debtor – is the person who pays child, spousal or partner support. As the payor of support, you must do all of these:
More on this topic
MEP 2013 Client Survey Results 
MEP forms
MEP information sheets
MEP Lawyers and Self-Represented Litigants Guide
MEP changes – contact info and arrears
Glossary
Maintenance Enforcement Act
Maintenance Enforcement Regulation
Family Law Act
Income and Employment Supports Act
Interjurisdictional Support Orders (ISO) Act |
