Glossary
In Family Law
The Family Responsibility Office (FRO) is a government agency that enforces child support and spousal support payments. They collect support directly from the person who has to pay support, keep a record of the amounts paid, and then pay that amount to the person who has to get support.
If your partner misses payments, the FRO can take action to enforce your court order or separation agreement on support payments. For example, the FRO can take money from their bank account, suspend their driver’s licence, or start a court case that can put them in jail.
In Employment and Work, Discrimination at work
Family status refers to a relationship that’s like that between a parent and a child. It can include similar relationships where you take care of and are responsible for someone and are committed to doing that.
Here are some examples:
- a foster parent caring for a foster child
- a brother caring for a sister with a disability
- an aunt raising her niece
In Abuse and Family Violence, Criminal Law, Family Law
Family violence refers to the many different forms of abuse, neglect, or harm that an adult or child may experience in their close, personal relationships.
It is also called domestic violence or partner abuse when one partner abuses the other partner.
Federal penitentiaries are run by the Government of Canada. They’re also called “correctional institutions”. People serving sentences of 2 years or longer are in these institutions or in halfway houses.
In Criminal Law
A Feeney warrant is a type of arrest warrant that gives the police the power to come onto your property, and into your home or business to arrest the person whose name is in the warrant.
Filing your documents means giving your forms and documents to a court or tribunal.
Often there are different ways you can file. For example, a court might allow you to file online, by mail, or in person at the court office.
In Family Law
Filing your court documents means giving your court forms and documents to a court clerk at the courthouse to add to your court file. Every court form you fill out and all relevant documents you want a judge to look at have to be filed in court.
To file something means giving it to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) and following the rules about how to do this.
If you’re a temporary foreign worker in Canada, financial abuse means that your employer does things like:
- not pay you when they’re supposed to
- take your money
- make you do something with your money or credit cards that you don’t want to do
- charge you fees for to hire you or to find you other work
In Employment and Work, Income Assistance
Financial assistance is money you get from Ontario Works (OW) to help pay for living expenses, like housing and food.
It also helps pay for some prescription drugs and may help pay for some dental services. And some people can get:
- extra money to help pay for a special diet
- other benefits, such as costs for travelling to medical appointments