Under the Divorce Act, a court may order one former spouse to support the other. Entitlement can rest on compensatory grounds (economic advantage or disadvantage from the marriage), non-compensatory grounds (need), or the terms of an agreement.
Since 1992 the compensatory basis has been central: support recognises roles taken on during the marriage, such as caregiving, rather than aiming only at self-sufficiency. In day-to-day practice, the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines are used to set ranges for amount and duration.
The Court held that spousal support under the Divorce Act is primarily compensatory — recognising the economic advantages and disadvantages to each spouse arising from the marriage and its breakdown — rather than being aimed only at making a claimant self-sufficient.