What are the main bases for a spousal support award?

There are three main potential bases for an award of spousal support: contractual, compensatory and non-compensatory. “The judge must consider them all, and any or all of them may figure in the ultimate order, as may be appropriate in the circumstances of the case”: Bracklow v. Bracklow, 1999 CanLII 715 (SCC), [1999] 1 S.C.R. 420 [Bracklow] at para. 37.

An award based on compensatory support recognizes that a spouse can suffer economic loss or disadvantage arising from the nature of the marriage relationship or its breakdown: Moge v. Moge, 1992 CanLII 25 (SCC), [1992] 3 S.C.R. 813. Further, a spouse may have sacrificed their career or made other efforts during the marriage that conferred an economic advantage on their spouse, an advantage that persists after the breakdown of the marriage.