What is the current state of the law on spousal support in Canada?

The proclamation of the Divorce Act, 1985, on 1 June 1986, was the final step in the development of a new social philosophy concerning spousal maintenance in Canada. In earlier times it could be said generally that when parties entered into a contract of marriage, more often than not, there was imposed upon the financially responsible spouse the obligation to support the dependant spouse indefinitely, even after a proclamation of divorce, so that the former spouse would not become a charge upon the public. This view was modified, even before the Divorce Act, 1985, by cases which presaged the terms of the new Act; one of the most significant of which was Messier v. Delage, 1983 CanLII 31 (SCC), [1983] 2 S.C.R. 401; 50 N.R. 16; 1983 CanLII 2035 (SK CA), 33 R.F.L.(2d) 337; 2 D.L.R.(4th) 1, where Chouinard, J., for the majority said at p. 353: “That does not mean that the obligation of support between ex-spouses should continue indefinitely when the marriage bond is dissolved, or that one spouse can continue to be a drag on the other indefinitely or acquire a lifetime pension as a result of the marriage, or to luxuriate in idleness at the expense of the other, to use the expressions one finds in some discussions of the subject.”