How is table support calculated when a child lives away from home to attend post-secondary education?

The view that table support is based on the assumption that the child is residing in the same household as the recipient parent and that living costs are properly treated as post-secondary education expenses when the child lives away from home to attend a post-secondary institution, was articulated by Heeney J. in Merritt v. Merritt, [1999] O.J. No. 1732, 98 O.T.C. 321 (S.C.J.), at para. 73: Where, however, a child is residing in another residence for the bulk of the year, it seems inappropriate to apply tables that are not designed with that living arrangement in mind. Furthermore, the table approach assumes that the recipient parent discharges her obligation by being physically in the same household and providing the family home and other amenities for the child. Where a child is at college, this assumption does not hold true. It therefore seems more appropriate to calculate the actual costs of providing for the needs of the child in his other residence, factoring in a contribution toward the cost of maintaining the family home to return to on weekends and school breaks, where appropriate, and apportion that between the spouses on a Paras approach after considering the child's own ability to contribute.