It is not possible to ignore child support in the context of an application for divorce. It is possible to ignore custody. In divorce proceedings, custody and child support apply only to a “child of the marriage.”
Once an application for divorce is made, anywhere in Canada, the question of child support arises automatically. Reasonable arrangements providing for child support must be in place, otherwise it is the “duty of the court [...] to stay the granting of the divorce until such arrangements are made.”
It is not possible to pursue child support or custody under divorce legislation without, at the same time, claiming a divorce, and therefore child support or custody claims are “corollary” to the divorce claim.
Under provincial legislation, child support or custody may be considered either separately or jointly, depending as the application is conceived. Child support does not have the same status under provincial legislation as it does under federal (divorce) legislation, even though, as a matter of practice, provincial law-based applications not claiming child support may be rare and not necessarily in the discretion of the parent (as support is the right of the child, not an option of the parent).