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→A few preliminary comments
In ''[http://canlii.ca/t/5427 Shackleton v. Shackleton]'', 1999 BCCA 704, the Court of Appeal addressed the limited circumstances in which a consent order may be varied or set aside:
<blockquote>[12] A consent order is a formal expression of an agreement between the parties. Where parties intend to finally dispose of the issues between them, a consent order will operate as a final judgment: ''[http://canlii.ca/t/gc6td Campbell v. Campbell (1954)]'', [1955] 1 DLR 304 (BCSC). For the same reason that courts enforce settlement agreements, to provide certainty to parties settling disputes, consent orders are not easily altered. Subject to statutory provisions otherwise a consent order may be set aside or altered in substance only in circumstances which justify the same treatment to the underlying contract… contract [at para. 12…]</blockquote>
The threshold to change or set aside a contract is pretty high and the categories of grounds include fraud, undue influence, duress, coercion, fresh evidence that was not known at the time the original contract (or in this case consent order) was entered into, and abuse of process. For more information about changing consent orders for spousal support, see the section "Changing consent orders for spousal support" later in this chapter.