How Do I Fix an Error in an Order?

If you've found a mistake in an order that has been entered in court, whether an order of the Provincial Court or of the Supreme Court, you must apply to court to correct the order. Applications like these are limited to clerical errors or omissions; applying to correct an order is not a short cut to an appeal of the order! Applications to correct orders are usually limited to things such as misspellings, incorrect dates or bits of the oral order that were left out of the written order.

You will have to prepare a Notice of Motion to bring an application to correct an order in the Provincial Court and a Notice of Application and affidavit to correct an order in the Supreme Court. The notice will simply say that you're applying to correct the order of judge or master so-and-so, made on such-and-such a date. The affidavit will simply discuss the problem in the order and provide some proof about what the order ought to say, such as the court clerk's notes from the original hearing.

In the Provincial (Family) Court, the application will be made under Rule 18(8) of the Provincial Court Family Rules, which gives a judge the authority to correct "a clerical mistake or omission in an order."

In the Supreme Court, the application will be made under Rule 15-1(18) of the Supreme Court Family Rules, also called the slip rule, which gives the court the authority to correct a "clerical mistake" in an order resulting from "an accidental slip or omission." This rule also allows the court to amend an order to decide an issue which should have been decided but wasn't. The scope of the Supreme Court rule is a bit broader than the Provincial Court rule.