Starting and Responding to Provincial Court Family Law Proceedings
If you need the court to make an order about anything, from the care of children to the payment of spousal support, you must start a court proceeding. Your court proceeding will end with a trial, if you can't settle your legal problem first, after which the judge will make an order... hopefully the order you want the judge to make.
There are certain steps you must take and certain forms you must fill out before your trial can proceed. Although the staff at the court registries are friendly and do their best to be helpful, they cannot provide legal advice. They won't fill out forms for you or tell you how to manage your court proceeding. It is your job to prepare these materials, gather the evidence you need, and take the other steps necessary to bring your proceeding to a judge at trial.
That said, there are some very valuable and helpful resources to help you prepare the Provincial Court family forms:
- Most Provincial Court family law forms can be completed online using the Family Law Act Online Forms Service. This service provides "guided pathways", where you answer questions, and your responses are automatically entered into the necessary forms. Once completed, the forms can be saved and filed electronically or printed for in-person filing.
- Alternatively, fillable PDF versions of the forms can be found on the Ministry of Attorney General's for Provincial Court family forms, along with 18 guidebooks (averaging 22 pages each) for the key forms.
- The Provincial Court's official Family Orders Picklist lists standard terms that judges typically use when making orders.
The Provincial Court
The BC Provincial Court operates in approximately 84 locations around the province. Half of these locations operate part-time only, and are unstaffed the rest of the time. The other half operate in courthouses that are staffed and have their own court registries. (Registry staff are the people who deal with the paperwork, scheduling, and other administrative tasks.)
Before you start a proceeding in Provincial Court, you have to determine which registry to use. If an existing case has already been started involving the same parties, then you have to use the registry where that case is located. If there’s no existing case and kids are involved, then you have to use the registry closest to where the kids live most of the time; if no kids are involved, then you use the registry closest to the residence of the person who first files a court document under the Provincial Court Family Rules.
As mentioned in the introductory section of this chapter, Family Law Litigation in Provincial Court, we have three types of registries:
- Early Resolution Registries
- Family Justice Registries
- Parenting Education Program Registries
Once the court proceeding is underway, the registries operate more or less the same, but starting the Provincial Court family law proceeding can require different steps depending on the registry you are using.
Before you apply to court
Applying to Provincial Court about large issues like guardianship, parenting time or responsibilities, child support, spousal support, companion animals — all of which are defined as family law matters — or applying to change an agreement or earlier Provincial Court order means filing a Form 3 Application About a Family Law Matter. Before you can file that form, however, you must meet certain conditions depending on the registry type.
Each type of court registry requires something different before you can start the main court proceeding. Please note that you cannot simply pick a registry based on whatever process you might prefer. While some applications can be made to court while bypassing some of these conditions — in specific circumstances explained below and in the section on Interim Applications — you are generally confined to the type of registry based on location, and you must follow the rules specific to your registry type.
Early Resolution Registries
The registries in Victoria, Surrey, Port Coquitlam, Abbotsford, Chilliwack, and New Westminster are Early Resolution Registries (the last three as of April 1, 2025). Vancouver (Robson), North Vancouver, Richmond, Sechelt and Pemberton will join them in November 2025. If you are in an Early Resolution Registry, before you file a Form 3 Application About a Family Law Matter you must:
- Fill out a Form 1 Notice to Resolve a Family Law Matter and take it to the court registry to be filed, then serve it on the other party.
- Go to your registry’s Justice Access Centre or Family Justice Centre to speak to a family justice counsellor about a needs assessment. Here is a list:
- Attend a needs assessment:
- At the needs assessment, a family justice counsellor will provide you with information about your options, about the court process, and about how to access legal advice and other resources.
- The family justice counsellor will also consider the nature of the issues to be resolved, your and your ex's ability to participate, and if accommodations can be made to facilitate participation.
- Ask the family justice counsellor to set up consensual dispute resolution with the other party.
- This is commonly called mediation and a family justice counsellor will work with both parties to see if you can resolve your issues. The counsellor will make an assessment about whether consensual dispute resolution (mediation) is appropriate for you. This means they will consider whether there are power imbalances between you and your ex, safety or family violence issues, or language barriers.
- There are different options for mediation: in-person, by video, or "shuttle" (where parties are in different rooms while the mediator "shuttles" back and forth relaying each parties' position and any offers of settlement). The family justice counsellor will help you choose the most suitable option.
- Other people (like a support person or your lawyer) can only attend if the other party agrees.
- If issues are resolved during early resolution, you can formalize your agreements by written agreement or consent order.
- If the issues are about children, take a parenting course. The free online Parenting After Separation courses give you a certificate of completion that you can file with the court if you need to proceed to court and need to show that you completed this step.
Family Justice Registries
Kelowna, Nanaimo, and Vancouver (Robson Square)'s registries are Family Justice Registries (note however that in November 2025, Vancouver (Robson Square) will switch to become an Early Resolution Registry). If you are in a Family Justice Registry, before you file a Form 3 Application About a Family Law Matter you must do the following:
- Go to the Justice Access Centre or Family Justice Centre specific to your registry and speak to a family justice counsellor for a needs assessment (where the counsellor will give you some legal information and other ideas and resources for settling your family law matter. Here is a list:
- If the issues are about children, take a parenting course. The free online Parenting After Separation courses give you a certificate of completion that you can file with the court if you need to proceed to court and need to show that you completed this step.
Parenting Education Program Registries
If you are in a Parenting Education Program registry location, and if there are issues about children, before you file a Form 3 Application About a Family Law Matter you must take a Parenting After Separation course, which gives you a certificate of completion that you can file with the court if you need to proceed to court and need to show that you completed this step.
Once these steps are completed, you are allowed to file a Form 3 Application About a Family Law Matter, which starts the Provincial Court family law proceeding.
Waiving conditions to filing your family law claim
It is possible to ask the court to waive any or all of these requirements by filing a Form 11 Application for a Case Management Order Without Notice or Appearance and specifying:
- what condition you want the court to waive, and
- why the court should waive it.
It is, however, very unusual for a court to waive the requirements. You can use the same Form 11 to ask permission to delay satisfying the requirements, but again it is rare that the court will permit this. Even if you think that a condition (such as mediation) isn't appropriate for your case, it is usually best to talk to a family justice counsellor. A family justice counsellor may be able to advise the court — for example that mediation isn't appropriate even with certain safeguards.
If you take all the necessary steps in the Early Resolution Registry but your ex doesn’t participate, don't worry! After your ex has had the chance to participate, if they fail to engage with the process, your family justice counsellor can advise the court registry about that and you will then be allowed to file your Form 3 Application About a Family Law Matter in court.
Applications for family law matters
Part 3 of the Provincial Court Family Rules is dedicated to the most common kinds of applications to Provincial Court, which are cases that involve family law matters.
Some of the most common family law matters that people ask for orders about relate to:
- guardianship,
- parental responsibilities,
- parenting time (or contact time if person is not a guardian),
- child support and special expenses,
- spousal support,
- companion animals, and
- changing previous agreements or Provincial Court orders
For a list of standard terms that judges typically use when making orders, look at the Provincial Court's official "Family Orders Picklist".
Filing an Application About a Family Law Matter
If you need a judge to help solve your dispute over a family law matter, the next step is to fill out and file the Form 3 Application About a Family Law Matter, and follow rules 24 to 26. This gives the court information about you, the other party, any children involved, and what specific orders you are asking the court to make.
Parties can also ask for conduct orders alongside their request for orders about a family law matter. A conduct order can help parties set boundaries to assist them in working towards resolution. Where there is an urgent need to protect someone from family violence, people can apply for protection orders, which follow a different process and are described in more detail below and in the section on Interim Applications and Provincial Court Family Law Proceedings, as well as in the chapter on Family Violence Overview.
You must also file a Form 4 Financial Statement with your Form 3 Application About a Family Law Matter if your application is about:
- child support where you are the payor or there is shared parenting time,
- child support where you are asking for section 7 (special or extraordinary) expenses, or
- either party's entitlement to receive spousal support from the other party.
The Financial Statement form will tell you which sections to fill out based on what you are asking the court about. You will need to include specific financial documents, including your income tax returns and Notices of Assessment for the last three years, as well as your most recent paystub or statement of earnings. If you own a corporation or are self-employed, additional documents need to be included.
If you are in an Early Resolution Registry or a Family Justice Registry, you will need to ask the family justice counsellor to notify the court registry that you completed the needs assessment (and consensual dispute resolution, if required).
Once your Form 3 and your Form 4 are complete with all required documents, take two copies of each to your court registry along with two copies of your parenting course certificate (if applicable). You will need to bring photo ID because you need to swear or affirm the Form 4 Financial Statement, which the registry can do with you. The court registry will stamp each document and give you back one copy.
Serving your Application About a Family Law Matter
Rule 27 of the Provincial Court Family Rules say what you need to serve on the other side (i.e. the respondent). You need to serve the respondent with a filed copy of the Form 3 Application About a Family Law Matter, your Form 4 Financial Statement (if applicable), your parenting course certificate (if applicable), and Instructions on Filing a Reply (which you can get from the registry). The respondent needs to be served personally by an adult — specifically this means a third party who is at least 19 years old (it cannot be you or your lawyer). They must physically hand the filed paper copies of the documents to that party. The person who gives the documents needs to make a note of the time, date and location and then fill out a Form 7 Certificate of Service. You can then file that with the court to prove that the other person was served, or at least be prepared to file it if the respondent does not file a response.
If you don't know the other person's whereabouts, and you have no way to find out, you can file a Form 11 Application About a Case Management Order Without Notice or Attendance asking the court to let you serve the other party by a different means (such as registered mail or even email).
Once served, the other party then has 30 days to file their Form 6 Reply to an Application About a Family Law Matter (and to file their own Form 4 Financial Statement, if needed). When the other party has replied or the time for reply has passed and they haven’t filed a reply, you can contact the Judicial Case Manager to schedule a Family Management Conference ("FMC"). Sometimes, the registry will email you to schedule the FMC. The registry tries to schedule these as soon as possible at a time that works for both parties. If the other party included a counter application in their reply, this means the respondent is requesting their own court orders.
If their reply includes a counter application, you may want to fill out, file, and send to the other person a Form 8 Reply to a Counter Application. Although many applicants do not bother to file a reply to a counter application, if the respondent requests orders relating to family law matters that you did not bring up in your application, you should address the respondent's claims. You have 30 days to file a Form 8 Reply to a Counter Application.
At the Family Management Conference, you and the other party (or parties) will meet with a judge. The judge will work with you to see whether agreement can be reached on some or all of the issues. The judge can make an interim order or a final order by consent. You can still attend a Family Management Conference even if the other party has not filed a reply and has chosen not to participate.
If there are still issues to resolve, the judge can make case management orders to ensure the matter is ready for trial if one is needed. The usual process in Provincial Court for case conferences, trial preparation, trials, and enforcement of Family Maintenance matters still applies if your issues have not been fully resolved. Conferences are discussed in more detail in this chapter under the section on Conferences and Provincial Court Family Law Proceedings.
Responding to an Application About a Family Law Matter
If a Provincial Court proceeding has been started against you, you are the respondent. You have two choices. You can do nothing, and expect that the applicant will get their orders by default (although you may still be directed to appear in court), or you can file a reply to the proceeding and defend yourself (and even ask for your own orders). If you agree with the orders the other party is asking for, doing nothing is the cheapest and quickest way to handle the matter. On the other hand, if you only partly agree or completely disagree you must respond to the claim.
If you have been sent a Form 1 Notice to Resolve from an Early Resolution Registry, you will need to go to the Justice Access Centre and ask to do your needs assessment and talk about consensual dispute resolution. If you choose not to participate, the other party can still proceed to court and then you will have to deal with the court proceeding.
If you are served with a Form 3 Application About a Family Law Matter in any court registry, you have 30 days to do the following:
- If children are involved, take a parenting course (such as the free online Parenting After Separation course) and make sure you get a certificate of completion as you will need to file it with the court.
- Fill out your Form 6 Reply to an Application About a Family Law Matter, including whether you agree or disagree with each of the orders the other person requested. If you want the court to make a different order (or make orders about a different issue), you can check the box at the top marked counter application.
- If child support or spousal support is an issue, you will need to fill out a Form 4 Financial Statement with all necessary sections and financial documents. It is a good idea to start gathering these early, as there are many documents you will need to include (such as your income tax returns and Notices of Assessments from the last three years, your most recent paystub or statement of earnings, and more documents if you are self-employed or own a corporation).
- Go to the court registry with two copies of each of the Reply, the Financial Statement (if applicable), and your parenting course certificate (if applicable). You must do this before 30 days are up from the day you were served or you will be out of time. You will need to bring ID to swear or affirm the Financial Statement, which the court registry can do with you. The court registry will stamp the documents and give you back one copy of each.
- Send copies of each document to the other party. This can be by email if the other party included an email address on their Form 3 Application About a Family Law Matter.
If you really need more time to get these documents done and you have a justifiable reason (for example, you need the Canada Revenue Agency to mail you your password), you can file a Form 11 Application About a Case Management Order Without Notice or Attendance to ask if you can be allowed to file a document later than the 30-day timeline. If the court allows you to do so, you must send the application and the court's decision to the other party.
If you included a counter application in your Reply, the other party may respond with a Form 8 Reply to a Counter Application, indicating their position on the orders you are requesting. In practice, applicants often do not bother to file a Form 8 Reply to a Counter Application unless there is something truly unusual or unexpected in the counter application. If the applicant does wish to file a reply to the counter application, the Provincial Court Family Rules say they have 30 days to do so.
After you have filed your Form 6 Reply to an Application About a Family Law Matter, you can contact the Judicial Case Manager to schedule a Family Management Conference ("FMC"). Sometimes, the registry will email you to schedule the FMC. The registry tries to schedule these as soon as possible at a time that works for both parties. At the FMC, you and the other party (or parties) will meet with a judge. The judge will work with you to see whether agreement can be reached on some or all of the issues. The judge can make an interim order or a final order by consent.
If you choose not to file a Form 6 Reply to an Application About a Family Law Matter, the other party can still go to the FMC (and even proceed to trial) and get court orders (that you must follow). Technically, if you don’t file a Form 6 Reply to an Application About a Family Law Matter, the other party doesn't even have to tell you about when the FMC or a trial is set to be heard, so it’s important to act quickly and file your Form 6 Reply to an Application About a Family Law Matter as soon as possible.
Applications for other kinds of orders
Most Provincial Court family cases are about family law matters, so most cases start with a Form 3 Application About a Family Law Matter. But other types of applications are common, especially under Part 5 — Applying for Other Orders of the Provincial Court Family Rules, and sometimes these happen at the very start of a family law case. Different procedures apply when applying for "other orders", or for enforcement of another court's orders, specifically:
- case management orders — see Part 5, Division 2,
- protection orders (where there is a risk of imminent family violence) — see Part 5, Division 3,
- orders about priority parenting matters (when decisions about consent to medical treatment or obtaining travel documents are required and a delay could pose a risk to the child; when a child is wrongfully removed or abducted; for determining matters relating to interjurisdictional issues; or when the government's intervention over a child protection concern means a court order about parenting arrangements or guardianship creates a priority) — see Part 5, Division 4,
- orders about relocation (where there is an existing order or written agreement about a parenting arrangement, a party has given notice that they plan to relocate a child, and the applicant wants to stop the relocation) — see Part 5, Division 5,
- consent orders (where parties agree on what should be contained in an order about family law matters or a case management order) — see Part 5, Division 6, and
- enforcement of support orders from another court, a parenting coordinator's determination, or a written agreement between the parties — see Part 10.
Parties who start off the family law case by applying for "other orders", or for enforcement under Part 10 of the Provincial Court Family Rules, can get to a court appearance without having to fulfill the normal pre-conditions that the registries require at the beginning of cases that involve family law matter. This means that even if you are in an Early Resolution Registry, you can apply directly to court to get these other kinds of issue resolved first. Some situations (especially protection orders and some parenting matters) are simply too urgent to wait for everyone to meet with a family justice counsellor for a needs assessment, complete a parenting education course, or go through a consensual dispute resolution process.
This said, just because some orders can be fast-tracked at the start of a case, it does not mean you can avoid the usual registry requirements before getting your primary family law matters into court. You might get a judge to resolve the other parent's refusal to consent to medical treatment for your child (a priority parenting matter), but the larger dispute about parenting arrangements, parental responsibilities, etc. still need to be brought using the normal process for family law matters. You will still have to satisfy the requirements of your registry (e.g. attend a needs assessments, parenting education course, consensual dispute resolution, FMC, etc.) for the main application to proceed.
The Provincial Court Family Rules has specific forms for these special types of applications for "other orders" or enforcement. Luckily, the rules for these are the same no matter what type of registry you are in.
Case management orders
Case management orders are orders about a range of issues to help manage a case. The complete list is set out in Rule 62 of the Provincial Court Family Rules, but a few examples include:
- transferring a court file to another registry,
- accessing a court file,
- correcting or amending a filed document,
- waiving or changing requirements about serving someone with court documents you filed,
- applying to attend court by phone or video,
- adjourning court appearances, or
- correcting an order made under the Provincial Court Family Rules.
The right form for applying for a case management order depends on the order you need:
- Form 10: Some orders require giving the other person notice and appearing in front of a judge (such as applying to transfer a court file to a different registry or appointing a lawyer for a child)
- Form 11: Other orders can be applied for without giving notice and without attendance in court (such as applying to serve someone by email, or to file a court document later than the deadline).
If the order you want appears on Form 11 Application for a Case Management Order Without Notice or Attendance, you can use that one. Otherwise, fill out and file Form 10 Application for Case Management Order, along with any supporting evidence or documents you have. Check the instructions located in each of the forms, and see Rule 65 to determine whether an appearance is required, and which form you'll have to file.
If you need a court appearance, the court registry will set the date and you must give a copy of the application with the date and time to the other person (it is best to ask them beforehand if they are available). If a case management order is made without notice, you'll have to send a copy of the order, the application, and any supporting evidence or documents to the other party.
Protection orders
If you are applying for a protection order under Part 9 of the Family Law Act, you can skip the special steps set out for the Early Resolution Registries, the Family Justice Registries, or the Parenting Education Program Registries.
No matter the court registry you are in, if you have protection or safety concerns, you can apply to the court to go before a judge without letting the other party know first. It's up to the judge whether to hear your application without notice to the other side, or whether the judge wants the other side to be there.
A without notice application has to include reasons why the application should be heard without notice to the other side. If you are worried that giving notice will increase the risk of family violence, file a Form 12 Application about a Protection Order, check the box on that application form to apply without notice, and explain your concerns.
If a protection order is made, remember that a protection order expires either on the date the judge orders for it to end, or one year after the date it is made. You can apply for another protection order if you need to. If you have safety concerns about family violence, you may want to talk to a support worker. VictimLinkBC is a confidential, multilingual telephone service available 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 1-800-563-0808. Victim services workers can provide crisis support, information and referrals to supports including safety planning, victim services, transition houses and counselling services.
See the chapter on Family Violence, and the "Using the Family Law Act for protection" heading in the section on Family Violence in the Family Law Act and the Divorce Act for crucial information about getting or changing protection orders.
Orders about Priority Parenting Matters
Orders about priority parenting matters are decisions where a delay in obtaining a court’s decision would pose a risk to a child, such as a parent refusing to let a child have a medical treatment or travel (where the travel is safe and reasonable). These applications should be filed in rare circumstances and only in situations listed in Form 15 Application About a Priority Parenting Matter. If you apply for anything else except what is in the boxes listed on the form, the judge will likely dismiss your application entirely.
When you file this application, the registry will give you a time and date. You must send the filed application with the time and date noted to the other side. If you need to shorten the timeline, you will need to apply for that using a Form 11 Application About a Case Management Order Without Notice or Attendance.
Orders about relocation
When one parent or guardian wants to move, and that move will have a significant impact on the child's relationship with the other guardian, it is called relocation. If you:
- are a guardian,
- have a written agreement or an existing court order about parenting arrangements or contact with the child, and
- have received written notice from the other parent about their plan to relocate with the child,
then you can apply to the court for an order prohibiting the relocation of the child using Form 16 Application for Order Prohibiting the Relocation of a Child.
Only guardians have standing (i.e. the right) under the Family Law Act to oppose relocation. There are very strict and short timelines about relocation so if this is an issue for you, it is best to speak to a lawyer as soon as possible. You will need to file your application no more than 30 days since you received written notice from the parent or guardian who plans to relocate with the child.
Consent orders
If you and the other party in your family law matter have reached an agreement, you can ask the court to make a consent order. This can usually be done without going to court and arguing before a judge.
A judge will still review the draft of the consent order, but as long as they do not have any questions or concerns about what you and the other party are asking for, they will generally grant the consent order.
To get a consent order about a family law matter, you have to file a Form 17 Application for a Family Law Matter Consent Order, and include a draft of what you want it to contain (using a Form 18 Consent Order). The draft should set out what you have agreed about and the orders you are asking the court to make. The Form 18 Consent Order will have to be signed by all parties or their lawyers.
If a judge reviews your application and draft consent order and has concerns or questions, they can ask for more evidence or information. This may mean you have to go to court and speak to a judge. It could also mean that a judge will make changes to the draft consent order. If you and the other party agree to the changes, you can go to the registry at the courthouse and sign the changes. An application for a consent order can also be rejected by a judge. If that happens, the judge will provide their reasons for rejection.
In addition to applying for consent orders about family law matters, you can file and ask for case management orders by consent. (See the case management orders heading above.) This is done by filing a Form 10 Application for Case Management Order. If you specify in your Form 10 that you do not want a court appearance, you must submit a draft of the Form 18 Consent Order signed by all parties or their lawyers.
Enforcement orders
Part 10 of the Provincial Court Family Rules comes into play when a party wants the Provincial Court to help enforce a written agreement or another court's order. The earlier order, agreement, or determination has to be filed in court, and this sets the foundation. There are a few different forms depending on the type of document that needs enforcing:
- a written agreement — Form 26 Request to File an Agreement
- a parenting coordinator's determination — Form 27 Request to File Determination of Parenting Coordinator
- a previous BC Supreme Court order about parenting arrangements, contact with a child, or support — Form 28 Request to File an Order
- a previous support order from another province's court or a foreign court — Form 28 Request to File an Order
Once the foundation is set (i.e. the agreement, order, or determination is filed), the party applying for enforcement needs to fill out and file their Form 29 Application About Enforcement. The BC Ministry of Attorney General has published a guidebook for Form 29.
The application must be served on the other parties with at least 7 days' notice before the court appearance unless the court orders otherwise.
Limitations of the Provincial Court
The Provincial Court is built for people who are not represented by a lawyer. There are no filing fees in this court, in some ways the forms are easier to prepare, the rules of court are simplified, and the court registry will sometimes take care of things like drafting court orders. The main disadvantage of bringing your case to the Provincial Court is that the authority of the court is limited. You cannot address property issues (with the exception of pets as companion animals), and you cannot get a divorce. The Provincial Court can only hear applications under the Family Law Act on certain subjects, including:
- guardianship;
- parental responsibilities and parenting time;
- contact with a child;
- child support;
- spousal support;
- companion animals;
- protection orders; and,
- payment of household bills such as mortgage and utilities until trial or settlement.
The Provincial Court cannot hear any claims under the federal Divorce Act.
Parallel proceedings in the BC Supreme Court
If the applicant has started a court proceeding against you in the Provincial Court, but you need to ask for orders under the Divorce Act or orders about the division of property and debt, you can start a separate court proceeding in the BC Supreme Court.
Section 194 of the Family Law Act contains the general rules about what happens if there's a court proceeding in each court:
(1) If a proceeding respecting a family law dispute may be started in either the Supreme Court or the Provincial Court, the starting of a proceeding in one court does not prevent the starting of a second proceeding in the other court, unless the relief applied for in the second proceeding has already been granted or refused in the first proceeding.
(2) If proceedings are started in both courts and each court may make an order for the same relief, the making of an order by one court does not prevent an application for an order in the other court unless the relief that is the subject of the application to the other court has already been granted or refused by the first court.
(3) If proceedings are started in both courts, a court, on application and to the extent that the matter is within the court's jurisdiction under section 192 [Supreme Court jurisdiction] or 193 [Provincial Court jurisdiction], as applicable, may do one or more of the following:
(a) decline to hear a matter;
(b) decline to hear a matter until another matter under this Act, or under any other law of British Columbia or Canada, has been heard in the other court;
(c) consolidate proceedings started in the other court with proceedings started in the court;
(d) hear a matter.
(4) Despite subsection (2), the Supreme Court may change, suspend or terminate, under section 215 [changing, suspending or terminating orders generally], an order of the Provincial Court if
(a) the Supreme Court is making an order that affects an order of the Provincial Court, and
(b) the parties would have to go back to the Provincial Court to have the Provincial Court's order changed, suspended or terminated as a result.
(5) If the Supreme Court acts under subsection (4), the Supreme Court's order is deemed to be an order of the Provincial Court for all purposes.
(6) Nothing in this section authorizes the Supreme Court to change, suspend or terminate an order of the Provincial Court if the Provincial Court has refused to change, suspend or terminate the order, except as provided under section 233 [appeals from Provincial Court orders].
Let's boil this down a bit. What section 194 says is this:
- the fact that there's a court proceeding in one court doesn't stop you from starting a second proceeding in another court;
- you can even ask orders about the same things, unless the first court has already made an order about that thing;
- once a court has made an order about a thing, the other court cannot make an order about that thing... unless the BC Supreme Court decides to change an order of the Provincial Court;
- a court can instead refuse to make an order about a thing the other court can make orders about; and,
- a court can also order that the two proceedings be consolidated, that they be combined into a single court proceeding.
Consolidation under section 194(3)(c) is usually a good option if you want to get everything into one court. However, since the BC Supreme Court can deal with all of the claims that the Provincial Court can, as well as a bunch that it can't, the consolidated proceeding will be in the BC Supreme Court.
Resources and links
Legislation
Resources
- Provincial Court Family Forms and Guidebooks, from the Ministry of Attorney General
- Family Law Act Online Forms Service, a guided pathway for completing family law forms
- Family Orders Picklist, with standard terms for Provincial Court orders
- Legal Aid BC's Family Law website:
- Get a new family order in Provincial Court if you can’t agree, step-by-step guide
- I've been served with a Provincial Court form, information page
- Provincial Court registries, information page
- Parenting After Separation course
Links
- Family Justice Centre locations, from the Ministry of Attorney General
- Provincial Court website
- Do I have to take a Parenting After Separation course?, from the Ministry of Attorney General
- Provincial Court Practice Directions
| This information applies to British Columbia, Canada. Last reviewed for legal accuracy by Kendra Marks, 5 January 2025. |
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 JP Boyd on Family Law © John-Paul Boyd and Courthouse Libraries BC is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Canada Licence.
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