How Do I Waive Filing Fees in the Supreme Court?

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The Supreme Court registry usually charges fees for a whole host of common court activities, such as for filing court forms, making applications to a judge or associate judge, and for hearings that go longer than 3 days. Some of these fees can be quite high and become a barrier to someone seeking access to the justice system. These fees are set out in Appendix C of the Supreme Court Family Rules.

Rule 20-5 allows the court to waive all or some of these fees for all or part of a court proceeding if the court is satisfied that you cannot afford them. You must make an application for a finding that you cannot afford the filing fees. This used to be called "applying for indigent status" or "applying for impoverished status."


Since 2015, after an important Supreme Court of Canada case that challenged the old rule requiring people to be on welfare and totally impoverished before getting an order to waive fees, the court no longer uses the term indigent or impoverished to refer to people who apply to waive fees. Rule 20-5 of the Supreme Court Family Rules now refers to persons who are not required to pay fees, and this can be anyone receiving income or disability assistance, or anyone who cannot pay the court fees without undue hardship. You don’t need to be impoverished to claim undue hardship in this context. If you can show that you would have to sacrifice other reasonable expenses in your life in order to pay the court fees, then you can probably succeed in an application to waive fees. A judge who grants an order to waive fees can waive them broadly for the whole of the proceeding, for a limited period of time, or for specific steps or parts of the family law case.

Making the application[edit]

Most people apply to waive filing fees at the same time that they're filing their Notice of Family Claim, or a Response to Family Claim or Counterclaim. The point, of course, is to avoid the fees that you'd normally pay to file these documents. You can also apply in the middle of a court proceeding if you need to.

The court registry will have blanks of the forms you need to fill out, and the BC Supreme Court website also offers a downloadable collection of the forms you need. You'll need a Requisition in Form F17, a draft of the proposed order you seek in Form F85, and an Affidavit in Form F86. The Affidavit will require you to describe the amount and sources of your income, your monthly expenses, your job skills, and your education.

If you file your materials before 10:00am, the registry may send you before a judge that morning, otherwise you may have to wait for the next day chambers is held. You do not have to give notice to the other side of your intention to make this application, and no fees are charged to apply to waive fees.

When your application is called, using the evidence set out in your affidavit, you'll have to explain to the associate judge or judge why it is that you can't afford the court fees. Living on income or disability assistance, Employment Insurance (EI), Old Age Security, or CPP benefits is usually enough. It will be helpful if you can provide copies of your income assistance statements, EI statements, or other evidence to prove your income. Documents you rely on in court should be attached to your affidavit as exhibits.

You may want to look at the case of case of Ma v. Zhao, 2019 BCCA 248 to understand how the courts are beginning to treat applications to waive fees. Here is what the Court of Appeal said:

"The application judge or associate judge is not required to accept the appellant’s financial information at face value. However, if the financial information can reasonably be interpreted as supporting the proposition that the appellant cannot afford to pay court fees without foregoing reasonable expenses, some explanation for rejecting such evidence would be necessary in light of the constitutional dimension of this issue."

If the court allows your application, you can then go back to the registry and file your pleadings — and any future materials set out in the order you obtained — free of charge. An Order to Waive Fees only covers the fees set out in Appendix C of the Supreme Court Family Rules, however. If you need transcripts, for example, those must still be paid for.

If the court doesn't allow your application, well, you'll have to pay and that's that.

Exceptions to the rule[edit]

It is important to know that the court will also look to the merits of the case when deciding whether to grant or refuse applications to waive fees. Being unable to pay fees without undue hardship is not the only consideration. Rule 20-5(1) sets out three specific grounds for the court to refuse your application:

  • if your claim is unreasonable, or if your defence to the claimant's claim is unreasonable,
  • if your claim is "scandalous, frivolous, or vexatious," or
  • if your claim or your defence is, for any other reason, an "abuse of the process of the court."

In other words, if you're one of those people who sues the King, the Prime Minister, the Premier, and the Attorney General or sues their neighbour every time they play their music too loudly, you can expect that your application to waive fees will be turfed. If your claim is legitimate and well-founded, and you meet the general criteria for Rule 20-5, you are well positioned to get the order to waive fees.

For more information[edit]

You can find more information about Supreme Court procedure for waiving fees in Legal Aid BC’s Get an Order to Waive Fees guide. Courthouse Libraries BC also has an What is impoverished status? information page on waiving court fees.


This information applies to British Columbia, Canada. Last reviewed for legal accuracy by Mark Norton, September 14, 2023.


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