The Civil Resolution Tribunal Act, SBC 2012, c 25 provides, in Part 6 — Enforcement of Tribunal Orders
Enforcement by filing in Supreme Court
57 (1) A final decision of the tribunal in relation to a claim
category, other than a tribunal small claim, may be enforced by
filing, in the Supreme Court, a validated copy of an order giving
effect to the final decision.
(2) An order filed under subsection (1) has the same force and effect,
and all proceedings may be taken on it, as if it were a judgment of
the Supreme Court.
Enforcement by filing in Provincial Court
58 (1) A validated copy of an order referred to in section 57
[enforcement by filing in Supreme Court] may be filed in the
Provincial Court if
(a) the order is for financial compensation or the return of personal
property, and
(b) as applicable,
(i) the principal amount set out under section 48 (2) [order for
payment of money], or
(ii) the value of the personal property
is within the monetary limit for claims under the Small Claims Act.
(2) An order filed under subsection (1) has the same force and effect,
and all proceedings may be taken on it, as if it were a judgment of
the Provincial Court.
Enforcement of small claims decisions
58.1 (1) A consent resolution order in relation to a tribunal small claim [words not in force] may be enforced by filing, in the
Provincial Court, a validated copy of the order.
(2) A final decision of the tribunal in relation to a tribunal small claim may be enforced by filing,
in the Provincial Court, a validated copy of the order giving effect
to the final decision.
(3) A party may file an order in the Provincial Court under subsection
(2) only if both of the following apply:
(a) the time for making a notice of objection has expired;
(b) no notice of objection has been made.
(4) An order filed under this section has the same force and effect,
and all proceedings may be taken on it, as if it were a judgment of
the Provincial Court.
Information about procedures may be obtained from the BC Small Claims online Help guide, which says in part:
Court orders
Once a trial is over and you have a court order, there is usually more
you will have to do to get whatever the judge decided you were
entitled to.
The order – or judgment decision – needs to be put in writing and then
filed with the court before you can take any steps to enforce or
collect on the order. The court does not collect the money for you but
the judge can set a schedule of payments. Once filed, an order expires
after 10 years. For best results, action should be taken right away;
however there is no guarantee that the debtor will pay.
The Ministry of Attorney General has prepared a guide to help you
collect on a judgment – it’s called Getting Results.
Section 2 of the "Small claims - Getting results" web page says:
Whether your payment order was made by a judge after a trial or
settlement or trial conference, or whether you got it by default, the
order first has to be put in writing. Then you give it to the
registry, where it will be signed and entered in the court records.
This is called filing the order and it must be done before you can
take any steps to collect on it. Sometimes, the judge will sign an
order right at your appearance, this can usually be used for
enforcement but it is best to check with the court registry.
After that, the first thing you may wish to do is send a copy to the
debtor with a letter asking for prompt payment. Be sure to include the
address where payment may be made. Set a reasonable deadline, taking
into account whether payment will likely come by mail and other
circumstances you may know about.
If that doesn't work, you will have to take other steps to enforce
your order. You have ten years before the order expires, but usually,
the faster you act, the better your results will be.
A final decision from the Civil Resolution Tribunal, Residential
Tenancy Branch and many other tribunals can be filed in Provincial
Court for enforcement. Usually the tribunal’s rules, or the laws that
govern it, will tell you if you can. It is important to make sure that
you have done everything required under their rules or laws before you
come to the court registry to file for enforcement. Once it is filed,
it can be enforced as if it was an order of the court.
The document Making a claim for proceedings previously initiated
before CRT
says, in section 5, after describing the Civil Resolution Tribunal
claim form and how to fill it out:
You can file the completed notice of Civil Resolution Tribunal claim
form in person or by mail at the court registry nearest to either:
where the defendant lives or carries on business; or
where the event that led to the claim happened.
For example, if the event happened in Vancouver, but the defendant
lives or carries on business in Surrey, you could file at Vancouver
Provincial Court or Surrey Provincial Court.
Find contact information for court registries. Certain registries
currently accept filings by fax. Find out more about fax filing.
In addition, registries allow electronic filing of documents (a fee is
charged) through Court Services Online (CSO). To eFile with CSO, a
client must have a registered account with CSO and accept the user
agreement. If you need any assistance with CSO, contact information is
listed on the Contact Us link at the top right-hand corner of the home
page. In addition, a client must have either a BCeID account with a
registered credit card or BC Online account. Learn more information on
obtaining a BCeID or BC Online account.
