How can I make an application to the BC Provincial Court for my family matter during the COVID-19 Coronavirus?

Back to school plans for K-12 families are now posted for all 60 school districts, so parents and families can prepare to support their children for a safe return to the classroom. Families should visit their school district website to view their local school’s plans.  

Each school district plan follows the same strict provincial health and safety measures co-developed with the provincial health officer, the BC Centre for Disease Control and the Ministry of Education. School districts are adapting their schedules and learning groups to fit within those measures based on student population and local consultation with education partners, parents and Indigenous rightsholders.

Every day, school districts are prepared to welcome all students to elementary and middle schools. For secondary schools, timetables have been modified to adhere to the health and safety requirements and ensure that all students can attend most days, with much of their instruction occurring in-class. 

The health and safety measures that all school districts will follow include:

• masks will be required for staff, middle and secondary students in high-traffic areas, such as buses, and in common areas, or anytime outside of their learning group whenever physical distancing cannot be maintained (exceptions will be made for students who cannot wear masks for medical reasons);
• even when wearing a mask, staff and students will still be required to maintain physical distance from people outside of their learning group;
• increased cleaning of high-contact surfaces;
• increased hand hygiene with all students, staff and visitors;
• school districts may also install transparent barriers for people who have more contact with others, such as front-desk staff, bus drivers or food services staff; and
• staff and students (or their parents/guardians) must also assess themselves daily for illness, including symptoms of COVID-19. If any student or staff member has even mild symptoms, arrangements will be made for that person to return home.

For BC’s complete back to school plan, including safety measures, orientation information and individual school district plans, see BC’s Back to School Plan.

See HERE for a summary of BC’s back to school plan. The plan has also been translated into 11 other languages: Arabic; Chinese (Simplified); Chinese (Traditional); Farsi; French; Hindi; Korean; Punjabi; Spanish; Tagalog; and Urdu.

If your family trial was adjourned and hasn’t been rebooked, you must either rebook the trial dates or schedule a Judicial Management Conference (JMC) to be heard by phone.

See Family Law BC for instructions on how to rebook a trial or schedule a JMC to be heard by phone.

If you’re scheduled for a child protection case conference

Conferences will take place by phone or video on the date originally set. The court will contact you with details.

Child protection trials

 All family trials scheduled after July 3, 2020, will remain on the trial list on the date scheduled. Counsel and self-represented litigants should attend court in person on the date scheduled at 9:00 a.m. to tell the court if they’re ready to go ahead that day. The court will decide which trials will proceed. Witnesses and anyone who has a lawyer are to wait outside the courthouse (within a 30-minute distance) and be prepared to be called to attend court. Masks are mandatory for all courthouse attendees. 

If your child has been removed and you have a date for a court hearing

The initial presentation hearing or protection hearing will go ahead at the scheduled time and day (or on the court “list day”) by phone.

If you aren’t sure whether you’re at a hearing or conference stage

Contact your social worker or lawyer to check if you need to attend court by phone or if court has been delayed. It’s really important you don’t miss your court hearing. If you don’t have access to a telephone, talk to your social worker or lawyer to figure out a solution.

If you need help with your case

No matter which stage you’re at in the child protection process, you can get help. If there's a Parents Legal Centre in your community, call them to get help by phone. These centres have free lawyers and advocates to help parents deal with a social worker's concerns about their children's safety. Or call the Legal Aid BC Call Centre for where to find legal aid services in your community.

If you still have questions, contact aboriginal@lss.bc.ca.

First Nation youth won't age out of care during the COVID-19 crisis. The federal government announced it will cover the costs for First Nations child and family services agencies to continue to support youth who are in the on-reserve system. To inquire further, visit the Aborigial Legal Aid in BC questions page. 

At this stage of the pandemic, the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) has said in-person visits are permitted in these situations:

• If in-person visits happened before March 26, 2020, you can continue them as long as you follow public health principles to reduce the spread of COVID-19.  
• If in-person visits happened after March 26, 2020, you can continue them through regular case planning instead of by exception. These visits may increase depending on circumstances.

Social workers and the ministry have to review whether in-person visits are possible in some situations. See the MCFD bulletin for more details. To inquire further, visit the Aboriginal Legal Aid in BC questions page or  Family Law BCQ&A - Parenting. 

The Provincial Court will now accept unsworn or unconfirmed affidavits as part of your family application. Be very careful that your affidavit is true and accurate as you would with a sworn affidavit, as the judge will likely ask you to swear the contents of the affidavit are true if you get a hearing.  A judge or justice may later require sworn evidence and will adjourn the matter to another date for an in-person hearing. See the Provincial Court’s Announcement and the Notice to the Profession and Public for more details.

You can still apply for a protection order. See Protection Orders During COVID-19 for additional support. The procedure is a little different because of COVID-19. Learn more about Peace Bonds and Family Law Protection Orders.

If you or your children are in immediate danger, call 911.

How to apply

Provincial Court: Provincial Court family court filings, including protection orders,can be made by email, mail or fax. The Provincial Court is returning to the pre-COVID process for bringing matters before the court.

Family Law BC also provides a wonderful step-by-step guide for applying for a protection order.

Supreme Court: In-person registry services have resumed at all Supreme Court registries in British Columbia. While in-person filing is available, parties are strongly encouraged to use e-filing, or one of the other methods. See Notice No. 34 (Civil and Family) for more details. See Notice No. 24 for how to e-file through Court Services Online. 

Both the Provincial and Supreme Court returned to their pre-COVID process for hearing urgent matters. The COVID-19 Urgent Application forms have been discontinued. All new applications can be submitted to the courts.

See the BC Family Justice’s COVID -19 Legal Questions and BC Family Law’s Q & A - Family Violence for more information and direction.

BC family duty counsel is providing service over the phone. To find contact information in your area see HERE.

For more information, see: 

• Q & A - Family Violence – Legal Aid BC
• COVID -19 Legal Questions - BC Government Family Justice website
• Protection Orders – Provincial Court eNews article explaining who can apply, and in what circumstances.

Essential workers can request childcare for children under 12 years old. Go  HERE for more information and to apply.

Families who receive the Canada Child Benefit (CCB) will receive an extra $300 per child. There is no need to reapply if you are already receiving the benefit. This will be delivered at the same time you would normally receive the CCB. For a full list of Federal benefits go to the Federal Economic Response Plan.

BC Families eligible to receive MCFD Children and Youth with Special Needs (CYSN) Family Support Services prior to March 30, 2020 were eligible to request emergency relief funding. A final round of the short-term Emergency Relief Support fund for CYSN was available from July 1 - September 30, 2020 and has now expired. Until March 31, 2021, families who receive Direct Funding/At Home Program basic respite can continue to use their respite funding in a flexible manner. Families do not need to provide a record of respite expense forms for agreements expiring before March 31, 2021.

This is a challenging issue. BC Family Law states that if you and your child are required to self-isolate, the courts are likely to agree that the child should stay with you until your period of self-isolation is over. Otherwise, you must follow the court order. BC Family Law has provided updated guidance for when children should not go to their other parent.

It is best if you and your co-parent work out an agreement during this time. There are free mediation and coaching services through Legal Aid BC. Legal aid and duty counsel are currently available by phone only. The courts are currently only taking urgent application by phone, including urgent matters regarding parenting time. 

For more information, and for help with your family law matter, go to the Parenting Q & A on the BC Family Law website or see Family Justice Services COVID-19 Legal Questions. Hannah DeJong, a family lawyer with Boughton Law, created COVID-19 Family Law Resources (BC), which includes general information and resources.The federal government has also provided Parenting during COVID-19 resources. 

This video discusses parenting time issues during COVID-19: COVID-19 and Family.