Court enforcement and process fees raised in Small Claims and BC Supreme Court civil proceedings

Plain-language summary · AI-assisted · not legal advice

Several fees paid to sheriffs and other parties for serving documents and enforcing court orders have been updated in both the Small Claims Rules and the Supreme Court Civil Rules. In Small Claims, service fees rise to $100–$105 (from $80 and $60 respectively for the two service categories), and the per-kilometre travel rate increases from $0.50 to $0.65. In the Supreme Court, enforcement and service fees across multiple items are standardized to $170 (for paragraph (a) items) and $105 (for paragraph (b) items), replacing a range of varying amounts. The per-kilometre rate for sheriff travel in Supreme Court matters is also updated to 65 cents. Anyone who regularly serves documents through sheriffs or pays enforcement fees in BC court proceedings should update their cost estimates accordingly.

Who this affects: litigants in BC Small Claims proceedings · litigants in BC Supreme Court civil proceedings · lawyers and paralegals managing civil litigation · sheriffs and process servers · businesses involved in debt collection or enforcement actions