The BC Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT) is Canada’s first online tribunal and offers an affordable and accessible way for British Columbians to resolve disputes without the help of a lawyer or the hassle of attending court.
The CRT encourages a collaborative approach to resolving disputes; after a claim is made, parties are encouraged to resolve the dispute through negotiation and facilitation with a case manager. If the parties can't agree, a CRT tribunal member then makes a decision regarding the dispute. Check out their website to learn more about the CRT Process.
The CRT has jurisdiction over certain types of claims. For each of these, the CRT has developed a solution explorer on their website, which helps people learn more about their options by answering a series of questions.
- Intimate images: The Intimate Images Protection Act came into effect March 2023. Under this Act, the CRT has jurisdiction over claims about intimate images being shared without consent. This can include making an intimate image protection order to have the images taken down/deleted, making a claim for a penalty if someone doesn’t comply with the protection order, and making a claim for monetary damages for the harm of sharing the images. The solution explorer page linked above also features a large collection of FAQ.
- Motor vehicle accidents: The CRT’s jurisdiction includes claims about the entitlement to benefits, ICBC’s assessment of who is at fault, monetary damages, and determination of whether an injury is a minor injury under the Insurance (Vehicle) Act. If your patron needs to learn more about what to do after being hurt in a motor vehicle accident, check out Clicklaw’s Common Question for starting points.
- Small claims: People can make a claim at the CRT for most claims under $5000, including disputes about things one bought and sold, loans, personal property, contracts, roommates, and pets. Note that the CRT does not have jurisdiction over the following types of claims: harassment, slander, defamation, or division of family property.
- Strata property: This includes disputes about strata bylaws, councils, governance, maintenance and damage, and nuisance. Note their jurisdiction does not include claims about harassment, bullying, slander, or strata claims about land such as ordering a sale of a lot.
- Societies and cooperatives: The CRT has jurisdiction over disputes with BC societies and housing and community service cooperative associations. These types of disputes are often about access to documents, issues with meetings or voting, enforcing constitutions or bylaws, or interpretation of the Societies Act.
If your patron has already received a decision from the CRT but disagrees with it, they can apply to the BC Supreme Court for a judicial review. This means a judge will look at the CRT’s decision-making process and decide if any errors or unfairness occurred. If they did, the Supreme Court may overturn the CRT’s decision in full or in-part and may order the CRT to make a new decision. Read more about this on the CRT’s page on judicial reviews.
If your patron wants more information about the law in some of these topic areas, check out the LSLAP Manual, available both on Clicklaw Wikibooks and in print in your library. This book includes chapters on Motor Vehicle Law, Small Claims and the CRT, and Strata Law.
If your patron has a legal problem but is unsure which court to go to, check out these Clicklaw Common Questions for good starting points: