The courthouse at 200 East 23rd Street sits a few blocks off Lonsdale and holds the Provincial Court of British Columbia. The government’s courthouse directory lists no Supreme Court location anywhere on the North Shore, and none in West Vancouver.
That shapes what can be done close to home. The Provincial Court’s family powers cover who is a guardian, how parenting time and responsibilities are shared, contact for grandparents and others, support for a child or a spouse, and orders protecting a family member. Section 193 of the Family Law Act withholds four kinds of order: splitting family property or family debt (pets aside), splitting a pension, managing property that belongs to a child, and parentage declarations other than those needed to decide something else. Even with that limit, section 193(3) lets the Provincial Court restrict access to a home where that is needed to protect a family member living there.
Divorce is governed by a federal statute and granted by the Supreme Court alone, and the same court decides the fate of a house, investment accounts, a company or a pension. Families with children and no property in dispute can sometimes resolve everything in the North Vancouver court; families with a home to divide cannot.
The steps before a Provincial Court application in North Vancouver
North Vancouver is one of the registries named in Appendix 1 of the Provincial Court Family Rules as an early resolution registry, and its early resolution services are run by the North Vancouver Family Justice Centre at 100-233 West 1st Street, in Lower Lonsdale. The Centre sees people only by appointment, in person or by phone and video, and its services are free.
Rule 10 sets the sequence for anyone asking the North Vancouver court for an order, subject to the exceptions further down. The process begins with Form 1, the notice to resolve, which is filed and delivered to the other side. Next comes an interview with a family justice counsellor, called a needs assessment, which also screens for violence. Then the parenting education course, and finally a consensual dispute resolution session (mediation is one form). Rule 11 puts the person who receives the notice through the same three stages before their reply can be filed.
The rules also say when the sequence does not apply, and it is worth knowing these before assuming a case will take months:
- Rule 12 lifts the requirement for an application limited to orders of these kinds: protection, priority parenting, relocation, consent, case management or enforcement. Under rule 14, the first two can be applied for before the steps are done, even alongside other claims.
- The counsellor may exempt someone from the parenting course for reasons the rules list: they took it within two years, all the children are adults (19 or over), or the course is out of reach because of language, literacy, a serious illness or no online access.
- Mediation falls away if the counsellor finds the service is not available to the parties, or if the counsellor or mediator judges it unsuitable.
- Someone who has finished the sequence may file even when the other parent refuses to engage.
Raise safety worries at the needs assessment, not later. Our role at this stage is advice ahead of the interview, getting you ready for the mediation, and checking any draft agreement; for privately arranged mediation, see our family mediation lawyers.
When safety is the issue: protection orders
Either court can make an order under Part 9 of the Family Law Act. Section 183 lets the person who says they are at risk apply, or someone else on their behalf, and the judge can also act without being asked; no other family claim needs to be on foot. The test is whether family violence is likely and whether the applicant is a family member at risk.
Terms can include no contact, staying away from the home, school or workplace (ownership of the place does not matter), police removal from the residence or police attendance while belongings are collected, and the surrender of weapons. Section 184 makes the judge weigh specified risk factors, including past violence and whether it is getting worse, coercive control, a separation that is recent or planned, and how the person at risk sees their own safety. Section 186 allows the application to proceed without notice; the person bound by the order may then ask for it to be set aside. Section 183(4) ends the order after a year unless the judge sets another term.
For a North Shore family two rules help. These applications are exempt from the early resolution sequence. And Rule 7(3) allows a protection or priority parenting application to be filed at another registry with the court’s permission, useful when someone has moved off the Shore to be safe. If you are in danger now, phone 911; a court application is no substitute.
Violence is also part of the best-interests analysis for children: sections 37 and 38 require the court to consider family violence and its effect on the child when making parenting orders.
Which Provincial Court registry a case belongs in
A North Shore address is not decisive. Rule 7 keeps documents in the registry of any case the same people already have open. Where nothing is open, child issues go to the registry nearest the child’s main home, and other issues to the registry nearest the first filer’s home. Children who live chiefly with a parent in Vancouver, Burnaby or Squamish may point somewhere else. Distance is not defined in the rule, so registry staff are the people to confirm a borderline case with before filing.
Divorce and property: the Supreme Court registry off the Shore
Supreme Court family files from the Shore are opened elsewhere. By road the Smithe Street Law Courts are closest, roughly 11 km from City Hall. Our reading of the Supreme Court Family Rules found no provision linking a spouse’s address to a particular registry; convenience for both spouses and for hearings drives the choice, and a judge may later change the trial location set in the notice of family claim.
Before most contested applications, Rule 7-1 requires a judicial case conference. The exceptions include an order under section 91 of the Family Law Act stopping a spouse from disposing of property, orders by consent, and applications made without notice. A sworn financial statement (Form F8) is part of the early paperwork, so pull together three years of income tax material as soon as separation is on the table.
A BC court can grant the divorce if one spouse was habitually resident in the province for the full year before filing; the Act does not define that phrase, and borderline residence needs advice. Marriage breakdown is the only ground, shown by a year apart, adultery or cruelty. The order normally becomes effective 31 days after judgment, later if an appeal is outstanding, and earlier only by court order for special circumstances where both spouses undertake not to appeal. Our guides cover the filing steps and an uncontested divorce; see also our divorce practice.
Property, support and deadlines
Separation gives each spouse an undivided half interest in family property and makes each equally responsible for family debt, subject to an agreement or court order. Section 85 keeps some things out (assets brought into the relationship, inheritances, gifts from outside the couple), but any rise in their value while together is family property, and section 95 permits an unequal division if equal shares would be significantly unfair. A two-year marriage-like relationship brings an unmarried couple within these rules. More in our pages on dividing property and inherited money after separation.
Time limits are in section 198(2). A married spouse has two years from the divorce judgment (or a nullity order) to start a claim to divide property, debt or a pension, or for spousal support; for an unmarried couple, the two years run from separation. Section 198(5) pauses the clock while the couple work with a family dispute resolution professional, or in a prescribed process. Whether a given negotiation counted can be disputed afterwards, so note the dates and get advice before relying on the pause. Our article on claiming assets after separation has more.
The Federal Child Support Guidelines fix table support by the payor’s income and how many children there are, so the argument tends to be over income. For a spouse, the court asks first whether support is owed at all; amount and length are then measured against the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines. See our pages on support for children, support between spouses and parenting after separation.
Relocating with a child has two notice regimes. Under the Family Law Act (sections 65 to 71), a guardian whose child is under a written parenting or contact agreement or order gives at least 60 days’ written notice; under the Divorce Act (sections 16.9 to 16.96) the notice for a child of the marriage is also 60 days, in a prescribed form. Each allows 30 days to object, but the exceptions and objection steps differ, so get advice on which applies before you send or respond to one.
Plenty of separations never reach a judge. A written separation agreement can deal with children, support and property, and a marriage or cohabitation agreement can do so in advance.
Our family lawyers
The family group is led by Judith A. Janzen, a principal of the firm since the two principals joined forces in 2012. Lawyers who take North Vancouver files include:
The team page has the full firm.
Common questions
Can I file for divorce at the North Vancouver courthouse?
No. East 23rd Street is a Provincial Court, and a divorce needs the Supreme Court, whose nearest registry is in Vancouver. Parenting, support and protection orders can be sought on East 23rd Street.
Must I go through the Family Justice Centre first?
For an ordinary Provincial Court application in North Vancouver, yes. The exceptions are applications limited to protection, priority parenting, relocation, consent, case management or enforcement orders, and the counsellor may excuse the course or the mediation in the situations the rules list.
How quickly can I get a protection order?
The application can be made without notice to the other person, and it does not wait for the early resolution steps. How soon a judge hears it depends on the court’s schedule; in an emergency, call 911.
How is a family file billed?
By the hour. The price of an initial meeting is quoted when you book on (604) 900-2538 or via the contact page.
