British Columbia is introducing broad procedural changes to its superior court and tax appeal rules. The changes are established through an Order in Council and amend the Supreme Court Civil Rules, the Supreme Court Family Rules and the Tax Appeals Regulation. The amendments are authorized under several provincial statutes, including the Court Rules Act, Carbon Tax Act, Employer Health Tax Act, Property Transfer Tax Act, Provincial Sales Tax Act, and Speculation and Vacancy Tax Act.

A major focus of the changes to the Supreme Court Civil Rules is Rule 8-1, which governs applications to the court. The revised rule shifts the process toward service before filing. An applicant must serve an unfiled notice of application, together with relevant affidavits and other evidence, on parties of record and other persons who may be affected by the requested orders.

The amendments also revise deadlines for responding to applications. Generally, an application respondent will have five business days after service to serve an application response and supporting evidence. Applications brought under Rule 9-7 will continue to have a longer 21-day response period. Applicants who wish to reply must generally serve reply affidavits within three business days, while Rule 9-7 applications allow five business days.

New provisions establish a more structured process for scheduling hearings. An application cannot be set down for hearing until the applicant has properly served the required materials and the response period has expired or each required respondent has served a response. Unless otherwise fixed by the court or a registrar, applications will generally be scheduled for 9:45 a.m. on a day when the court hears applications.

The amendments establish specific filing and service deadlines surrounding hearings. A notice of hearing must generally be filed and served at least four business days before the hearing. For applications expected to exceed two hours, the notice must be filed within seven days after the registrar fixes the hearing and served at least 14 days before the hearing.

Several related rules are updated to reflect the new terminology and procedures. Rules concerning summary proceedings, petitions, contempt applications and other court processes are amended to refer to the new unfiled application materials and revised service requirements. Contempt proceedings will specifically require personal service of the unfiled notice of application and accompanying materials on the alleged contemnor.

The amendments also adjust a number of procedural deadlines from one or three full business days to two or five business days, depending on the circumstance. Related rules governing adjournments, applications and petitions are revised accordingly. Forms 17, 32 and 33 in Appendix A are also repealed and replaced to align the prescribed court documents with the revised procedures.

British Columbia (264/2026) August 5, 2025
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