Is There Free or Low-Cost Family Mediation in British Columbia?

If money is tight, private mediation may feel out of reach. British Columbia has public services that can help you reach an agreement without paying a private mediator.

This article describes the main free and court-connected options, what they cover, and how to start. Whether a particular service suits your situation depends on your facts, so confirm details when you make contact.

This article covers the law of British Columbia.

Family justice counsellors

Family justice counsellors help people reach agreements on guardianship, parenting arrangements, contact, and child and spousal support. They also help people obtain or change a Provincial Court order, explain the child support guidelines and the court process, and work as accredited mediators. They give short-term emotional support and referrals, and share information on Parenting After Separation courses.

Their services are free, and you do not have to start the court process to use them. They do not provide legal advice, so you may still want a lawyer's view on what you are agreeing to.

Family dispute resolution is a process parties use to try to resolve disputed issues outside court. It includes help from a family justice counsellor, parenting coordinator services, mediation, arbitration and collaborative family law. The Family Law Act itself imposes no general mediation-first rule, although regulations can set requirements for mandatory family dispute resolution or prescribed procedures.

Family Justice Centres and Justice Access Centres

Family Justice Centres offer individual needs assessment meetings that give information about family law, your options and referrals to community services. Mediation through Justice Access Centres and Family Justice Centres is available in over 220 languages.

A person may be referred to a private mediator if the issue is not a family law dispute or is one a counsellor is not trained to mediate. Other referrals can include child protection mediation or the Notice to Mediate process. If you are referred to a private mediator, ask about fees first.

Early Resolution in Provincial Court

If you file in a Provincial Court Early Resolution Registry, you generally complete a needs assessment with a family justice counsellor, the Parenting After Separation online course if applicable, and a consensual dispute resolution session if appropriate. The early resolution services are free.

All Provincial Court registries in the Vancouver Coastal, Vancouver Fraser, Vancouver Island and Interior regions are Early Resolution Registries, and other locations may be designated later. The session can include mediation with a qualified professional, collaborative family law, or facilitated negotiation of child or spousal support with a child support officer.

A party in an early resolution registry must complete a parenting education program before filing an application or a reply, and each party takes part individually in a needs assessment with a family justice counsellor. A needs assessor can exempt you from the parenting education program on listed grounds, such as having completed it in the past two years, a matter involving only spousal support or only companion animal property, or all children being 19 or older.

The consensual dispute resolution session is not required if a needs assessor finds the parties cannot access these services, or if a needs assessor or dispute resolution professional finds participation is not appropriate. The Early Resolution Process also does not apply to child protection matters or matters under the Child, Family and Community Service Act or the Adoption Act. Because this varies by courthouse, check with your local registry about how it applies to you.

Help inside the court process

In the Supreme Court, the judge at a judicial case conference may mediate any issue and may refer you to a family justice counsellor. If you and the other party both agree on mediation and a mediator, you can skip the formal Notice to Mediate. Mediator fees under that process are generally split equally unless the parties agree otherwise.

Under the Notice to Mediate (Family) process, any party to a family law proceeding may serve a notice between 90 days after the first response to family claim is filed and 90 days before trial. The parties must agree on a mediator within 14 days of delivery, and mediation must take place within 60 days of the mediator's appointment and no later than 14 days before trial, unless all parties agree to a later date or the court orders one.

Each party attends a separate pre-mediation meeting where the mediator screens for power imbalance, domestic violence and abuse and discusses independent legal advice. Each party pays its own lawyer if it has one at the mediation. The notice can generally be used only once per proceeding unless the court orders otherwise.

What to do next

• Contact a Family Justice Centre or family justice counsellor and ask about a needs assessment.
• Tell them about any safety concerns. Professionals must assess whether family violence may be present.
• Ask what services suit your dispute and whether any referral would involve a fee.
• Collect basic information about income, children and property so meetings are productive.
• Have a lawyer review any agreement before you sign, especially one about property or support.

Frequently asked questions