On May 1, 2021 the CRT will update its existing Rules. The planned changes are ready to share with you and we would like your feedback on them.
View a draft of the revisions to the Rules. Please review this draft and contact us with your feedback, with the subject line “Rules Consultation”. We’ll forward your feedback to our CRT Rules team.
Please send your feedback by Friday, April 23, 2021 at 11:59pm PST.
This consultation is part of our commitment to build the CRT around the needs of people who will be using it. We really appreciate your feedback.
What’s being updated?
Overall, these changes seek to further improve the clarity and internal consistency of the CRT Rules. Throughout you will see small changes to the words used in sentences to make them more readable but not change the meaning. In other places we have tried to clarify when rules apply and when they don’t, such as the rules on serving documents in a CRT dispute.
Some of the updates are intended to change how we currently do things. For example:
- There is some new guidance for case managers when they are thinking about referring a matter to a tribunal member for a decision or order.
- There is a new process for when a party wants the CRT to order someone else to produce evidence for a dispute.
- The CRT will apply different factors when considering a request to cancel a default decision or a decision made when a party is non-compliant.
What are the CRT Rules?
Courts and tribunals usually have rules. Rules are a bit like a complete instruction guide. They can also restrict parties and the court or tribunal from doing certain things.
Under the Civil Resolution Tribunal Act, we’re required to have a set of rules. The CRT Rules help to make it a fair, transparent, and consistent forum for resolving disputes. The CRT Rules have been in place since we started accepting strata property disputes for resolution in July 2016.
The Tribunal Chair sets the CRT Rules, but we think they belong to all British Columbians. Because of that, we want the rules to be as accessible and understandable as possible.
If you’re familiar with court rules, you’ll probably find the CRT’s rules to be shorter and simpler. We think long, complicated rules are just too confusing for most people to use. We’re trying to take a ‘less is more’ approach with our rules and focus on the information that will be most useful to people.
How do people use the CRT Rules?
If we’re being totally honest – we hope people using the CRT don’t actually have to read the CRT Rules. We try to build processes and guides that speak for themselves, and give you the information you need, when you need it. But when people need or want to read our complete rules, they are available here.
Questions about the CRT Rules? Have feedback after this consultation closes?
Please contact us. We’ll forward your questions and feedback to our CRT Rules team.