Starting December 2025, new guidelines and a new scheduling request form will come into effect for scheduling bylaw adjudication hearings. This new process will be in effect for hearing requests received after December 1, 2025, and will impact hearings scheduled for February/March 2026 onward. Local governments that participate in the Local Government Bylaw Adjudication Program (BAP) are asked to use the new form when requesting an adjudicator from December 1 onwards.
Guidelines
The Tribunal and Agency Support Division (TASD), the provincial government department that supports the BAP, is responsible for scheduling adjudicators to hear bylaw notice disputes at the request of local governments enrolled in the program. According to TASD, the new guidelines aim to promote a fair process and allow sufficient time for parties to be heard and adjudicators to reach an informed decision. They recommend a minimum hearing length based on the category of contravention (parking, standard and complex). When estimating the time required, additional factors may be considered (e.g., large volume of evidence, repeat disputant).
TASD indicates that going forward, when requesting an adjudicator, local governments will be asked to provide:
- Information about the category of contravention,
- Additional factors that may impact the time needed to hear the dispute, and
- An estimated time based on the guidelines and additional factors.
The recommended time frames in the guidelines are to help estimate the minimum amount of time needed to fairly hear a dispute. They may not necessarily reflect the exact or maximum amount of time required to hear a dispute; if necessary, an additional half- or full-day sitting could be required to accommodate the excess adjudications.
In cases where a local government does not typically receive enough disputes for the adjudications to make up a half-day hearing, TASD will work to schedule hearings in a way that minimizes delay, costs and impact on adjudicator resources. TASD acknowledges challenges around scheduling individual disputes and is working separately to address this issue.
Questions about the new form or guidelines, or the BAP, may be addressed to: LocalGovernmentBylawAdjudication@gov.bc.ca.