The Provincial Court of BC’s New Small Claims Practice Direction recognises that we should not force parties to start entirely afresh or rejoin the queue when a continuation is necessary or a re-trial has been ordered. This raises the important question of when we should start the clock on timeliness.

The new practice direction issued by Chief Judge Melissa Gillespie for all small claims matters in BC recognises the concrete necessity of achieving timeliness within the overall timeline of a dispute.

The new practice direction issued by Chief Judge Gillespie on December 19, 2024 states the general purpose as being that all “small claims trials or hearings, once commenced, are concluded within a reasonable time.”

The direction requires that ongoing small claims matters that fail to be completed in the time provided be scheduled for continuation as soon as possible with regard to the “nature of the processing, the age of the case and any other factors which impact the urgency of the matter.” This means that if a new trial is ordered, the time required by the first hearing should be taken into account in giving the matter priority when it is returned for a new trial.

The important recognition here is that timeliness requires any comprehensive measure of timeliness be holistic and include the time from the dispute’s inception to its resolution.

There are challenging issues that arise from this recognition, including the necessity of coordinating and collaborating between the various justice participants to fully achieve timeliness. It is heartening however to see a concrete measure that embraces a broader measure of timeliness.