Note: If you wish to print a copy of these instructions, please print the PDF version.
Transmitting documents by fax is simply another - and perhaps more convenient - option for delivering your documents to the court registry. You still need to prepare the necessary documents for the court matter that you are involved in according to the Supreme Court and Provincial Court Rules that apply. You will find these Rules, as well as manuals, forms and procedural guides for filing, on the Court Services Branch Web site. From this page follow the appropriate link(s) (family, small claims, etc.). Return to this Web site when you are ready to send documents by fax to the registry.
Authority for transmitting by fax
The prescribed fax cover sheets
Limit on number of pages in each fax
Registry telephone and dedicated fax numbers
The procedures for transmitting documents to the registry by fax are relatively straightforward but you need to familiarize yourself with the relevant Court Rules and the relevant Judicial Practice Direction.
If you are transmitting documents to the Supreme Court Registry, review carefully Supreme Court civil Rule 23-2, Supreme Court family Rule 22-3 and the Supreme Court Notice to Profession. The Rule and Practice Direction will provide you with the information you need to know about the procedures for transmitting documents to this registry by fax.
If you are transmitting documents to the Provincial Court Registry, review carefully the Provincial Court Rules (for small claims matters, see Rule 17.1; for Family matters, see Rule 5.1) and the Provincial Court Practice Direction. The Rules and Practice Direction will provide you with the information you need to know about the procedures for transmitting documents to this registry by fax.
You must use the appropriate prescribed fax cover sheet when transmitting documents to a registry by fax. Documents faxed to the registry without the appropriate fax cover cannot be accepted for filing.
When transmitting documents to a Supreme Court registry by fax, you must use Supreme civil Form 118 or Supreme family Form F95.
When transmitting documents to a Provincial Court registry by fax, you must use Form 20 - Small Claims Rules and Form 32 - Provincial Court (family) Rules.
Fill out the appropriate fax cover sheet carefully, making sure that every required field is completed. Consider the following:
There is a registry service fee (or "statutory fee") for filing most civil court documents. You will find information about registry service fees under Small Claim fees and Supreme Court civil and family fees.
There is a $10.00 confirmation fee for the registry to process your fax and confirm that your documents have been filed or rejected for filing. This fee does not apply to documents filed in the Provincial Court on Family matters.
All items in a fax must relate to a single court file but you can send different documents relating to that file in the same fax.
You may fax up to 20 letter-sized (8½ x 11 inch) pages (including the fax cover sheet) at one time in Provincial Court. The page limit in Supreme Court is 30 pages.
If you are transmitting an affidavit to the Supreme Court by fax, you should note Supreme Court civil Rule 22-2(9) and Supreme Court family Rule 10-4(9) provides that exhibits exceeding 10 pages in length do not need to be filed with the affidavit.
In limited situations, you may be able to send more than 20 pages in a single fax if the Court Registrar or, in Provincial Court Family, the Clerk, gives prior permission. You can reach the Court Registrar or Clerk through the registry's main telephone number. See the list of locations.
When you send a document to the registry by fax, only one copy needs to be filed even though multiple copies may be required when filing by mail, courier or in person. For example, in Provincial court family and small claims, you may be filing a document that is in a multi-page carbonless format. In this instance only the first page (or "Court" copy) of the document should be faxed to the registry for filing.
Documents transmitted to the registry by fax must be sent to the dedicated fax number for that registry. For the Fax Filing registries, main telephone numbers, and fax filing fax numbers, see the locations.
You must keep:
(A transmission report can be printed from the fax machine from which the documents were sent. The report will show the fax number the documents were sent to, the number of pages sent, the date of transmission, and whether the transmission was successful.)
If asked, you must be prepared to present these pages in court. You will also need all these pages if you are required to serve documents on another party who is involved in your case. (See "How to serve documents that have been filed by fax.")
Documents are processed by the registry as soon as practicable. This means that your documents may not be processed immediately upon receipt by the registry and you may not receive confirmation from the registry immediately. If you do not hear back from the registry within three business days, you should call the registry to confirm that your fax was received.
The registry will return the confirmation of filing to the fax number or mailing address you provide on the fax cover sheet. When deciding where to have the confirmation sent, consider whether your documents contain personal information and whether the confirmation will be received in a public or private location. If there is sensitive information in your documents, you may want to provide a return mail address or a fax number different from the sending location to ensure that personal information is received privately.
If you are transmitting documents to the registry from outside North America, you should always provide a return address as the Registrar may choose to send the confirmation by mail.
The confirmation from the registry will tell you if your documents have been filed or if one or more documents have been rejected and the reason for the rejection.
If your documents are accepted for filing by the registry, you will receive:
The registry does not keep copies of documents transmitted by fax that have been rejected for filing. To resubmit your documents:
Many documents need to be served on other parties involved in your case once they have been accepted for filing. Where this is required the other parties should receive a complete copy of:
Note that there may be other requirements for serving documents in the applicable Court Rules. (Go to "Related links" to link to and review these Rules.) In small claims, for example, a blank copy of the reply form must be served along with the notice of claim. In family court, a blank reply form must be served with an application to obtain, or to change or cancel an order. It is important to remember that these requirements, which are set out in the Court Rules, still apply.