How to Find Court Records in British Columbia

British Columbia's Court Services Online (CSO) lets anyone search Provincial and Supreme Court civil files, Court of Appeal files, and Provincial criminal/traffic case profiles for free, with a $6 fee to view file details or documents and a $10 fee to purchase a document, but CSO does not cover Supreme Court criminal matters, Provincial family files, Supreme Court adoption files, or Supreme Court divorce files beyond basic style-of-cause information.

Information last verified on 2026-08-15. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

The Three BC Courts and What Each One Hears

British Columbia has three courts, and getting their current names right matters because each one runs its own access policy. The Provincial Court of British Columbia is the first-level trial court, hearing criminal, criminal youth, family, child protection, small claims, and traffic matters. The Supreme Court of British Columbia is the superior trial court, hearing civil and criminal cases and some appeals from the Provincial Court. The Court of Appeal for British Columbia is the highest court in the province, hearing appeals from both trial courts and from administrative boards and tribunals. All three publish their own access policy, and all three ground it in the same open-court principle: a presumption in favour of access to the court record, restricted only where a competing interest, such as privacy or the administration of justice, justifies it. The Court of Appeal's policy cites the Supreme Court of Canada's Sherman Estate v. Donovan, 2021 SCC 25, and notes plainly that its own access policy "does not have the force of law"; final access decisions rest with the judiciary, not with registry staff.

Court Services Online: The Free Search, the $6 View, the $10 Purchase

Court Services Online (CSO), at justice.gov.bc.ca/cso, is the province's official public search system, run jointly by the Court Services Branch and the BC Judiciary. It covers four channels: eSearch for Provincial and Supreme Court civil files, eSearch for Provincial traffic and criminal files, Court of Appeal files, and a restricted online-request channel for Supreme Court Family files open only to counsel and parties, not the general public.

The fee structure is consistent across the civil, criminal, and appeal channels:

The criminal and traffic channel is the one exception worth flagging clearly: it is free end to end for search and the basic case profile, showing charges, appearances, sentences or dispositions, and release information, but it has no ability to view or purchase the underlying documents at all. If you need an actual document from a criminal or traffic file, CSO's free channel will not get it for you.

Registration is optional for searching. Registering (through a Business BCeID, Basic BCeID, or BC Registries and Online Services account) lets you save a credit card and get monthly statements, but you can search and pay per transaction without ever creating an account. Electronic filing is different and does require a registered subscription.

Coverage window: records are generally available from 1989 onward across BC court locations, with the exception of Victoria Supreme Court records, which start only in 2002. Documents from Supreme Court files older than 12 years, or Small Claims files older than 15 years, cannot be ordered through CSO at all and require an in-person or paper request instead.

What CSO Does Not Cover

CSO's own "About CSO" page states its exclusions directly, and they are worth stating just as directly here because they define the limits of what a self-serve BC court search can do:

• Supreme Court criminal matters are not searchable through eSearch at all.
• Provincial family files (Family Law Act, Child, Family and Community Service Act, Family Maintenance Enforcement Program) are excluded.
• Supreme Court adoption files are excluded.
• Supreme Court divorce files are only partially visible: the public sees style of cause, file number, and date opened; counsel and parties on the file can request additional online access, but general public search stops there.
• Any file under a judicial order restricting access is excluded, regardless of case type.
• Information from files dated before 1989, and Victoria Supreme Court files before 2002, is not in the system.

None of these exclusions means the underlying record does not exist or cannot be accessed by any means. It means the record is not searchable through CSO specifically. Every excluded category is still accessible in person at the registry that holds the file, or by fax or letter, subject to the family, youth, sealed-file, and adoption restrictions covered below. BC's own guidance is explicit that requests for court documents cannot be made by email.

In-Person and Paper Requests

Outside CSO, the two routes to a BC court file are going in person to the registry where the case was filed and heard, where some courthouses have public access terminals, or sending a fax or letter to that same registry. Requests by email are not accepted.

The Supreme Court Civil Rules set the official fee schedule for registry search and copy transactions (Appendix C, Schedule 1, current to August 11, 2026): an $8 registry-conducted search (with exemptions for parties, lawyers, and retained transcribers), $10 plus $1 per faxed page to return search results by mail, fax, or email, $6 to access a document from an electronic search without purchasing it, $10 to access and purchase that document, $1 per page for ordinary copies, and $40 for a certified copy of a document up to 10 pages (plus $6 per additional page), a certificate of judgment, or a certificate of pending litigation. These regulation figures match CSO's own posted $6 view and $10 purchase fees exactly, which is a useful cross-check that the CSO figures are current rather than stale. A separate Provincial Court fee regulation specifically for criminal or small-claims registry copies was not located in the sources for this article; treat the schedule above as verified for Supreme Court civil registry transactions and CSO itself, and confirm any Provincial Court paper-copy fee directly with the registry before relying on it.

Restrictions on Access

Sealed files: no one may access a sealed court record, or a sealed document within a record, unless the court orders otherwise.

Youth records: the federal Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) controls access to youth court files, not BC law, and BC's own Youth Justice Act extends the same restrictions to provincial-offence youth proceedings. The public cannot access a youth record unless a judge orders it, though anyone can still get the file number, next appearance date, and custody status. People listed in the YCJA itself (the young person, their counsel, parents, the Crown, and the victim) may access the file for a limited period, and even they cannot redistribute what they see except as the Act allows. These restrictions stop applying once a young person has received an adult sentence and the appeal process is complete.

Family files: absent a court order, only a party, a party's lawyer, a family justice counsellor, or someone the party authorizes in writing may search a Family Law Act or Child, Family and Community Service Act file in Provincial Court; the public can still get the parties' names, the file number, the registry, and the date the case started. Supreme Court family and CFCSA files follow the same restricted-search pattern. Adoption proceedings carry the strictest rule in this category: under the Adoption Act, only the Provincial Director of Adoptions or a designate may search an adoption file without a court order.

Publication bans: a publication ban does not block access to a record, it restricts what someone who accesses it may then publish or broadcast. Registry staff try to flag known bans, but compliance is the requester's responsibility, and breaching a ban can be treated as contempt of court. Finding a record is not the same as being free to publish it.

Intimate Images Protection Act files: a newer carve-out limits searching a file or ordering a transcript under this Act to the party (or their lawyer) or someone a judge authorizes.

Mental health records: the Supreme Court's access policy lists a dedicated section on mental health records within its criminal-proceedings material; its detailed terms were not confirmed for this article, so treat any mental-health-record access as a question for the registry rather than an assumption either way.

Transcripts

BC does not run an in-house transcript office. Court of Appeal, Supreme Court, and Provincial Court transcripts are handled by Veritext Canada, a contracted transcription provider. Authorized (independent) court reporters are also available, covering Supreme Court Civil proceedings generally, and Supreme Court Criminal or Civil proceedings specifically where that reporter personally attended. Pricing runs on turnaround tier for a standard transcript: $10.00 per page at Standard (22nd business day), $11.00 at Priority (10th business day), $12.00 at Expedited (3rd business day), and $13.00 at Daily (next business day), with judge-approved transcripts (oral rulings, reasons for judgment, sentencing) priced separately at $14.00 per page. An electronic copy after initial delivery costs $5.00. Appeal transcripts must be ready within 60 days of the appeal being filed.

Court Records Versus a Criminal Record Check

Searching CSO or a registry file is not the same thing as getting a criminal record check. A court search looks up a specific case by name or file number in the court system; a police-issued criminal record check is a separate product built for employment and background-screening purposes and pulls from police and RCMP databases, not court files. Use CSO to look up a case you already know about, not as a substitute for a formal record check, and never as a tenant or employment screening shortcut on its own.

For how to certify a birth, death, or marriage in the province instead of a court file, see vital records in British Columbia. For starting or responding to a claim, see British Columbia small claims and the CRT. For the national picture, see the Canada court records hub and Alberta's court records guide.

Disclaimer

This article is for general information only and is not legal advice. Court access policies, portal features, and fees change, and the Provincial Court's own copy-fee regulation for criminal and small-claims files could not be confirmed separately from the Supreme Court Civil Rules figures used above, so verify current fees with the registry before relying on them. The Supreme Court's mental-health-records provisions were not independently confirmed and should be checked directly with the court if relevant to you. Accessing a court record does not give you the right to publish what a publication ban restricts; breaching a ban can be treated as contempt of court. Confirm current procedures, fees, and access rules with the relevant BC court registry or Court Services Online before relying on anything in this article.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Court Services Online free to use?

Searching the CSO database is always free. Viewing file details or an electronic document costs $6, and purchasing a document costs $10. Provincial criminal and traffic search and case-profile viewing is fully free, but that free channel does not let you view or purchase the underlying documents.

Can I search Supreme Court criminal files online in British Columbia?

No. Court Services Online explicitly excludes Supreme Court criminal matters. Those files can only be accessed in person or by fax or letter to the registry that holds the case.

Can I find a family court file through Court Services Online?

No. Provincial family files under the Family Law Act and Child, Family and Community Service Act are excluded from CSO, and access even in person is restricted to parties, their lawyers, and authorized people. The public can still get the parties' names, file number, registry, and date started.

Do I need to register for a CSO account to search?

No, registration is optional for searching. You can search and pay per transaction without an account. Registering just lets you save a payment method and receive monthly statements, and is required for electronic filing.

How far back do British Columbia's online court records go?

CSO generally covers records from 1989 onward, except Victoria Supreme Court records, which start in 2002. Supreme Court files over 12 years old and Small Claims files over 15 years old cannot be ordered online at all.

Can I access a youth court file in British Columbia?

Not without a judge's order. Youth records are controlled by the federal Youth Criminal Justice Act, and the public can only get the file number, next appearance date, and custody status unless the court allows more.