BC Small Claims MS Teams Remote Hearing: How to Prepare

Why BC Small Claims Uses MS Teams

Under Practice Direction SM CL 02, the default attendance format for settlement conferences and trial conferences in BC Provincial Court small claims is remote by Microsoft Teams audio or video, or by telephone. The court adopted remote hearings to reduce travel for litigants across the province, particularly for those far from their filing registry.

This means you will likely attend your first court appearance — the settlement conference — remotely, not in a courtroom. Trials, including simplified trials, are in person by default unless a judge or judicial justice orders otherwise.

How You Receive the Teams Link

After the registry schedules your settlement conference or trial conference, you receive a Notice of Hearing by mail or through Court Services Online (CSO). The notice includes the date, time, and a Microsoft Teams meeting link. Some registries send the link in a separate email.

If you do not receive a Teams link within a few days of the hearing notice, contact the registry. Do not wait until the morning of the hearing to discover you have no link.

Setting Up Before the Hearing

Download MS Teams. The free desktop app or mobile app works. You can also join through a web browser, but the desktop app is more reliable for longer hearings. You do not need a Microsoft account to join as a guest.

Test your setup. The day before the hearing, open Teams, check your camera, microphone, and speakers. If you are using a laptop's built-in microphone, sit in a quiet room — kitchen fans, barking dogs, and construction noise are distracting and unprofessional.

Prepare your background. A plain wall or a virtual background is fine. A cluttered room with people walking behind you is not.

Charge your device. A settlement conference can last 30 minutes to over an hour. A dying battery mid-hearing is avoidable.

Presenting Documents During a Remote Hearing

This is where most self-represented litigants struggle. In a courtroom, you hand the judge and the other side a tabbed document book. On Teams, you need a different approach.

File your documents in advance. For a settlement conference, Rule 7(5) requires you to submit all relevant documents and reports to the registry at least 14 days before the conference and serve them on the other parties at least 7 days before. Make sure every page is numbered sequentially.

Refer to page numbers. During the hearing, say "Your Honour, please turn to page 12 of my documents" rather than trying to share your screen. The judge and the other side should already have copies.

Screen sharing is a backup. Some judges allow screen sharing for photographs or diagrams, but do not assume you will be able to. Ask at the start of the hearing if you need to share your screen.

Send documents to the other side early. Mail or deliver your document book to the other party well before the hearing date — at least 7 days. Dropping documents on someone by email the night before a settlement conference does not help your case.

During the Hearing

Join 10 minutes early. You will land in a virtual waiting room. The clerk or judge admits participants when the hearing begins.

Mute when not speaking. Background noise from your microphone disrupts everyone. Unmute only when the judge asks you to speak or when it is your turn.

Look at the camera. It feels unnatural, but looking at the camera lens instead of the screen makes you appear to be making eye contact with the judge.

Do not record. Recording a court hearing without the judge's permission is prohibited. Teams may show a "recording started" notification if someone presses record — if the other side does this without permission, notify the judge.

Have paper notes ready. Keep a notepad beside your keyboard. Typing notes during the hearing creates audible clicking and looks like you are doing something else.

Common Mistakes

Poor internet. A choppy connection that drops every few minutes makes it impossible for the judge to hear your testimony. Use a wired connection or sit close to your router. If your home internet is unreliable, go to a library with private meeting rooms.

Wrong time zone. Court times are in Pacific Time (PT). If you are outside BC — perhaps you moved after the dispute arose — convert carefully. Missing the hearing because you calculated Eastern Time instead of Pacific Time results in the conference proceeding without you.

Treating it casually. A Teams hearing is a court proceeding. The judge is on the bench, just virtually. Appearing in pyjamas, eating lunch on camera, or lying in bed signals that you do not take the process seriously.

For a complete guide to every step in BC Provincial Court small claims — including how to prepare for settlement conferences, trial conferences, and full trials — see our BC Provincial Court small claims guide.

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