CRT Fee Waiver BC: How to Apply for Low-Income Fee Relief

The CRT application fee is $75 or $125, and for someone owed $800 by a contractor who never finished the job, that fee can feel like a barrier. The tribunal offers fee waivers for low-income applicants — but not everyone, and not unlimited.

Who Qualifies

Fee waivers are available only to natural persons demonstrating financial hardship. Corporations, general partnerships, strata corporations, and societies cannot apply. If your business is a sole proprietorship, you apply as the individual owner.

The CRT evaluates three factors:

• Gross household income — total income before taxes for everyone in your household
• Monthly necessary expenses — rent or mortgage, utilities, food, transportation, childcare, medical costs
• Real estate assets — whether you own property and its approximate value

There is no published income cutoff. The CRT looks at your overall financial picture. If your expenses leave little room to absorb filing costs without hardship, you have a reasonable case.

How to Apply

The Fee Waiver Request is integrated into the Dispute Application process. Instead of paying the application fee at the end of your submission, you select the fee waiver option and provide the required financial details.

This is important: submitting the Fee Waiver Request pauses the limitation clock, just like paying the fee would. You do not need to wait for a decision on the waiver before the clock stops.

Limits

You are limited to three fee waivers in any 12-month period unless you can show extraordinary circumstances justifying additional waivers. Each waiver covers one dispute application.

If the CRT denies your waiver request, you will need to pay the application fee to proceed. The denial does not prevent you from filing — it just means you pay.

What It Covers

The fee waiver covers the initial application fee ($75 or $125). Subsequent fees — the adjudication fee ($50), default order application ($25), consent resolution order ($25) — are separate. If you win, the Tribunal Member can order the respondent to reimburse these costs as part of the decision.

Access Pro Bono Society of BC (604-878-7400) also offers up to 30 minutes of free legal advice through its Summary Advice Program, and Legal Aid BC provides triage referrals for qualifying individuals. These are separate from the CRT's own fee waiver process.

The BC CRT Small Claim Step-by-Step Guide walks through the fee waiver application alongside the standard filing process, so you know exactly what financial information to prepare before you start.

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