Family Case Conferences in Provincial Court

A Family Case Conference (FCC) is a private informal one-hour meeting with a Provincial Court judge and the other party (and your lawyer[s] if you have them), at which you'll try to settle some of the issues around custody, access, guardianship, and child support without going to court for a full hearing. Either party can ask for an FCC, which the judge will ask both parties to attend. In some cases, the judge may order an FCC even if neither you nor the other party has asked for it. A case conference is a good opportunity for both of you to try to mediate the issues affecting your children.

If you can't agree, the judge then takes the next steps to move towards a trial where a decision can be made in a just, timely, and cost-efficient way.

At the FCC, the judge will:

  • identify which issues are in dispute and which aren't
  • consider options, other than a trial, to resolve the disputed issues
  • reserve a trial date and a pre-trial conference date, if necessary, and, depending on the circumstances, make procedural orders to make sure the case will be ready for trial on that date
  • mediate any issues in dispute
  • decide any issues that don't require evidence
  • refer issues to private mediation if you both agree on them
  • make consent orders
  • in limited circumstances, move to a mini-trial to make an interim or final order requested in an application after hearing evidence
  • give a non-binding opinion about the probable outcome of a trial
  • make any order or give any direction he or she considers appropriate

A child or another person who isn't a party in the case may attend the FCC only with the judge's permission. Telephone conferences are available but you have to specially request this from the trial coordinator.

Even if one or more of the parties who were required to attend don't show up, the judge may still be able to do all the things listed above if he or she considers that the circumstances justify it and that it's fair to do so in the person's absence.

At an FCC, you and your lawyer(s), if any, aren't expected to stand up. The FCC will usually take place in a conference room but it may also take place in a courtroom if that's what the judge wants.

The proceedings at an FCC are confidential. If evidence is required to decide on an issue, there must be a hearing set. An FCC isn't the place for making decisions about substantial issues if they're contested.

In some registries, it's quicker to set a short interim hearing than it's to get a date for an FCC.

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Can refer to where and with whom a child lives, or where a child lives and the rights and responsibilities of a parent regarding the child in his or her care.
Generally means the time children spend with the parent they do not usually live with. However, access is not limited to the parent who does not have custody — any person can apply for access to a child (including grandparents, aunts and uncles, and other relatives).
The responsibility for making major decisions for children about such things as what kind of education, health care, or religious training they will receive, and how to manage anything the children may own, such as property or money.
An approach to solving problems in which a third party (a mediator) helps people with family law problems reach a resolution without going to court. Mediators are specially qualified to help people reach agreements. Some mediators are lawyers.
Money paid by one party to the other party as financial support. Support can be paid for a former spouse or for any or all children.
When both parties and their witnesses appear before a judge and give their evidence under oath and out loud. They are then cross-examined by the other party or by his or her lawyer. A trial is also sometimes called a hearing, especially in Provincial Court.