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Prepare and serve evidence for a participatory hearing

Last updated on April 30, 2024

It's important to present evidence that supports your side of the dispute well.  Each party in a dispute must submit a copy of their evidence to the Residential Tenancy Branch (RTB) and serve it to the other party.

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What is evidence 

Applicants and respondents can submit evidence for dispute resolution. Evidence is any form of documentation that proves your side of the story in a dispute resolution case.  

Possible evidence might include:  

  • The tenancy agreement  
  • The condition inspection report  
  • Letters, emails and text messages 
  • Written witness statements, sworn or unsworn 
  • Receipts and invoices  
  • Photographs  
  • Video or audio recordings  
  • Oral statements from parties or witnesses, given under oath or affirmation

Keeping a tenancy journal is a good way to keep everything in one place in case you need to use it for evidence. Use the journal to document the date and times of any issues or communication and to save receipts or anything else you have received from your landlord or tenant. 

Prepare evidence 

Gather all evidence that might be useful to prove your case for dispute resolution. Make sure your evidence supports your case and will be easy for the RTB arbitrators to understand.  

Good evidence that will support your case will be: 

  • Relevant  
  • Reliable  
  • Authentic  
  • Complete  
  • Legible 

Provide evidence that directly supports your claim

Organize your evidence

Before you submit your evidence, you should organize it by:

  • Presenting what happened in chronological order 
  • Naming each file so it's easy to tell what it is. 
    • ​For example, you might name a photo of a carpet stain "Living-room-carpet-stain-2023-02-02.JPEG" 
  • Checking that your evidence files are the right size and in the right format 

Once submitted, you can't access your evidence again. Make sure to save a copy of your evidence to your computer or smart device.

Acceptable file formats 

  • Documents: PDF, DOC, DOCX, TXT, RTF, ODT, XLSX, CSV, PPT 
  • Photographs: JPG, JPEG, PNG, TIF, TIFF, BMP  
  • Videos: MP4, MOV, AVI, M4V, WMV  
  • Audio: M4A, MP3, WMA, AAC  

You must submit evidence that is clear and easy to view when printed or opened on a computer. Arbitrators cannot use evidence that is unclear or inaccessible when deciding the case.

Do not submit website links as evidence, instead, include the information from the website.

Maximum file upload sizes  

The maximum size for files uploaded with an application or on the dispute access site is:  

  • Video files: 200MB  
  • Non-video files: 10MB  

Evidence larger than the maximum size  

If your evidence file is larger than the maximum upload size, try:  

  • Converting the file to a format that uses less data  
  • Dividing the file into smaller parts  
  • Putting the file on devices, such as USB sticks, CDs or DVDs  

Evidence on USB sticks, CDs, DVDs and other devices  

Submit digital devices with all evidence files to the RTB and the other party as soon as possible and before the deadline. Your digital devices will not be returned.   

When submitting evidence on a device, you must:  

  • Make sure the other party and the RTB can view or playback the files  
  • Include a printed Digital Evidence Details (PDF, 152KB)  - Form RTB-43, that lists and describes each piece of evidence
  • Only include images or files related to the case
    • Remove any unrelated files which may cause confusion 

Serve evidence to the other party 

Provide copies of evidence to the other party once it is collected.

You must submit all evidence to the RTB and serve to all other parties. Try to gather all your evidence and serve the evidence together in one package.

Serving one complete evidence package is better than serving several partial packages. 

When to submit and serve evidence

Prepare evidence before applying for dispute resolution. For most dispute resolution applications, you will need to submit and serve the other party with evidence before your hearing date, which can take place soon after the application is submitted.  

Applicant deadlines  

Applicants must make sure their evidence is received at least 14 days before the hearing. 

Respondent deadlines  

Respondents must make sure their evidence is received at least 7 days before the hearing.  

Eviction for non-payment of rent

For an application for a Ten day Notice to End Tenancy (PDF, 248) - Form RTB 30, you will have to submit your evidence at the time of application.

Calculating the due date for evidence

Do not count: 

  • The day a person, business or the RTB receives the documents 
  • The date of the hearing 

Example: If the hearing is scheduled for April 15:

  • The applicant's evidence is due 14 days before the hearing
    • Applicant evidence must be received by March 31
  • The respondent's evidence is due 7 days before the hearing
    • Respondent evidence must be received by April 7

If a business is a party in the case, their operating hours can affect the deadlines for service. If the business is closed on the last possible date for service, the next date they are open becomes the last possible date for service.  

Example: Serving a property management company whose offices are open 9 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday.

  • The last possible date for them to get the documents falls on a Saturday, and Monday is the next day they are open
    • This means the last possible day for them to get the documents moves to Monday

How to submit evidence

The best way to submit evidence is online. You can also submit evidence in person, by mail or fax.  

Submit digital evidence online

You can submit digital evidence by uploading it with your online application for dispute resolution or at a later time before your hearing.

Upload digital evidence

You need your dispute access code and your name to log into the dispute access site.   

Email my dispute access code

How to upload

Select your files from where they are saved on your computer or smart device.   

You must add a description for each file in the description field.  

The description should include:  

  • An explanation of what the evidence shows  
  • The date the evidence was captured 
  • For audio or video recordings, the files time code for the key point

Example: An acceptable evidence description for a video showing a leaky faucet is "Video at time code 2:02 water leaking after turning off kitchen faucet, recorded on December 12, 2022."

Save your confirmation 

The dispute access site creates a receipt after you upload your files. Print or email yourself a copy for future reference.  

How to submit evidence in person 

Submit evidence at a Service BC office, or the Burnaby Residential Tenancy Branch office.  

You will need your:   

  • File number,
    • Found on the notice of dispute resolution proceeding package 
  • Dispute access code 

Email my dispute access code.

How to mail or fax evidence 

When mailing or faxing evidence you must include your file number and dispute access code. 

Fax

Fax evidence to:  

Mail

Mail evidence to:  

Residential Tenancy Branch  

400-5021 Kingsway, Burnaby, B.C.

V5H 4A5 

Evidence during the hearing

In most cases, dispute resolution hearings are one hour long. Each side has a chance to share their story and evidence. All evidence must follow the rules.  

Arbitrators will not look at evidence if it wasn't presented during the hearing. Choose evidence to support the main points of your story. Don't include evidence that won't help someone understand your story, or evidence that breaks the rules.  

Resources

For more details about dispute resolution:

For information about serving digital evidence:

Next: participatory hearing preparation

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