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Family Justice Services Division

Last updated on May 1, 2026

Access free family justice services in person or virtually (phone/videoconference) throughout the province at Family Justice Centres and Justice Access Centres. Visit or call a location near you or call toll free 1-844-747-3963, and talk to a Family Justice Counsellor.

Family Justice Services Division (FJSD) delivers services that promote the timely and just resolution of family disputes within a comprehensive family justice system.

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Family Justice Centres

Family Justice Centres operate across the province. These centres are staffed by Family Justice Counsellors who can assist you with issues related to separation or divorce. They provide services free of charge to parents and other family members. Learn more about Family Justice Centre services or see the Family Justice Centres brochure for more information.

Justice Access Centres

Justice Access Centres help with family justice matters, including separation and divorce. Staff at the Justice Access Centres provide the complete range of family justice services with the addition of staffed Self-Help Resource Rooms where you can access in-person assistance and computers for research, court forms, and printing.

Dispute resolution

Division staff are available to assist you with issues related to separation or divorce, including:

  • Parenting arrangements
  • Guardianship
  • Child and spousal support
  • Contact with a child
  • Property division respecting a companion animal

Family Justice Counsellors

Family Justice Counsellors are accredited family mediators who provide mediation and conciliation services primarily to people of modest means. Family Justice Counsellors also help their clients to prepare provincial court documents.

Child Support Officers

Child Support Officers work in Family Justice Centres and Justice Access Centres and offer specialized assistance in child support and spousal support matters, and help parents to navigate the procedures involved to get and change child support and spousal support orders and agreements.

Parenting After Separation courses

Parenting After Separation courses are free online courses for B.C. parents and other family members who are dealing with separation or divorce and facing decisions about guardianship, parenting arrangements, contact, child support and spousal support. They take about three (3) hours to complete. Parents must complete a Parenting After Separation course before they can move forward with an application about a family law matter in Provincial Court.

You can choose to take Parenting After Separation for Indigenous Families or Parenting After Separation (in Punjabi and English). Both courses provide information that helps parents make careful and informed decisions about their separation and to ensure decisions are based on the best interest of the child/youth, including:

  • The impact of separation on you and your child/youth
  • Strategies to help your family adjust to change
  • Effective ways you and your child/youth’s other parent can communicate
  • How to keep your child/youth out of the middle of conflict
  • Options for resolving family disputes, including mediation, counselling and the court process

The courses also cover how the child support guidelines are applied and what resources are available in your community for parents and children.

Early Resolution Registries

Certain Provincial Court locations are Early Resolution Registries. At these Early Resolution Registries, there are Early Resolution Requirements for families who want to resolve a family law matter. Family Justice Centres and Justice Access Centres in those locations provide services that meet those requirements.

See the list of Early Resolution Registries, filing locations and Family Justice Services Division (FJSD) offices for more information about:

  • Which Provincial Court registries are Early Resolution Registries
  • Where to file documents with each registry
  • Where to go to get help with the Early Resolution Requirements

Effective May 1, 2026, all Provincial Court registries in the Vancouver Coastal, Vancouver Fraser, Vancouver Island, and Interior (including Okanagan and Kootenay) regions are designated Early Resolution Registries. Other locations may be designated in the future.

s.211 Assessments and Reports

Specially trained Family Justice Counsellors, called Report Writers, prepare court-ordered reports across the province. These reports help the court make decisions about parenting arrangements and fall into two categories:

  • Views of the Child (VOC) reports
  • Full reports

A VOC involves interviewing children/youth to provide a summary of their thoughts and wishes to their parents and the court.

Full reports provide a more in-depth look at a family’s situation. They include an assessment of the parents’ ability to meet the needs and best interest of their children/youth in addition to the views of the children/youth.

For more information contact the Family Justice Report Service at 778-360-2052.