Early Intervention

The Roster Society and now Mediate BC has been the “designated roster organization” for all Notice to Mediate (“NTM”) regulations since they were created in 1998. These regulations promote earlier settlement in Supreme Court of British Columbia matters, and create a mechanism that allows parties to compel other parties to attend mediation. NTM regulations require Mediate BC to appoint a mediator from our rosters in the event the parties are unable to jointly appoint one. NTM regulations now exist under the Insurance (Vehicle) Act, Homeowner Protection Act for residential construction matters, Law and Equity Act for general civil matters and family matters, and as the Education Mediation Regulation under the School Act. As noted on the BC Government’s Notice to Mediate (Motor Vehicle) webpage: “The experience in many other jurisdictions, and the experience with BC's Notice to Mediate for motor vehicle actions, is that mediation works even when a party is forced to mediate. From 2002 to 2012, about 37,000 motor vehicle actions were mediated. An average of 78% resolved each year.”

From 1998 to 2016, Mediate BC administered the Court Mediation Program in a number[1] of registries of the BC Provincial Court.  More than 1,500 small claims actions were automatically streamed into mediation each year.  Starting in 2007, Mediate BC worked with the Ministry of the Attorney General (“MAG”), Court Services Branch and the Judiciary to design the “Robson Square Small Claims Pilot” which changed fundamentally how small claims cases were streamed in the Robson Square (Vancouver) Registry.  Mediate BC conducted a large file review of small claims cases which enabled analysis of volume by “case type”.  This information was then used by MAG to design four primary “streams” by MAG and cases were allocated to the streams based on case type.

Mediate BC participated extensively in the design process for implementing the Civil Resolution Tribunal for strata claims and small claims matters. A fundamental piece of the tribunal design includes triage and streaming.

Mediate BC was invited to work with the Family Justice Services Division of then Ministry of Justice in 2010 to design a civil program to be part of the Vancouver Justice Access Centre (VJAC).  Key in this design was early assessment and triage to assist VJAC clients sort out their complex problems and to recommend a pathway for them to use to seek resolution. This Mediation Advisor program was also a component of the Victoria Justice Access Centre when it opened.