News & Insights

Domestic Judgement Enforcement in British Columbia

Overview

Securing a court victory is only the start. The real challenge lies in transforming a favourable judgement into actual recovery. British Columbia’s enforcement framework provides several avenues for doing so – from compelling debtors to disclose assets, to garnishing funds, seizing property, or invoking bankruptcy remedies. While the Money Judgements Enforcement Act (2023) promises a more modern system, effective recovery still hinges on urgency, documentation, and procedural accuracy.

Introduction

his article is Part 3 of a series on enforcing judgements in Canada. The second instalment examined pre-judgement remedies in British Columbia- the tools available before trial to secure or freeze assets. This part focuses on what happens after judgement is granted: the practical, often complex task of getting paid. Under the Court Order Enforcement Act, the Money Judgements Enforcement Act, and federal insolvency statutes like the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA) and Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), creditors have multiple paths to recovery. From examinations and sheriff-led seizures to garnishment and bankruptcy, success depends on speed, precision, and knowing which lever to pull first.

Examinations in Aid of Execution:

Once a Trial Judgment is obtained, preferably in the form of a Certificate of Judgement, the debtor can be subpoenaed under pain of contempt to attend an examination in aid of execution. A representative of the debtor is required to attend before a court reporter for the examination, or, as it’s called in the US, a deposition. The representative of the debtor is required to bring with him or her all relevant financial records, including financial statements, corporate tax returns, bank statements, payroll records and the like.

The Sherriff:

Sheriffs in Canada work for the relevant provincial judicial administration. They fulfill many functions. Running provincial jails. Enforcing security in Courthouses. And, for the purposes of this paper, executing upon Orders issued by the Courts for seizure of goods and chattels (personal property). For example, it is the provincial sheriffs that are enabled to seize money and securities.

A writ of sequestration may be obtained from the Court. This writ empowers a sheriff or other authorized court official, such as a bailiff, to take into his or her custody property or money belonging to the debtor.

Seizure of Shares: If the target is an individual, they may own shares. Those shares may be valuable. If there is a company involved, the individuals’ shares may be particularly valuable because if the winning party owns the shares, and the seized shares are a majority of the company shares, then the winner controls the company.

The BC COEA states at section 58:

Sheriff empowered to seize money and securities for money

58  A sheriff or other officer to whom a writ of execution is directed must seize and take any money or bank notes, and any cheques, bills of exchange, promissory notes, bonds, specialties or other securities for money, belonging to the execution debtor, and may and must pay and deliver to the execution creditor any money or bank notes that are seized, or a sufficient part of it and must hold any cheques, bills of exchange, promissory notes, bonds, specialties or other securities for money as security for the amount directed by the writ of execution to be levied, or as much of it as has not been otherwise levied and raised, and the sheriff or other officer may sue in his or her own name for the recovery of the sums secured by it, if and when the time of payment of it has arrived. …

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Sheriff may deal with seized interests in securities and security entitlements

64.1   (1)If a judgment debtor’s interest in a security or security entitlement is seized by a sheriff, the sheriff is deemed to be the appropriate person under the Securities Transfer Act for the purposes of dealing with or disposing of the seized property, and, for the duration of the seizure, the judgment debtor is not the appropriate person under that Act for the purposes of dealing with or disposing of the seized property.

(2) On seizure of a judgment debtor’s interest in a security or security entitlement, the sheriff may

(a) do anything that would otherwise have to be done by the judgment debtor, or

(b) execute or endorse any document that would otherwise have to be executed or endorsed by the judgment debtor.

(3) If the sheriff makes or originates an endorsement, instruction or entitlement order as the appropriate person under subsection (1), the sheriff must provide the issuer or securities intermediary with a certificate of the sheriff stating that the sheriff has the authority under this Act to make that endorsement, instruction or entitlement order and any subsequent endorsements, instructions and entitlement orders in respect of the same execution debt.

Post Judgement Garnishing:

If a monetary Judgement is obtained after a Trial or a Hearing, the face amount of the Judgement may be garnished upon. First, it is good practice to obtain a Certificate of Judgement rather than relying upon the Judgement itself. It is a simple filing confirming the amount of the Judgement. It is prepared and then filed through the Registry. No hearing is required.

Then, in BC for example, follow the strictures of section 3 and Schedule 1 of the COEA and prepare an application to garnish the target’s accounts or brokerage accounts. Obviously, this requires intelligence about where those accounts may be. An affidavit from a representative of the victor is required, setting forth the judgement and the averment that the target is justly indebted to your client.

Garnishing orders do not require a hearing. They go by desk order. Nonetheless, strict adherence to the COEA is required (see the discussion about “meticulous, not ridiculous”, above) . When the registrar at the desk approves the Order, it may be served upon any entity that may owe funds to the target. This includes banks with accounts containing the target’s money or brokerage houses holding securities belonging to the target.

The BC Money Judgements Enforcement Act:

This legislation was promulgated in 2023. There are two notable advances: first, judgement creditors with a monetary judgement may register that judgement with the money judgement registry. Second, civil enforcement officers (similar to bailiffs) are empowered to collect upon the judgements, thereby relieving some of the burden upon the Courts.

The British Columbia Legal Institute (BCLI) is a prestigious group of legal thinkers who advise government and others in Canada about current and proposed legislation. The BCLI commented on the new Act as follows:

BCLI work has been a regular feature of the BC legislature this spring! With the introduction of Bill 27 (the Money Judgments Enforcement Act) in the legislative assembly, the BC government has moved to implement recommendations from BCLI and the Uniform Law Conference of Canada, which will fundamentally reform an important area of civil law. A money judgment is an order of a court for a party to a lawsuit to pay another party a sum of money. Money judgments often go uncollected, frustrating successful litigants, because British Columbia’s system for enforcing money judgments is archaic, fragmentary, and inefficient. The Money Judgments Enforcement Act will remedy these faults, giving British Columbia a modern and integrated system for enforcing money judgments and making it easier for successful litigants to obtain payment of money owed to them. BCLI’s Report on the Uniform Civil Enforcement of Money Judgements Actwaspublished in 2005 as the culmination of its project on money judgements.

Receivers per. the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA), RSC 1985, c. B-3

The BIA is an important and heavily used piece of federal legislation that runs into hundreds of pages with annotations. It is one of two major laws that govern bankruptcy in Canada, the other being the Companies Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), RSC c.C-36. The CCAA is reserved for those companies with debts in excess of $5 million.

This area is the subject of textbooks, hundreds of journal pieces, and entire courses in our law schools. What follows is a bare summary.

In the context of executing upon a Judgement, an option for the successful creditor is to bankrupt the debtor pursuant to the BIA or the CCAA. In summary, the victor creditors demand upon the debtor to pay the Judgment and the debtor fails or refuses to pay. The creditor then finds a competent “receiver” who is a licensed trustee in bankruptcy (there is a registry in Canada to refer to find such an individual). Receivers are vested with the powers of the court under the BIA. They are officers of the Court, and generally not hired guns who act at the sole whim of the creditor.

The receiver will take possession of the debtor’s business and all of its assets. There will be a first meeting of creditors. Your client will stand in line in front of the other secured and unsecured creditors but behind the banks and CRA further to their legislated super-priority. The Receiver will generally take over the debtor’s business and sell assets if it is deemed the debtor cannot emerge from the realization proceedings.

If there are sufficient assets upon liquidation to satisfy the judgement creditor, then your client has achieved its goal. If not, then your client may be left with pennies on its dollar, or oftentimes, nothing. It has a dry judgement.

In some cases, it may be the objective of the judgement creditor to buy the judgement debtor’s business out of the bankruptcy in circumstances where there are valuable intangible assets such as patents, IP, good will and the like.

Conclusion

Collecting on a judgement in British Columbia demands both speed and precision. Delays give debtors time to move or hide assets, while incomplete paperwork can derail recovery. Creditors who move quickly, filing for garnishment, leveraging sheriff powers, or using the new money judgement registry – maintain pressure and momentum. Whether through asset seizure, bankruptcy, or negotiated settlement, the path from paper judgement to payment favours those who act first and execute flawlessly.

Related articles:

Identifying Assets in Canada Before and After Judgement

Enforcing Foreign Judgements and Arbitral Awards in Canada

Pre-Judgement Remedies in British Columbia: Securing Recovery Before Trial