By Nils Preshaw, Lawyer, Litigation, Kornfeld LLP, Vancouver · Member, Law Society of British Columbia | Updated November 2026
Winning a money judgment in British Columbia settles who owes what. It does not move a single dollar. The court will not chase the debtor for you, and nothing happens on its own once the order is entered. The person or company owed the money, known as the judgment creditor, has to find out what the debtor owns and then pick the enforcement step that can reach it.
Timing matters more than many creditors expect. Accounts get emptied, vehicles get sold and land gets refinanced. The sooner a creditor knows where the value sits, the better the odds of reaching it before it moves.
In Short
- A BC judgment can generally be enforced for ten years from the date it is pronounced, and that period cannot be renewed after it runs out (Limitation Act, s. 7).
- Most collection work starts with information: what the debtor earns, where they bank and whether they own land.
- Garnishment, seizure and sale, and registration against land are the main tools, and each fits a different kind of asset.
- Forcing the sale of a home is possible but slow, and it only pays off where there is real equity after mortgages and exemptions.
Start With the Judgment Itself
Before any enforcement step, get the paperwork in order. Obtain an entered copy of the order, confirm the exact amount awarded, including costs, and calculate the post-judgment interest that has built up since. A clean ledger of payments received avoids arguments later about what is still owing.
Then check the clock. Under section 7 of the Limitation Act, a creditor cannot bring proceedings on a local judgment more than ten years after it became enforceable. As the Courthouse Libraries BC guide on judgment expiry notes, there is no way to revive a judgment once that window closes, although an enforcement process started in time can be completed, and a written acknowledgment or a voluntary payment by the debtor can restart the period.
The rules still apply after you win. Serving the wrong party, filing an inaccurate affidavit or contacting a debtor in ways that amount to harassment can delay recovery and expose the creditor to complaints of its own.
Finding What the Debtor Owns
Start with the file you already have. Contracts, invoices, cheques, emails and financial statements from the lawsuit often name the debtor’s bank, employer, customers or business partners. Public records fill in more: a BC company search can show directorships and registered offices, and a land title search can confirm whether the debtor holds an interest in real property anywhere in the province.
Where those sources run dry, BC lets a creditor question the debtor directly. In the Supreme Court, an examination in aid of execution under Rule 13-4 of the Supreme Court Civil Rules requires the debtor to attend and answer questions under oath about income, accounts, property and recent transfers. The debtor can be ordered to bring documents. A refusal to attend, or evasive answers, can lead to further court orders.
Asset tracing has to stay lawful. Getting into someone’s private accounts without authority, posing as someone else to get information, or paying for data obtained illegally can expose a creditor to liability and taint the evidence. Where a debtor has moved property to a spouse, relative or related company to keep it out of reach, the Fraudulent Conveyance Act may allow a court to set the transfer aside, but that is a separate claim with its own evidence requirements.
Matching the Remedy to the Asset
No single tool works for every debtor. The right choice depends on what was found, what it is worth and what it will cost to reach. The table below sets out the main options under the current Court Order Enforcement Act.
| Asset found | Common BC remedy | Practical limits |
| Wages | Garnishing order after judgment | Most of the debtor’s net wages are protected; a new order is usually needed for each pay period |
| Bank account | Garnishing order served on the branch | Reaches only the branch served; joint accounts with a non-debtor are usually protected |
| Vehicles, equipment, inventory | Writ of seizure and sale through a court bailiff | Exemptions, secured lenders and bailiff fees can absorb most of the value |
| Land | Register the judgment on title, then apply for a sale order if needed | Slow and costly; recovery depends on equity after mortgages |
Garnishment is often the cheapest first step when the debtor is employed or keeps money in a known account. The BC Supreme Court’s garnishing guide explains the affidavit and order forms, the service steps and the timing rules, including the requirement that a wage garnishing order capture pay within a short window after the supporting affidavit is sworn. Our earlier piece on what to do after a contract breach covers the steps that usually come before a judgment, which can make collection easier later.
Before filing anything, compare the expected recovery with registry fees, service costs, bailiff charges and the claims of anyone who ranks ahead of you. A remedy that produces $800 after $1,500 in costs is not a win.
When the Debtor’s Main Asset Is Land
Real property is often where the money is, and ownership is easy to confirm. The first step is usually to obtain a certificate of judgment from the court registry and register it against the debtor’s land at the Land Title Office. Once registered, the judgment stops the debtor from selling or refinancing without dealing with the debt. The registration lasts two years and must be renewed to keep its effect.
Registration alone may get a creditor paid eventually, when the owner sells or refinances. It may also take years. Where the creditor cannot wait, the next step is a court-ordered sale under Part 6 of the Court Order Enforcement Act, which is a multi-stage process with several hearings before a sale can happen.
Equity decides whether the effort is worthwhile. A home valued at $900,000 with $880,000 in mortgages leaves little for a judgment creditor once realtor commissions and costs come off. BC also protects a debtor’s principal residence where the debtor’s equity is below a set amount, currently $12,000 in Metro Vancouver and the Capital Regional District and $9,000 elsewhere in the province. Co-owners’ interests and occupants’ rights add further steps.
A Vancouver Sale Application, Stage by Stage
Kornfeld LLP has written about one such matter. A creditor’s claim went undefended, and the court first had to assess the judgment, which came to roughly $250,000 once damages, disbursements, legal costs and pre-judgment interest were added up. The firm’s step-by-step account of how to collect a judgment through a forced sale walks through what followed: a show cause hearing to confirm the property was liable to be sold, a reference to the Registrar to identify the debtor’s interest, existing charges and the order of payment, and a confirmation hearing where the court considered orders to market the property.
Two practical points stand out from that account. Debtors often ask for adjournments at the confirmation stage to try to refinance, and settlement talks frequently happen at that point. And a sale order is rarely the last application: further steps are usually needed to fix post-judgment interest and costs and to approve how the sale proceeds are paid out.
Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each enforcement matter turns on its own facts, the debtor’s equity and the court’s view of the evidence.
A Rule Change Creditors Should Watch
British Columbia passed the Money Judgment Enforcement Act in 2023 to replace most of the Court Order Enforcement Act. The new law is designed to let creditors register judgments in a central registry, use civil enforcement officers and keep wage garnishment running without a new order each pay period. As of mid-2026, commentators reported that it had not yet been brought into force. Creditors with judgments in hand should confirm which regime applies before filing, since the forms and steps will change once it takes effect.
Building a File a Lawyer Can Act On
A lawyer can confirm how much time is left on the judgment, check whether the debtor has filed for bankruptcy (which stops most enforcement), and choose the remedy most likely to produce money. In harder cases, an accountant or a licensed investigator may help trace funds through related companies, within privacy and evidence rules.
The most useful thing a creditor can bring to that first meeting is an organized file:
- the entered judgment and any costs orders
- a record of every payment received since judgment
- the debtor’s last known address, employer and bank details
- any title searches, company searches or other asset leads
- notes on any transfers of property you suspect were made to avoid payment
Creditors weighing the cost of enforcement against the likely recovery may also want to read about how litigation funding works in Canada, since some funders will consider judgments that are hard to collect.
Disclaimer
This article provides general information about judgment enforcement in British Columbia and is not legal advice. Enforcement rules, exemption amounts and procedures change, and the Money Judgment Enforcement Act may alter the steps described here once it is in force. Reading this article does not create a lawyer-client relationship. Speak with a lawyer licensed in British Columbia about your specific situation.
