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→The choice of forum
''Forum'' means place. In family law matters, the choice of forum is about choosing which of the two trial courts to make a claim in, the ''place'' of your trial. The Provincial Court has certain limits to its authority and, as a result, has limits on the kinds of claims it can hear. The Supreme Court has the authority to deal with almost every legal issue. It also has something called ''inherent jurisdiction'', meaning that the Supreme Court, unlike the Provincial Court, is not limited to the authority it is given by legislation. It is safe to say that, as far as family matters are concerned, the Supreme Court can deal with everything the Provincial Court can, as well as everything it can't.
Other things to think about when making the choice of forum are complexity and cost. The process of each court is guided by each court's set of rules. The [httphttps://canlii.ca/t/8mcr Supreme Court Family Rules] offer a much wider variety of tools than the [httphttps://canlii.ca/t/85pb b8rn Provincial Court Family Rules], but the rules of the Supreme Court are much, much more complicated than the rules of the Provincial Court. The Provincial Court charges no filing fees and has a relatively streamlined procedure. The Supreme Court charges filing fees, and the extra tools available under the Supreme Court Family Rules are helpful but add to the cost of bringing a proceeding to trial.
This chart shows which level of court can deal with which issue: