Frequently Asked Questions

Your monthly housing costs will also include taxes and insurance. These rates will vary from house to house. The actual purchase of a home has additional expenses, like lawyer fees, land transfer tax, application fees, property tax adjustment, home inspections, moving costs, mortgage loan insurance premium, appraisal fees, deposit (at least 5%), property insurance, survey or certificate of location, water tests, septic tank inspection and title insurance. Other costs to consider include: appliances, gardening equipment, snow-clearing equipment, window treatments, decorating materials, hand tools, renovations/repairs, service connection fees, hydro fees and condo fees.

You would file a Notice of Application to start court proceedings like adoptions, guardianship, and applications for contact by someone other than a parent.

You would file a Statement of Claim if you are dealing with a civil dispute. A statement of claim might be filed if there was a civil dispute involving a family business that had to resolved outside of the family property accounting.

* You can get all of the Court of King’s Bench Forms at this link.

Manitoba Justice has a Family Resolution Service that offers a number of programs, including mediation.  If you and your spouse both agree and you attend their information program, For the Sake of the Children, then you can attend their mediation program and a trained mediator will help you work out  the issues that arise from separation.  You may choose to take your agreement to a lawyer to have it finalized.

Next Steps:

How can I contact For the Sake of the Children?

For the Sake of the Children is now available online.

The following records should be kept, pursuant to Section 20 of The Corporations Act:

• • Articles of Incorporation
  • By-laws
  • Amendments to Articles and Bylaws
  • Minutes of all meetings of board and committees
  • Resolutions
  • List of all directors, with addresses, occupations, and dates of service
  • Accounting records

Yes. The Government of Canada has made many of their resources about COVID-19 (such as fact sheets and videos) available in a number of languages other than English and French.

You can find links to these resources here.

Not anymore. On May 16, 2008, in the case of R v D.B. the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the provisions in the Youth Criminal Justice Act that listed presumptive offences for which an adult sentence would be imposed where the young person is 14 years of age or older. You can read the case here:
http://www.canlii.org/en/ca/scc/doc/2008/2008scc25/2008scc25.html

The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre lists the following recent COVID-19 scams on their website:

•  Cleaning or heating companies offering duct cleaning services or filters to protect from COVID-19 offering “special” air filters.
• Local and provincial hydro/electrical power companies threatening to disconnect power for non-payment.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) the World Health Organization (WHO) offering fake lists for sale of COVID-19 infected people in your neighbourhood
• Public Health Agency of Canada giving false results saying you have been tested positive for COVID-19 tricking you into confirming your health card and credit card numbers for a prescription
• Red Cross and other known charities offering free medical products (e.g. masks) for a donation.
• Government departments sending out coronavirus-themed phishing emails tricking you into opening malicious attachments tricking you to reveal sensitive personal and financial details.
• Financial advisers pressuring people to invest in hot new stocks related to the disease offering financial aid and/or loans to help you get through the shut downs.
• Door-to-door sales people selling household decontamination services.
• Private companies offering fake COVID-19 tests for sale.

If anyone contacts you with a COVID-19 scam, don’t provide any financial information, hang up and report the call to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at (toll-free) 1-888-495-8501 or online.

Yes. Some people may qualify to have their legal costs paid entirely by Legal Aid, others who have a greater ability to pay may qualify for Legal Aid’s Agreement to Pay (ATP) program.

Under the ATP program, you will have to make an initial payment as well as interest-free monthly payments until your fees plus the 25% program fee are paid. As long as you keep making your monthly payments, Legal Aid will continue to pay your lawyer fees.

For more information about Legal Aid services and financial rules, contact Legal Aid or visit their website

You can also take a look at Legal Aid’s financial guidelines.

Yes. The Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines can be accessed at
https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/fl-lf/spousal-epoux/spag/index.html.

The Guidelines are just advisory, not mandatory—so the courts are not required to follow them when making an order for spousal support. A lawyer can provide you with a calculation outlining the range of spousal support and duration of support suggested by the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines. The range will show low, mid, and high levels of spousal support

Yes. Like all Charter rights, this right is only protected within reasonable limits. This means that the government is allowed to place limits on peaceful assemblies, if the limits are reasonable and can be justified. This may be the case if someone’s right to peaceful assembly affects another protected Charter right for somebody else.

For example, a peaceful protest on a public street is likely protected, but a peaceful protest on a busy, icy highway may not be, since the high speeds and slippery conditions could put both drivers and protesters in danger. Ongoing blockades or impediments also may not be protected, although this would depend on the circumstances.

Yes. The Employment Standards Code sets out minimums that apply to most Manitoba workers:

• • Minimum wage: $11.65/hour (as of Oct. 1, 2019)
  • Overtime: If you work more than 8 hours/day or 40 hours/week, you are entitled to be paid at a rate of 1 ½ times your normal wage for the extra time. You may not be entitled to overtime if you worked the extra time without your employer asking you to.
  • Vacation: At least two weeks of vacation per year for the first four years of employment, and at least three weeks of vacation after the fifth consecutive year of employment. Your employer may pay you at the time of your vacation, or may include your vacation pay on your cheques throughout the year.
  • Breaks: One 30 minute unpaid break after every 5 hours of work. You are also entitled to at least one day (24 hours) off per week.

Employers can provide more than the minimums, but they cannot provide less, even if you sign a contract agreeing to it. The minimums are the same for full time and part time employees.

The Employment Standards Code does not apply if you work as an independent contractor or work in a federally regulated industry. Some industries also have exceptions to some of the minimums. For more information, visit the Employment Standards website at https://www.gov.mb.ca/labour/standards/index.html or call 204-945-3352 (toll-free 1-800-821-4307).

The Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) applies to violations of federal laws, including the Criminal Code, by young persons between the ages of 12 and 17. The YCJA recognizes that young persons should be responsible for their actions, yet they should not be held accountable in the same way or face the same consequences as adults in all circumstances. You can find the YCJA at
https://www.laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/y-1.5/index.html

A dealership must provide you with a Certificate of Inspection (or “safety”) if they are selling you a used vehicle. A Certificate of Inspection ensures that a vehicle meets minimum equipment and performance standards before it can be driven. If the vehicle is new, you should receive a New Vehicle Information Statement.

For more information, visit https://www.mpi.mb.ca/Pages/about-vehicle-safety.aspx

A collection agent can contact you at your place of employment. However, if the contact becomes frequent or harassing in nature, you may want to speak to the Consumer Protection Office about your concerns. The Consumer Protection Office is in charge of licensing collection agents in the province of Manitoba. They can be reached at:

• • Winnipeg: (204) 945-3800
  • Outside Winnipeg: 1-800-782-0067
  • https://www.gov.mb.ca/consumerinfo/index.html

A collection agent cannot contact you to demand payment on a Sunday or a holiday. They cannot contact you on any other day of the week before 7:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m.

Yes, unless the corporation’s by-laws say that they cannot. This applies to for-profit as well as not-for-profit corporations. Cooperatives should check to see if their by-laws allow electronic meetings.

The Youth Criminal Justice Act provides for non-disclosure of records after a certain period of time in order to prevent individuals from being haunted by their previous infractions as youths. For example, when the offence is indictable, the records are subject to non-disclosure five years after the completion of the sentence. For a summary conviction offence, the access period is three years. The record is accessible if another offence is committed during the access period.

A Manitoba resident under the age of 18 years cannot make a valid will unless they are married or have been married or are a member of the military forces or a mariner or seaman at sea.

Yes. If a parent takes the child away outside of their own parenting time, or if they take the child away intending to deprive the other parent of parenting time, they could be charged with child abduction under the Criminal Code of Canada.

If a parent is charged, the Attorney General’s office will involve the police to try to get your child back and a Crown Attorney can prosecute the parent for the crime.

If the child is taken out of province, the Attorney General’s office and the police may contact the other province’s police and Attorney General’s office to try to locate your child and return them to Manitoba.

Yes. However, the Attorney General must agree to lay a criminal charge. Usually, the Attorney General would agree only if:

• • The parents and child were living together and suddenly one parent takes the child away from Manitoba without the consent of the other parent, with the intention of depriving the other parent of his or her rights; or
  • Separated parents have agreed in the past that a child is to live with one of them, and the other parent later decides to take the child away without a court order, again, with the intention of depriving the other parent of his or her rights.

Resources:

Winnipeg Police Service

The police can be reached at their non-emergency line at 204-986-6222 or you can visit a police service centre.

RCMP Detachments

https://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/detach/en/find/MB

Employers are not entitled to access a youth record on their own (except when the government is the employer).