Frequently Asked Questions

You draft an Order using Form 70N of the Court of King’s Bench Forms. You can find a template for Form 70N here:

• http://web2.gov.mb.ca/laws/rules/forms_e.php

You must use standard clauses when drafting your order. Standard clauses can be found here:

• http://www.manitobacourts.mb.ca/site/assets/files/1158/version_5_standard_clauses_for_orders_in_family_proceedings_-_en_-_2018.pdf

You have to file and serve a Notice of Appeal. The Notice of Appeal should set out which judge and court is being appealed from, the place of the hearing, the date that the order was pronounced (given by the judge), the grounds of the appeal, and the relief being requested. You must also indicate whether oral evidence was given at the hearing.

If you are filing an appeal from a consent order or order of costs you must first file a Notice of Motion and Affidavit asking for leave to appeal before proceeding.

You can find Court of Appeal forms at the following link:

https://web2.gov.mb.ca/laws/rules/regforms_e.php?set=appeal

It usually takes about 1 to 2 weeks for Legal Aid to process your application. To check on the status of your application you can contact the Application Centre where you applied:

• Winnipeg: (204) 985-8500 or 1-800-261-2960
• Brandon: 1-800-876-7326 or (204) 729-3484
• Dauphin: 1-877-622-4660 or (204) 622-4666
• The Pas: 1-855-775-2397 or (204) 627-4837
• Thompson: 1-855-444-4665 or (204) 677-1224

First you must approach the judge who made the order that you are appealing from and ask for a stay of the order. A stay can be requested right at the hearing after the judge makes the order and when you indicate that you are intending to appeal. If you decide to go ahead with an appeal after the hearing, you can file a Notice of Motion and affidavit requesting a stay, to the same judge. The judge may request that the party go ahead with the appeal within a certain period of time or provide security as a condition of the stay. Security is a deposit of money with the court that guarantees that the other party will be paid.

You must convince the judge that irreversible harm will result if the order is allowed to stand until the appeal is heard. If the trial judge denies the stay application, you may proceed with a Notice of Motion and affidavit to the Court of Appeal chambers judge and make your request for a stay to that court. You must get the written reasons for the trial judge’s refusal of a stay to provide to the chambers judge at the Court of Appeal.

Your landlord has an obligation to keep the premises in a good state of repair, fit for habitation, and in a state that complies with health, building and maintenance and occupancy standards required by law.

You should try to speak with your landlord first to see if you can work something out. Consider writing a letter. If that does not work, you can apply to the Director of Residential Tenancies.

You can contact the Residential Tenancies Branch for more information:

• • Residential Tenancies Branch
  • 1700 – 155 Carlton St.
  • Winnipeg, Manitoba R3C 3H8
  • Telephone (204) 945-2476; Toll Free: 1-800-782-8403
  • Fax: (204) 945-6273
  • email:
  • https://www.gov.mb.ca/cca/rtb/index.html

A party can file a Notice of Satisfaction (Form 70Y) signed by the party before a witness or by the party’s lawyer.

The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada has a budget planner tool you can use:

Budget planner.

There is a Community Financial Helpline providing information on COVID-19 financial supports, income supports, benefits and credits, and credit and debt counselling. They can be reached at:

1-431-813-4357

1-855-955-4234

EIA benefits are often called social assistance or welfare.  You need social assistance or welfare if you do not have enough money to meet your basic needs and those of others in your household.

EIA has a number of categories to determine eligibility, including seniors over 65 years old, people with disabilities, single parents, and minors in the care of someone other than a parent. EIA also has a “general” category for people in need of assistance who do not fall into one of the other categories.

You do not need to wait until everything that you own is gone before you apply for assistance. You can apply for assistance even when you are not sure if you qualify.

Next steps:

If you want to apply for income assistance or have questions, please call 204-948-2888 (in Winnipeg) or 1-855-944-8111 (Rural and North), or email at

Emergency support may be available after-hours if you have a crisis that cannot wait until regular business hours. For emergency support, please call:

• Phone: 204-945-0183
• Toll Free: 1-866-559-6778
• TTY: 1-800-855-0511 (Manitoba Relay Service)

If you are married and asking for a divorce, you would file a Petition for Divorce (Form 70A) or Joint Petition for Divorce (Form 70A.1), whether or not you are asking for other family relief (support, a parenting order, property division).

If you are not married, or common-law, you would file a Petition (Form 70B). If you are married, but not asking for a divorce, you would also file a Petition.

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

First, you should discuss the problem with your employer, as they may have made an error and not realized it. If you cannot resolve the issue, you can file a claim with Employment Standards (the claim form is available here).

Note that you must make a claim within six months of your last day of work, or within six months of when the wages were due to be paid.

You can make an appointment to get vaccinated by visiting this link. To book online, you will need to create an account using your email address and your Manitoba Health Card number.

If you prefer to book an appointment over the phone, or if you would rather be vaccinated at a Pop-Up clinic instead of a Super-Site, you must call 1-844-MAN-VACC (1-844-626-8222). Remember to have your Manitoba Health Card number handy if you are booking by phone.

Settlement discussions may take place at any time and in any format. Your offer should be specific and detail everything you need to fully and finally settle the case. A formal Offer to Settle in form 49A has specific cost consequences at trial. If you serve the other party with a form 49A at least seven days before the proceeding, and the other party does not accept the offer, and the outcome at trial is the same as your offer or better for you, then you can obtain double costs from the date that the offer was made. Those court costs are paid to compensate you for the cost of litigation. You may withdraw an offer at any point before it is accepted by serving written notice of withdrawal of the offer to settle. If the other party accepts the offer, they can file an acceptance of the offer in Form 49C. Acceptance can be made at any time before the offer expires or is withdrawn.

Next Steps:

1. If you want to make a formal offer, you can find the Offer to Settle (Form 49A) at the following link:

https://web2.gov.mb.ca/laws/rules/form_2e.php?form=49A

2. You can withdraw an offer to settle at any time before it is accepted by the other party by serving written notice of withdrawal on the party who received the offer. The notice of withdrawal of the offer to settle may be in Form 49B (Notice of Withdrawal of Offer):

https://web2.gov.mb.ca/laws/rules/form_2e.php?form=49B

3. If the offer is accepted, the other party may indicate their acceptance by serving an Acceptance of Offer (Form 49C):

https://web2.gov.mb.ca/laws/rules/form_2e.php?form=49C

If you want to make sure that a witness will be at trial, you can serve them with a subpoena (Form 53A). The subpoena can be used to make sure the witness attends trial and brings relevant documents in the witness’ possession. The subpoena must be served personally on the witness and attendance money must be paid at the time of service.

Tariff B of The Court of King’s Bench Rules (http://web2.gov.mb.ca/laws/regs/current/553.88.pdf) sets out the amount of attendance money.

If the witness does not show up after being properly served with a subpoena, the trial judge can issue a warrant for the witness’ arrest.

You can get a Subpoena (Form 53A) at the following link:

https://web2.gov.mb.ca/laws/rules/form_2e.php?form=53A

You can find a Subpoena to a Witness Outside Manitoba (Form 53C) at the following link:

https://web2.gov.mb.ca/laws/rules/form_2e.php?form=53C

Legal Aid makes a decision by looking at your financial situation and the type of legal case that you have. Your financial situation includes how much money you make, how many people are in your family, and what assets and debts you have. If you want a separation or divorce, Legal Aid will look at your income separate from your partner’s income.

Once you have started a proceeding by filing a Petition, Petition for Divorce, or Notice of Application, you can also apply for an interim order by filing a Notice of Motion and an Affidavit. An interim order is an order of the court intended to decide matters until a final order can be made at trial. Matters such as support often need quick attention by the court when the parties can’t reach an agreement. Interim orders are enforceable in the same way as a final order and they can be extremely important. They may establish a status quo (the way things are currently) that might be difficult to overturn in future court proceedings.

Parenting arrangements, child and spousal support, occupancy of the home, preservation of property orders, and protection and prevention orders are the types of orders that are commonly granted on an interim motion.

In addition to being a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, a sponsor must be over 18 and must reside in Canada. Sponsors who live outside of Canada and sponsors who are under 18 do not qualify.

Sponsors must also make what is called a “minimum necessary income”. If the sponsor does not make the minimum necessary income, the sponsor may get a co-sponsor for the application. If the total income of the sponsor and co-sponsor is over the minimum necessary income, the person will qualify as a sponsor.

If your organization qualifies for charitable status it is exempt from paying income tax. In addition, the organization can issue charitable receipts to individuals who donate to the organization. These charitable receipts can reduce the income tax payable by those individuals.

EIA will look at the number of people in your household, their ages, medical costs, shelter costs, and other specific costs, if applicable. If the total cost of your basic needs is more than your income and assets, you may be eligible for EIA benefits. Benefit amounts are set by the Employment and Income Assistance Act and Regulation.

You must serve the court documents on your ex-partner so that your ex-partner knows that you have started a court proceeding.

If you filed a Petition, Petition for Divorce, or a Notice of Motion to Vary you must serve these personally. This means that the document must be given in person to the other party. However, you can’t be the one to personally serve them. You must get a third party, such as a friend, family member, or process server to give your ex-partner the Petition, Petition for Divorce, or Notice of Motion to Vary.

The person that serves your ex-partner will fill out and swear a document called an Affidavit of Service (Form 70I) that provides details about how they served your ex-partner.

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

Every year, the Government of Canada publishes the minimum necessary income figures on the basis of the number of dependants you have. A dependant includes your spouse plus your children under 22.

The number of dependants is then added to the number of family members you are sponsoring (your parents, grandparents and any children of your parents or grandparents who are under 22 or otherwise dependent) PLUS the number of persons you and your co-sponsor may have sponsored in the past.

To determine your income, Immigration and Citizenship Canada will look at your tax returns for the last three years. You can supply these yourself, or can give permission for them to access your notices of assessment directly through Canada Revenue Agency.

Parole is not an automatic process like statutory release. The National Parole Board has the discretion to grant or deny the release of any eligible inmate. Most offenders become eligible for full parole after serving 1/3 or seven years of their sentences. However, judges are able to lengthen the time certain violent offenders and serious drug offenders spend in prison by delaying the eligibility for parole until they have served 1/2 of their sentence. This is called judicial determination. It applies only where offenders have been sentenced to a term of imprisonment of two years or more. Also, in certain circumstances, non-violent offenders may be granted full parole after 1/6 of their sentence.