- the documents you are serving are not more than 20 pages, unless the other party consents or the court orders in advance that you can fax more than 20 pages
- you are not faxing a trial record, appeal record, factum, or book of authorities, unless the other party consents in advance
If the other party agrees, or if a judge orders it, you can also serve the document by electronic document exchange.
If you serve by fax, email, or an electronic document exchange, the first page of the fax, body of the email or record of service should include:
- date and time of the service
- sender’s name, telephone number and fax number or email address.
- name of the person or lawyer to be served
- total number of pages served
- title or a description of the document
- the name and telephone number of a person to contact in case of technical difficulty in receiving the documents being served
Special service
Special service includes serving a document by one of the following methods:
- leaving a copy with the person who is being served
- leaving a copy with the person’s lawyer of record in the case or with a lawyer who accepts service in writing on a copy of the document
- mailing a copy of the document along with Form 6: Acknowledgement of Service, which the person being served must complete and return to you by mail
- giving a copy of the document in an envelope addressed to the person being served to any adult who lives at the same address as that person, and then mailing a second copy to the address on the same day or the next day
There are certain documents that generally require special service, and you cannot personally serve these documents yourself, including:
- Application (Form 8 or Form 8A).
- Motion to Change (Form 15), along with an affidavit (Form 14A).
- a document that could lead to the imprisonment of the person receiving it, such as a:
- Summons to Witness (Form 23).
- Notice of Contempt Motion (Form 31).
- Notice of Motion (Form 14) or Notice of Default Hearing (Form 30) in which the person to be served faces a possibility of imprisonment
You cannot personally serve these documents yourself. These documents must be served by a:
- friend or family member who is at least 18 years old
- professional process server (someone you pay to serve your documents)
You can get the name of a process server online.
Even if it’s not required, you can always serve your documents using special service instead of regular service.
Serving documents on a third party
In some cases, you may also have to serve your documents on an agency or another third party. This will depend on your specific situation, such as the issues in your case and any prior court orders.
Regardless of the documents being served, there are certain agencies and people that you can always serve personally (you do not need to ask a family member friend, or process server), including:
- a representative of a band or First Nations Inuit, or Métis community
- a children’s aid society
- the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services
- a municipality, excluding a lower-tier municipality in a regional municipality
- the Director of the Family Responsibility Office
- the Children’s Lawyer
- the Public Guardian and Trustee
- the Registrar General
Serving documents outside of Canada
If you are serving documents outside of Canada, there are special rules that may apply to you under the Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters (the “Convention”). These special rules may impact how you are allowed to serve your documents.
There are some countries that require your documents to be served through their Central Authority. If the respondent in your case lives in one of the countries listed in Table A of the Countries Under the Hague Convention form, you:
- will need to have a designated person or institution request that the countries Central Authority serve your documents for you
- may be required to translate your document
- may need to pay a foreign service fee
If the respondent in your case lives in a country that requires you to serve your documents through their Central Authority, you cannot use regular or special service methods.
See Table: Countries Under the Hague Convention for a list of countries that require service through a Central Authority
The Ministry of the Attorney General has created service options and informational material to help you follow the rules in the Convention.
File proof of service
Every time you serve documents on another party in your case, you have to give the court proof that they received the document by completing Form 6B: Affidavit of Service and filing this form with your original documents at the court office before the applicable deadline.
To complete and file Form 6B, you need to:
- indicate when, where and how the documents were served by checking the applicable boxes on Form 6B
- swear or affirm that the information in Form 6B is true and sign the form in front of a commissioner for taking affidavits
- file Form 6B with the court, along with original copies of the documents that you served, before the applicable deadline
You can file your documents online using Justice Services Online or in-person at a courthouse.
