Legal Actions FAQs

1. Can the defendant apply for a section 257 certificate without pleading the section 10 bar?

Yes. We will consider an application for a section 257 certificate without requiring the defendant in a legal action to plead the section 10 bar. However, pleading that defence may still be necessary for the purposes of the legal action.

2. Is there a time limit to apply for a section 257 certificate?

No. However, you must make your application at least six months before your trial date so that we have enough time to process the application and make a decision. We do not give priority to urgent section 257 applications with imminent trial dates. Generally, we process applications on a "first come, first served" basis.

3. How long will my section 257 application take?

We normally require 90 days from the end of submissions to make our decision.

4. Does an injured person or, if they are deceased, their dependant, need to claim compensation from WorkSafeBC before bringing a legal action?

No. An injured person or, if they are deceased, their dependant, can start a legal action without making a WorkSafeBC compensation claim. However, there is a one-year time limit to make a compensation claim with WorkSafeBC. Therefore, you should file your claim on a provisional basis within a year in order to preserve your rights. Filing a provisional claim for compensation does not affect our status determination or prejudice the injured person's/dependant's position in the legal action. You will find more information in our Legal Action Guide.

5. Who can participate in a section 257 application?

We will invite all the parties named in the legal action to participate in the section 257 application. We will also invite persons who the decision may affect, even if they are not a party to the legal action, for example, the employer of a party who may have been a worker at the time of the injury.

If there is a related legal action or other WorkSafeBC claim resulting from the same accident or event, we will also invite the involved parties to participate in the section 257 application.

6. What happens after WCAT makes its decision?

We will mail our decision with reasons to all the parties in the legal action. Since these decisions are filed in court and become public documents, we will publish them on our website without editing.

For actions started in British Columbia, we will file the certificate in the court registry and provide filed copies to you and the other parties. For actions started outside of British Columbia, it is the applicant's responsibility to file the section 257 certificate in the proper court.