Court records designated for retention are sent to the provincial archives. The retention periods and final disposition schedule for court records is outlined in the Court Services Operational Records Classification System. The schedule varies depending on the type of action, court level, and court registry where the record would have been filed, and some of the court records sent to the archives will contain more kinds of documents than others.
Below are some general examples, though they may differ depending on the registry:
- Probate files: the entire file is transferred to the archives after 11 years
- Divorce files: orders and judgments are transferred to the archives after 10 years, while case files are destroyed after 11 years
- Criminal files: retained by the court registry for 79 years
In order to locate specific court records within the BC Archives holdings certain details are required. These can often be requested from the Court Registry where the case was originally filed. Detailed information on what is required by the BC Archives can be found in their research guide.
Content reviewed January 29, 2025
- Court Records – Royal BC Museum
- Request Court Records – Royal BC Museum