Two different grounds for a waiver
Low income: The RTB assesses household income using Canada's low-income cut-offs or enrollment in a qualifying income assistance program. Provide household size, total gross monthly household income, the size of the community where the rental property is located, and information on benefits or income assistance. Extraordinary expenses: Landlords or tenants who incurred unexpected expenses within the previous eight weeks can seek a waiver if paying the fee would cause hardship. Examples may include major medical expenses, an emergency or qualifying loss of income. Provide details and evidence of those expenses.
Complete the five sections of RTB-17
- Section 1: Applicant name, contact information and mailing address. Telephone number is required.
- Section 2: Household size, monthly income before deductions, and community population category.
- Section 3: Qualifying income assistance enrollment, if applying on low-income grounds. Do not fill out this section when using extraordinary expenses instead.
- Section 4: Describe qualifying extraordinary expenses and why they make the fee unaffordable. Do not fill out this section when applying on low-income grounds.
- Section 5: The primary applicant or authorized agent signs and dates the declaration.
Online or paper: the procedure differs
Tenants applying for a low-income waiver may request it on the payment screen of an online dispute-resolution application. Landlords applying on low-income grounds must submit their RTB-17 in person on paper; there is no online landlord low-income waiver option. Extraordinary-expenses waiver requests must also be submitted on paper in person for either landlords or tenants. A paper application for dispute resolution and its fee-waiver request should be submitted together at the Burnaby RTB office or a participating Service BC location.
Do not miss the three-day window
If you submit the underlying dispute application online but must provide the paper fee-waiver request in person, do so within three days after applying. This administrative period does not extend the statutory deadline for your underlying tenancy dispute. Prepare income or expense documents before starting an application with a short filing deadline.
Waiver versus reimbursement
A fee waiver asks the RTB not to charge the filing fee because you qualify. Reimbursement is different: a person who pays the fee and wins may ask the arbitrator to order the other side to reimburse it, provided the request was made in the dispute-resolution application. RTB-17 is not the mechanism for claiming reimbursement from the opposing party.
Common mistakes
Assuming every applicant can submit the fee waiver online; confusing household take-home income with gross income; submitting an extraordinary-expenses request without evidence; missing the three-day in-person follow-up after an online dispute application; or believing a fee waiver extends an eviction-dispute deadline. The official form states that evidence must not be submitted to the RTB by general email.