BC Supreme Court Form F31.1: 2026 Notice of Hearing

New October 1, 2026 form: Form F31.1 was added as part of the switch from “file and serve” to “serve and file” for usual Rule 10-6 applications.

What is Form F31.1?

Form F31.1 is the Notice of Hearing of Application. It is not the application itself. Its role is to set out the hearing information after the applicant has completed the serve-first steps required by amended Rule 10-6 and is ready to set the application for hearing.

When can the applicant set the hearing?

Rule 10-6(13.1) generally prevents the applicant from setting the application down until each application respondent has either served an Application Response or the relevant response period has expired. The ordinary F32 response period is 5 business days, but the amended rule gives longer periods for specified categories.

What goes in the five parts of F31.1?

The official two-page Form F31.1 asks for:

Service: when the F31 application and any F32 response were served, or that the response time expired without a response.
Hearing date: whether the parties agreed, could not agree but proper notice will be given, or the application is unopposed, by consent or without notice.
Time estimate: the agreed estimate or the competing estimates, including where the respondent has not given one.
Jurisdiction: the applicable boxes relating to an associate judge, summary trial, final order or injunction.
Orders sought: the corresponding numbered orders in the earlier F31, plus any additional terms proposed by consent.

Use the actual service dates and hearing information. This notice is not a replacement for the F31 request or the evidence supporting it.

What is filed with F31.1?

Under Rule 10-6(13.4), the filing package includes the notice of hearing in Form F31.1, the F31 Notice of Application that was served, the original of any affidavit served with the application if it has not already been filed, and other application materials served under the rule if they have not already been filed. Additional requirements can apply in particular cases.

How much hearing notice is required?

Under Rule 10-6(13.5), the applicant must file F31.1 and serve a copy of the filed notice on each application respondent. The ordinary minimum is 4 business days before the hearing.

At least 7 days applies to the listed applications about changing or ending a final order, setting aside or replacing a filed agreement, changing a filed parenting-coordinator determination, or changing a filed arbitration award.
More than 2 hours estimated: under Rules 10-6(13.3) and (13.5)(c), a registrar must fix the hearing date and time. F31.1 must be filed and the filed notice served within 7 days after that date is fixed and at least 14 days before the hearing.

These periods use different units: “4 business days” is not the same as “7 days.” The special longer-hearing rule overrides the ordinary time minimum. Confirm the date and any court direction with the registry before acting.

Application record: new 5/2-day window

After the hearing has been set, Rule 10-6(14) governs the application record. Under the October 1, 2026 amendments, the record is usually provided to the registry no earlier than 9:00 a.m. on the business day that is 5 business days before the hearing and no later than 4:00 p.m. on the business day that is 2 business days before the hearing, unless a registrar fixes an earlier date. The applicant must also serve the application-record index by the amended deadline. See the application record and Form F32.2 guide.

F31.1 is not F31

Form F31 tells the other party what orders are sought and why. F31.1 tells the parties when and where the application will be heard after the serve-first stage has been completed. They perform different jobs and should not be treated as interchangeable.

Common mistakes

Using a pre-October-2026 checklist that does not include F31.1.
Trying to book the application before the F32 response period has expired.
Forgetting to file the materials that Rule 10-6(13.4) requires with the F31.1.
Using the ordinary 4-business-day hearing notice when a longer period applies.

Cost planning

The new process can reduce wasted scheduling where the issues change after the initial exchange of materials, but it also creates an extra procedural checkpoint. Limited-scope review may be useful where a person is unsure whether the response period has expired, the application falls into a longer-notice category, or the filed package is complete.