The Residential Tenancy Branch’s (RTB) online application services will be temporarily unavailable in order to transition to a new internal system.

The current system is 15 years old, outdated and costly to upgrade. The new system will be more efficient and support ongoing improvements to services for people.

The RTB’s online application services will be unavailable beginning at 4:00 p.m. on Feb. 7, 2020 and are expected to resume on Feb. 18, 2020. Landlords, renters and their advocates will still be able to submit paper applications and evidence and make payments:

• in person at Service BC Centres around the province and at the Burnaby RTB office.
• by regular or registered mail to the RTB.

If there are circumstances that prevent someone from being able to submit an application in-person, staff will assist in submitting an application. They can contact the RTB by phone at 1 800 665-8779 or by email: HSRTO@gov.bc.ca

The RTB will continue to prioritize urgent cases and will be able to process applications for emergency hearings using the standard time requirements.

Advance notice of the temporary outages is posted on the RTB website and within the online application for dispute resolution.

When online application services resume, the public portal will have the same look and functionality as the current online application.

This replacement is part of a series of improvements to the RTB to ensure quality services for people in B.C. In 2017, the RTB launched a new online dispute resolution service portal that makes it easier for renters and landlords to submit applications to resolve tenancy problems.

The Province has also increased the number of RTB staff, leading to a notable decrease in dispute resolution wait times for landlords and tenants, and established a new compliance unit to take action against landlords and tenants who are repeat or serious offenders.

Learn More:

Information about submitting an online application for dispute resolution can be found here: http://www.gov.bc.ca/landlordtenant/online

Information about submitting a paper application for dispute resolution can be found here: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/housing-tenancy/residential-tenancies/apply-online/complete-an-application