The BC Family Maintenance Agency (BCFMA) provides a free service available to families in British Columbia who are eligible to receive or pay family support. The Agency offers supports that strengthen families so that they may achieve their full potential and secure the best possible future for their children. By putting people first, BCFMA ensures recipients receive the support payment they are entitled to, contributing to financial stability and security for BC families.
Who can enrol?
Anyone with a support order or agreement can enrol in BCFMA at no cost. Some clients enroll to receive help with securing family support payments, while others enroll because it's easier to have BCFMA collect and track their payments.
What are the enrolment requirements?
- either parent can enroll, as long as one of the parties lives in BC, and
- there is a valid support order or agreement for Canada or elsewhere that can be collected by BC.
What if one party lives outside of British Columbia?
British Columbia has agreements with all Canadian provinces and territories, the United States, and several other countries. These are called reciprocal agreements. This means BCFMA can ask another province, territory, state, or country to take collection action on their behalf, and they can do the same for BCFMA.
See Interjurisdictional orders: When a case involves more than one province, territory, or country to find out more about this.
See Interjurisdictional Support Orders (ISO) on the Ministry of Attorney General website for a full list of countries that have reciprocal agreements with BC.
What can BCFMA do?
BCFMA takes a balanced approach to family support services that ensures they listen to, collaborate with, and work with all parties to achieve the best outcomes for children and families. BCFMA will:
- manage the child/spousal support terms set out in your family support order or agreement
- work with the payor to develop a plan for paying the ongoing support payments or any arrears owing
- keep record of all payments made and owing
If a voluntary payment plan is unsuccessful, BCFMA may take additional actions to collect payments.
See the BCFMA website to find out more or to enrol.
Marie learns that her son is entitled to financial support from his father in our story A child's right to support.
