Claims information

For questions about an incident that occurred involving the City, contact us Monday to Friday between 8:30am to 5pm:

• 604-873-7700
• claimsinfo@vancouver.ca

Compensation requests

Section 294(2) of the Vancouver Charter sets out the legal requirements for making a claim against the City. You are required to provide notice in writing to the City Clerk within two (2) months of the incident date setting out the time, place, and manner in which such damage has been sustained. 

Include the following information in your claim letter:

• Your name, home address, telephone number, email address
• Incident date and time when it occurred
• Incident location where it occurred (example: exact address, hundred block, street name, direction of travel)
• How it occurred
• Details of property damage or injuries
• Name and contact information of any witnesses
• Photographs of the location and/or damage
• Other supporting documentation

Send your written notice by:

• Mail to:
  City of Vancouver
  Attention: City Clerk
  453 West 12th Avenue
  Vancouver, BC, V5Y 1V4

• Fax: 604-873-7419

• Email: cc@vancouver.ca

Information icon The maximum size of all attachments is 10 MB. If your total attachment size is over 10 MB, send separate emails. Do not embed photographs in the body of the email; photographs should be jpegs.

Responsibility for ensuring that your letter is received by the City within the requisite limitation period rests with the claimant. The City is not responsible for lost mail, faxes or emails or other issues including technology issues, which may prevent your letter being received by the City within a legal limitation period.

Once your claim is received

1. You will receive an acknowledgement of your claim from your assigned investigator.
2. An investigation is conducted to determine legal liability.
3. You will be advised of the decision in writing upon completion of the investigation. Investigations take time and staff will respond as soon as they are able.
4. The City will only consider compensation where it is legally liable.
5. If you disagree with the City’s decision, the avenue to pursue this matter is through the public courts.
6. If the alleged damages occurred due to work performed by a City hired contractor, your claim will be referred to the Contractor for handling.  They will conduct an investigation into your claim.

Important note Only the assigned investigator can discuss the circumstances of your claim with you.

Vancouver Charter section 294(2)

The City is in no case liable for damages unless notice in writing, setting forth the time, place, and manner in which such damage has been sustained, shall be left and filed with the City Clerk within two months from and after the date on which such damage was sustained; provided that in case of the death of a person injured the want of a notice required by this subsection is not a bar to the maintenance of the action. The want or insufficiency of the notice required by this subsection is not a bar to the maintenance of an action if the Court or Judge before whom such action is tried or, in the case of an appeal, the Court of Appeal is of the opinion that there was reasonable excuse for the want or insufficiency and that the city has not been thereby prejudiced in its defence.