Cases heard in the Provincial Court fall into four main categories:
The Court handles over 90% of criminal cases conducted in the province. In family matters, the Provincial Court has jurisdiction in child protection cases, maintenance, custody, guardianship, and access, but does not deal with divorce, adoptions, or the division of family property. Sharing jurisdiction with Supreme Court in matters of child custody, access, maintenance, and maintenance enforcement, the Provincial Court hears more than 15,000 family cases each year, or about 55% of all family matters in the province.
The Provincial Court's jurisdiction in Small Claims matters extends to cases with a monetary limit of $25,000. It hears approximately 28,300 cases each year, which represents about 41% of the Supreme Court's volume. See the Provincial Court New Cases by Year Graph (PDF - download acrobat reader)