Serving legal papers is not where your role ends. After your documents have been served, you need to prove to the Court that the documents were properly served. This requires an affidavit of service, Form 6B. This informs the Court how it was served, when including date and time and by whom, the person who served the documents to the opposing party. 

The person who served the documents must sign the Form 6B in front of a commissioner or lawyer and make an oath or solemn affirmation promising the Court that they are being truthful. 

To fill out the form, you start with the name and address of the court. Next your court file number. After that, fill in contact information for the applicant, applicant’s lawyer and respondent and respondent’s lawyer. Next, fill in the name of the person who served the documents. I will be covering service by email since it is the most common way to serve. Therefore, you would put your name if you emailed the documents to the opposing party. 

Next, insert the municipality and province you live in. Now, put the date and the exact time of serving and who you served. If you are naming a lawyer, it is good practice to say “ Joe Smith, counsel for John Doe then name the document you served for example Form 22 Request to Admit then Author Applicant or Respondent and the date document was signed. 

On the next line, list the next document which in this case is Form 22A Response Request to Admit which is Blank since it is for the opposing party to fill out. In this example and under author and date write BLANK.

Now, go to #2 and tick email. You can strike out Paragraphs 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, and 13.

For #11 fill in your relationship: “I am the respondent (or “applicant”). The document must then be sworn in front of a commissioner. You have to create a copy of the email you sent to the opposing party and attach it to the affidavit of service.

After the commissioning is done, you need to file the documents served along with the affidavit of service with the email you used for serving attached. When you file court documents with the courthouse, they will not accept them for filing without the affidavit of service which proves to the court that they were properly served to the opposing party.

You can submit the documents to the courthouse using the portal if the court date or deadline is more than 5 days away; otherwise, send the documents by email to the courthouse. 

If you are emailing the courthouse, send an email similar to the following:

“Good Afternoon (or Morning), Please find attached my Form 22 Request to Admit and the Affidavit of Service dated November 10, 2024. Sincerely, Jane Doe” All documents filed with the courthouse then go into your continuing record.