What the SPARC parking permit application is for
SPARC BC, a non-profit, runs the parking permit program for people with disabilities across British Columbia. The permit travels with the holder, so it works in any vehicle they ride in, and it comes with a wallet card the holder must carry. Each person can hold one permit. Ontario’s SR-LV-129 is the equivalent form in that province, and HandyDART eligibility is a separate application.
Who completes it
The applicant, or their power of attorney or legal guardian, completes the personal details in Steps 1 and 2, the payment in Step 6, and signs the rules of use and declaration in Steps 7 and 8. A physician completes the assessment, recommendation and certification in Steps 3 to 5.
The applicant normally picks the form up from SPARC’s site, fills in their part and pays, then brings it to the appointment, or leaves it with the front desk for you to complete. In Medulla, you can send the applicant’s steps to the patient over a secure link before or after the visit. They enter their details and sign the declaration on the form, and their answers appear on the PDF you complete your steps on, so the form goes to SPARC in one piece.
How to fill in the physician’s steps
Step 3: Physician assessment and confirmation of eligibility
Name the patient and confirm whether they have a mobility-related disability. Tick each criterion that applies: a disability that affects mobility and the ability to walk, inability to walk 100 metres without risk to their health, or need for a mobility aid such as a wheelchair, walker, scooter or cane to travel any distance. Use “other” for safety concerns and explain them.
Step 4: Physician recommendation
Choose permanent (renewable every three years), permanent but the condition may improve (not renewable), or temporary. For a temporary permit, tick one to twelve months and write the expiry date. SPARC’s site calls the second option a conditional permit, valid for three years.
Step 5: Physician contact information and signature
Print your name, phone number, MSP number and address or stamp, then sign and date. The certification states your opinion that the patient’s mobility impairment poses a risk to their health walking 100 metres.
Common reasons it’s delayed
- A missing MSP number, signature or date in Step 5.
- No criterion ticked in Step 3.
- A temporary permit with no length or expiry date.
- The applicant’s declaration unsigned, or the $31 fee missing.
- Cash or regular debit offered, which SPARC doesn’t accept.
Submitting and who pays
The applicant mails or brings the form to SPARC BC at 4445 Norfolk Street, Burnaby, or scans and emails it to permits@sparc.bc.ca. The applicant pays SPARC’s $31 processing fee. The form notes that any payment to the physician is separate from that fee, so clinics bill the patient directly for completing it. Permanent permits renew online, by phone, in person or with the renewal form SPARC mails a month before expiry, without a new physician assessment.