A Practical Guide to Ontario’s Small Claims Court

Ontario’s Small Claims Court is designed to provide a simpler, more accessible way to resolve disputes over relatively modest amounts of money, without the cost and complexity of the Superior Court of Justice. It’s a common venue for unpaid invoices, disputes between neighbours or small businesses, and many other everyday disagreements involving money.

The court’s procedures are intentionally streamlined compared to Superior Court — simpler forms, a less formal courtroom process, and rules designed with the expectation that many people will represent themselves rather than hire a lawyer. That doesn’t mean the process is casual or unimportant, just that it’s built to be navigable without specialized legal training.

If you’re dealing specifically with an unpaid invoice, our dedicated guide to recovering unpaid invoices in Ontario walks through the steps that typically come before filing a claim, including reminders and demand letters. This guide instead focuses on the Small Claims Court process itself, once you’ve decided to file.

Ontario’s Small Claims Court currently has a monetary limit of $35,000, not including pre-judgment interest and costs that may be added on top. A claim for more than this amount generally has to be brought in the Superior Court of Justice instead, which follows a different, more formal set of procedures.

It’s worth confirming the current limit before filing, since it has been raised over time as part of periodic reforms to the court system, and relying on an outdated figure could affect how a claim is structured. If a claim is genuinely worth more than the limit, some claimants choose to cap their claim at the Small Claims limit anyway to take advantage of the simpler process, effectively giving up the amount above the cap in exchange for a faster, less costly proceeding.

A Small Claims Court case begins with filing a Plaintiff’s Claim, a form that sets out who’s being sued, how much is being claimed, and a clear, factual explanation of why the money is owed. This document doesn’t need to read like a formal legal brief, but it does need to lay out the key facts clearly enough for both the defendant and the court to understand the basis of the claim.

Supporting documentation — contracts, invoices, correspondence, and anything else relevant — doesn’t necessarily need to be filed with the claim itself, but it’s worth having organized from the outset, since it will matter at later stages, including the settlement conference and any eventual trial.

Filing the claim also triggers the applicable filing fee, which is generally modest compared to Superior Court proceedings. Once filed, the claim needs to be properly served on the defendant before the case can move forward.

It’s worth thinking through the claim’s wording carefully before filing, since the Plaintiff’s Claim frames the dispute for the rest of the proceeding. Leaving out a relevant fact, or describing the basis for the claim too vaguely, can create friction later if the defendant argues the claim doesn’t clearly set out what’s being alleged. Taking the time to write a clear, complete, and accurate account of events at the outset tends to pay off at every later stage of the case.

Service means formally delivering a copy of the claim to the defendant in a way that satisfies the court’s procedural rules. Depending on the circumstances, this might involve personal service, service by mail, or another accepted method, and the specific rules can vary depending on whether the defendant is an individual or a corporation.

Getting service right matters more than it might seem — a defendant who can later show they weren’t properly served may be able to challenge a default judgment obtained against them, potentially unwinding progress that otherwise seemed final. Taking the time to follow the applicable service rules carefully at the outset avoids this kind of setback later on.

Keeping clear proof of how and when service was carried out — such as an affidavit of service, a tracked delivery receipt, or a dated record of personal delivery — is worth doing as a matter of course, even where service seems to have gone smoothly. If a dispute about service ever comes up later in the proceeding, having this record readily available avoids an awkward and potentially costly delay.

After the claim has been filed and defended, Small Claims Court generally schedules a settlement conference before any trial takes place. This is a structured opportunity for both sides to discuss the claim, often with a judge or other court official helping facilitate the conversation, with the goal of resolving the matter without needing a full trial.

A meaningful share of Small Claims Court cases settle at this stage, once both sides have a clearer, more realistic sense of how the case might play out at trial, including its strengths, weaknesses, and the practical cost of continuing to litigate. Coming prepared to the settlement conference — with your documentation organized and a realistic sense of what you’d accept — tends to produce a better outcome than treating it as a mere formality.

If the matter doesn’t settle, the settlement conference typically also helps set the stage for trial, including identifying what issues remain genuinely in dispute and what further steps, if any, are needed before the case is ready to be heard.

If a case doesn’t settle, it proceeds to trial, where both sides present their evidence and arguments before a judge, who then decides the outcome. Small Claims Court trials are generally less formal than Superior Court proceedings, though they still require presenting organized evidence and a clear explanation of the claim or defence.

Small Claims Court is specifically designed to be navigable by someone representing themselves, without a lawyer. That said, you’re also free to be represented by a lawyer or a licensed paralegal, both of whom are permitted to appear in Small Claims Court, and either can be a reasonable choice for a more complicated claim or where you’d simply prefer not to handle the process yourself.

Whichever route you choose, preparation matters a great deal — organizing documentary evidence, identifying relevant witnesses, and having a clear, logical narrative of the dispute tends to make a real difference in how a case comes across at trial, regardless of who’s presenting it.

Winning a Small Claims Court case — whether by trial or by default judgment because the defendant never responded — confirms what’s legally owed to you, but it doesn’t automatically put money in your pocket. If the defendant doesn’t pay voluntarily, you generally need to take further enforcement steps to actually collect.

The enforcement tools available after a Small Claims Court judgment are generally the same as those available for any other Ontario judgment, including wage garnishment and a writ of seizure and sale against property. Our detailed guide to enforcing a judgment in Ontario covers this stage thoroughly, and our Money & Enforcement hub links to related guides on garnishment and seizing property specifically.

It’s worth going into a claim with realistic expectations about this final stage from the start — the strength of your case matters, but so does a practical sense of whether the defendant will actually have anything to collect against once a judgment is obtained. This is general information about how Ontario’s Small Claims Court process typically works, not legal advice for a specific claim; for questions about a particular situation, our contact page and the tools section of this site may also be useful starting points.