When an Ontario Small Claims Court is Right for You

In Ontario, the Small Claims Court is a division of the Superior Court of Justice. It handles disputes about money or return of property for sums of $35,000 or less and cannot issue injunctions (orders for people to do or not do something). If your claim is somewhat over $35,000, you can forego the excess amount, so you still stay within the Small Claims Court limit. This can make sense for several reasons:

• Small claims court procedures are also simpler, court fees are lower, and the process is faster.
• A paralegal can represent you in your small claim. Typically, paralegals charge flat fees that are lower than lawyers’, which will help reduce legal expenses.

Please do not hesitate to contact us for a free telephone or e-mail case assessment and quote.

Common Types of Small Claims

In almost 18 years of practice, we have handled many small claims situations, both for plaintiffs and defendants, for corporations and individuals alike. To this end, whether you are a plaintiff or defendant, click below to learn more about a particular type of small claim:

• Collection of unpaid personal loans
• Compensation for faulty construction work
• Collection on unpaid invoices
• Breach (failure to observe the terms of) a contract
• Defamation
• Other types of small claims matters

The Small Claims Court Process

Essentially, there are three stages to the Small Claims Court process.

1. Preparation of pleadings. Depending on whether you are the plaintiff (the person suing) or the defendant (the person being sued), this would mean the preparation of the claim or the defence, respectively. The pleadings are then filed with the small claims court, together with payment of the appropriate court fee. If the pleading is a small claim, it must also be served on the defendant.
2. Settlement conference. This is a mandatory, relatively informal meeting between the parties in the presence of a small claims court judge attempting to settle the small claim without a trial, and, finally,
3. Trial. This is when the judge will hear witnesses, review evidence, and issue a final judgment.

There may be other steps that have to be taken in the context of this procedure.

These include:

• Default proceedings
• Motions
• Enforcement proceedings

You can certainly learn more about these on our blog by clicking the links above.

Our Small Claims Paralegal Services

As a Toronto paralegal firm, Spectrum Paralegal can handle any small claims matter. Our small claims paralegal services can be retained stage by stage – you can hire us for a certain step of the procedure and handle the rest yourself.

As always, we promise that our paralegal services will be of the highest quality in every small claims matter and will always be provided in a transparent matter: we stay in touch so you will always know and understand exactly what is happening and why.

Additional Resources

• Download our FREE eBook: Spectrum’s Guide to Small Claims Court
• Browse our blog on the topic of small claims court
• See our clients’ testimonials about our small claims paralegal services
• Browse our small claims court FAQs, finally,
• Check out the precedents set by our founder