Available Remedies:

Question: What kinds of remedies can Ontario Small Claims Court grant, and which remedies must you avoid when your claim is limited to $35,000?

Answer: In Ontario, the Small Claims Court can only grant remedies within its limited jurisdiction, meaning you generally must frame your case around compensatory relief that is either an order for the payment of money (up to the $35,000 maximum) or an order for the return of personal property up to that value; you should avoid asking for injunctive relief (orders to do or stop doing something) or declaratory relief (a legal rights declaration) because the court’s powers are restricted to what the Courts of Justice Act and the Small Claims Court Jurisdiction regulation allow, including monetary awards such as actual damages, general damages, punitive damages, rescission (to restore parties’ financial position), and disgorgement (to strip and repay ill-gotten gains), so aligning your remedy with the $35,000 cap helps prevent a jurisdiction mismatch.   If you are in Ontario and need family law guidance on how this affects what you can ask for in court or how to properly structure a claim, Family Law Services Provider Paralegal Denali Paralegal can help you review your situation and next steps, then you can call (877) 414-4377 to discuss your options.

Jurisdictional Powers Restrictions

The Small Claims Court is limited powers division of the Superior Court of Justice rather than a separate and independent forum, within which judges are restricted to granting only certain forms of remedy; and accordingly, parties in Small Claims Court proceedings must seek only the remedies that fall within the jurisdiction of judges sitting in the Small Claims Court.

The Law

The Small Claims Court is a court of limited jurisdiction with restrictions upon the court, and thus restrictions upon the judges sitting within the Small Claims Court, to grant certain remedies.  Specifically, the Small Claims Court is limited to the granting the remedies prescribed by the Courts of Justice Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C-43, as well as the Small Claims Court Jurisdiction, O.Reg. 626/00, regulation for which each respectively state:

As such, the Small Claims Court is permitted to grant monetary awards to a maximum of $35,000.00 as well as permitted to order the return of property that is valued at a maximum of $35,000; and thus the Small Claims Court is without the authority to grant injunctive relief such as a directive that a person perform specific conduct or cease specific conduct as well as without the authority to grant declarative relief such as an opinion regarding a legal rights issue.

Whereas the Small Claims Court is limited the powers above, only certain remedies may be claimed.  The remedies that may be claimed include, among possible others:

• Claims for actual damages, also known as special damages, being monetary compensation for precisely accountable losses suffered;
• Claims for general damages, sometimes referred to as non-pecuniary damages, being monetary compensation that is imprecise and incapable of exact calculation such as awards for pain and suffering;
• Claims for punitive damages, also known as exemplary damages, as a form of punishment intended by the court to show disdain for malicious and egregious conduct;
• Claims for rescission which involves putting parties back into the same financial position that existed prior to dealings between the parties where such includes ordering the return of property or the return of money or both; and
• Claims for disgorgement which involve the stripping of ill-gotten gains such as benefits or profits from a wrongdoer and payment of such ill-gotten gains to the victim of the wrongdoing.

Conclusion

The Small Claims Court holds limited powers to grant remedies that may be sought.  The Small Claims Court is empowered to provide for the payment of money or to direct the return of property.  The Small Claims Court is also limited in monetary jurisdiction, being matters where the payment of money, or the return of property, relates to sums or values of $35,000 or less per party.