Available Remedies:

Question: In Ontario, what remedies can I ask for in Small Claims Court if my family law-related claim involves orders beyond money or property?

Answer: In Ontario Small Claims Court, the court has limited powers and can generally only grant the money and property remedies permitted under Courts of Justice Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C-43, and Small Claims Court Jurisdiction, O. Reg. 626/00, with a maximum claim value of $35,000, so it cannot typically grant injunctive relief (like an order to stop or to do something) or declarative relief (like a legal rights opinion) and most remedy requests should be framed as damages, rescission, or disgorgement within the monetary/property limits.   For help planning a remedy that fits Small Claims Court jurisdiction, Denali Paralegal offers family law services provider paralegal support across Ontario; call (877) 414-4377 to book a consultation and get clear next steps.

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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 shown, the Small Claims Court is empowered only to grant a monetary award up to $35,000.00 as well as to order the return of property valued up to $35,000; and accordingly, the Small Claims Court is unable to provide remedies known as injunctive relief, meaning a directive that someone do something or that someone stop doing something, or declarative relief, meaning an opinion on a legal rights question.  For cases proceeding within the Small Claims Court, the issues must strictly be kept to compensatory relief issues involving the payment of money or the return of property.

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 seeking an award of actual damages, which may also be referred to as special damages, being a form of monetary compensation that relates to losses that are precisely calculable such as debt amounts or costs of repairs, among other things;
• Claims for general damages, which may also be referred to as non-pecuniary damages, being a form of monetary compensation that is incapable of a precise calculation such as awards for pain due to a physical injury or emotional suffering due to stress or disappointment;
• Claims for punitive damages, which may also be referred to as exemplary damages, being a form of financial punishment that is awarded to show disdain for malicious and egregious misconduct and to deter similar misconduct in the future or by others ;
• Claims for rescission which involves a figurative reset that puts the parties in dispute back into the same position, financially, as existed previously to the dealings between the disputing parties and where a reset involves only the payment of money or return of property or both; and
• Claims for disgorgement which involve ill-gotten gains such as illegally obtained benefits or profits being stripped from an illegally acting party and instead being paid to the victim of the illegally acting party.

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.