Available Remedies:

Question: What remedies can I ask for in Ontario Small Claims Court if my claim is under $35,000?

Answer: Wennekers.Legal™ can help you confirm the right remedies for an Ontario Small Claims Court claim, because the court’s powers are limited to payment of money (up to $35,000 exclusive of interest and costs) and recovery of possession of personal property (subject to the same $35,000 value limit) under Courts of Justice Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C-43, section 23 and Small Claims Court Jurisdiction, O. Reg. 626/00, section 1.   The Small Claims Court generally cannot grant injunctive relief (like ordering someone to act or stop acting) or declaratory relief, so your pleadings should focus on monetary remedies such as actual damages, general damages, punitive damages, rescission where the reset is via money/return of property, or disgorgement of ill-gotten gains.   For practical guidance on drafting the remedies section to fit jurisdictional limits, contact (647) 701-1162 for professional legal services across Ontario.

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Jurisdictional Powers Restrictions

Although the Small Claims Court is a division within the Superior Court of Justice, the Small Claims Court is a forum within which the judges, and usually deputy judges, are prescribed with limited powers; and accordingly, parties to Small Claims Court proceedings must restrict the remedies sought from the court to only those remedies falling within the Small Claims Court jurisdiction.

Note: Please contact Wennekers.Legal™ by phone at: (647) 701-1162 to discuss any specific questions that you may have.

The Law

The limited jurisdiction of the Small Claims Court imposes restrictions upon the remedies that are available. Specifically, 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, limit the powers of a judge in the Small Claims Court whereas the statute and the regulation respective 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 restricted to the powers as shown above, only remedies that fall within those powers may be sought.  Remedies that may be sought from the Small Claims Court 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.