Available Remedies:

Question: What does the limited jurisdiction of Ontario’s Small Claims Court mean?

Answer: The limited jurisdiction of Ontario’s Small Claims Court means the court can only award compensatory remedies involving the payment of money (up to $35,000 exclusive of interest and costs) or order the recovery of possession of personal property valued up to $35,000, and it cannot grant injunctions or declarations Courts of Justice Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C-43, s. 23(1), or expand beyond the permitted monetary limits in O. Reg. 626/00, s. 1.  If your claim mainly requires stopping conduct (injunction) or a declaration about rights, you may need a different process.  A paralegal at Paladin LLP can help you frame the right remedies for your Ontario claim, book a free 1-hour consultation at (289) 925-1572.

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Does the Small Claims Court Have the Power to Order Specific Conduct?

The Power of the Small Claims Court Is Limited to Compensatory Issues Involving the Payment of Money or Return of Property. The Small Claims Court Is Unable to Order An Injunction or to Provide a Declaration.

Note: Please contact Paladin LLP by phone at: (289) 925-1572 to discuss any specific questions that you may have.

Understanding the Powers of the Small Claims Court Involving the Restriction to Handling Compensatory Relief Matters

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 is limited in the power to grant remedies. The Small Claims Court is empowered to grant remedies involving the payment of money or the return of property only.  The Small Claims Court is limited to a certain monetary jurisdiction, meaning the sum of money or value of property involved. Currently, the limit is a maximum of $35,000 per party.