Big News for Small Claims – Increase in Monetary Jurisdiction for Small Claims Court

Access to justice is a fundamental principle of our legal system, yet for many Ontarians, it is often constrained by financial and temporal realities. Legal fees, administrative costs, and the length of lawsuits can often deter individuals and businesses from pursuing their claims in the courts. While a judicial process is certainly not the only way to resolve a dispute, some cases require a court’s intervention to achieve a fair outcome.

Ontario’s Courts

In Ontario, there are varying levels of court and procedural options within the courts. Before starting any type of legal proceeding, a preliminary question is in which court and which procedure your matter ought to be brought. The short answer is a classic lawyer’s response, “it depends.”

For civil claims (i.e. not family law, not criminal law), the court to bring claims to is the Superior Court of Justice.  Within the Superior Court of Justice, there is regular procedure for claims of any size, simplified procedure for claims up to $200,000, and a specialized branch called the Small Claims Court.

The Small Claims Court

The Small Claims Court plays a crucial role in Ontario in resolving civil disputes. As compared to other levels of courts and procedures, there are many self-represented litigants in the Small Claims Court. Part of the reason for this is that, by design, the Small Claims Court offers streamlined procedures, as set out in the Rules of the Small Claims Court. Although it is not a walk in the park navigating through any court process, it is relatively easier in the Small Claims Court.

Moreover, the Rules of the Small Claims Court enable faster adjudication at a lower cost for claims with a small quantum.  For years, the definition of ‘small’ was $25,000.  Since January 1, 2020, the Small Claims Court would hear civil claims for up to $35,000. If your claim was over $35,000, it had to be brought to the Superior Court of Justice where the procedural rules, the Rules of Civil Procedure, are more complicated and cases typically take longer to get to trial or you had to waive any portion of your claim in excess of $35,000.

The Big News

By this point, you may be wondering why I decided to write about the Small Claims Court. It is because there is good news from an access to justice perspective: Ontario Regulation 42/45 is making ‘small’ bigger — from October 1, 2025, the ceiling of $35,000 in the Small Claims Court will be increased to $50,000. Furthermore, the appeal limit in the Small Claims Court will be increased from $3,500 to $5,000.

For many small business owners and individuals in Ontario, this increase means that more of their claims can be resolved in Small Claims Court without having to navigate the more complex and expensive process observed at the Superior Court of Justice.  With an increase in the size of cases, the volume of cases at Small Claims Court may increase.  For lawyers practising civil dispute resolution, this will hopefully mean that their clients’ matters will be adjudicated faster at the Superior Court with cases under $50,000 heading into the Small Claims Court. 

The upcoming changes to the Small Claims Court’s monetary jurisdiction are a good step towards the province’s ongoing efforts to make the justice system more accessible.  By allowing more disputes to be resolved at the Small Claims Court level, the province is giving more people and businesses better access to seek timely and cost-effective justice.