Changes To Small Claims Court Rules And Procedures

You may not know that as of July 1, 2014, the Small Claims Court Rules were amended. Most notably, a defendant to a Small Claims Court action must now serve his or her own Defence (previously, the Small Claims Court used to take care of serving Defences), and the defendant must file an Affidavit of Service along with the Defence. There is also a new provision that permits the Small Claims Court to stay or dismiss an action on the Court's own initiative where it appears that the Claim is, among other things, frivolous and/or vexatious. There are also a few new forms that reflect the new amendments. You can see the changes and forms HERE.

Also notable is a new pilot project launched by the Ministry of the Attorney General on August 11, 2014, which permits Plaintiffs to electronically file Claims for a fixed amount of money in the following select cities: Ottawa, Brampton, Oshawa and Richmond Hill. Plaintiffs in those cities can also obtain default judgment online if a