Summary Judgment And Small Claims Court

The stated purpose of the Small Claims Court is to provide a streamlined process for parties to pursue claims of up to $25,000 in a cost-effective and efficient manner. In Superior Court, one of the options available to try and advance straightforward claims in a similar fashion is with a summary judgment motion as opposed to a full trial. However, while the Rules of Civil Procedure provide specifically for the ins and outs of a summary judgment motion, the Rules of the Small Claims Court do not. The question becomes: can you move for summary judgment in small claims?

In 2010, the Ontario Court of Appeal said "no", with a caveat. 

It appeared that the Court of Appeal had answered this question  in the negative in the 2010 decision Van de Vrande v. Butkowsky.  The Court determined that the lack of a specific rule for summary judgment in the Small Claims Court was a deliberate omission and could not be read into the rules by the Court.