Tips on completing forms in small claims court
- Be neat. These are court documents. All court forms must be typed, handwritten or printed legibly. It may cause delays if your forms cannot be read. Forms are available at court offices and at the following website: www.ontariocourtforms.on.ca.
- How to count days for timelines in the Rules of the Small Claims Court:
When calculating timelines in the Rules, count the days by excluding the first day and including the last day of the period; if the last day of the period of time falls on a holiday, the period ends on the next day that is not a holiday. The court can order, or the parties can consent to, the shortening or lengthening of the time prescribed by the Rules. Holidays include:
- any Saturday or Sunday
- New Year’s Day
- Family Day
- Good Friday
- Easter Monday
- Victoria Day
- Canada Day
- Civic Holiday
- Labour Day
- Thanksgiving Day
- Remembrance Day
- Christmas Day
- Boxing Day
- any special holiday proclaimed by the Governor General or the Lieutenant Governor
If New Year’s Day, Canada Day or Remembrance Day falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the following Monday is a holiday. If Christmas Day falls on a Saturday or Sunday the following Monday and Tuesday are holidays, and if Christmas Day falls on a Friday, the following Monday is a holiday.
- At the top of the forms, fill in the name and address of the court where you are filing the documents.
- Once court staff provides a court file number, make sure it is written on the upper right-hand corner of all your documents.
- You can fill out your documents and file them online using the Small Claims Court E-Filing Service portal or the Small Claims Court Submissions Online portal delivered by the Ministry of the Attorney General. The court will e-mail you confirming your documents have been e-filed or e-issued. For more information and to file online, go to www.ontario.ca/page/file-small-claims-online. If you prefer to file your documents in person or by mail, bring enough copies of your completed forms to the court office. Usually you will require one copy for each party who must be served and one copy for your own records. In most cases, the court will keep the original form. There is a fee to have copies made at the court office. Refer to “Small claims court fees” for more information.
- court fees must be paid to issue and file specific documents. Refer to “Small claims court fees | ontario.ca for more information. Fees are payable in Canadian funds, and can be paid by cash, cheque or money order payable to the Minister of Finance. Where available, fees can also be paid by debit or credit card. If you cannot afford to pay court filing or enforcement fees, you may request a fee waiver. The fee waiver applies to most fees in Small Claims Court proceedings. More information about fee waiver is available at any court office and on the Ministry of the Attorney General website at www.ontario.ca/attorneygeneral.
- An affidavit can be sworn or affirmed before:
- a Small Claims Court staff member who is a commissioner for taking affidavits (there is no fee for this service)
- a lawyer or paralegal licensed by the Law Society of Ontario
- a notary public
- a person who has been appointed a commissioner for taking affidavits
These individuals are authorized to commission oaths.
You should come to the commissioner with identification and the unsigned document. The commissioner will ask you to swear or affirm that the information in the affidavit is true and will ask you to sign the affidavit. The affidavit must be signed in front of the commissioner (whether in person or by videoconference), since they will certify that it was sworn or affirmed in their presence.
Note: It is a criminal offence to swear or affirm an affidavit you know is false.
- If your Address for service changes, you must serve written notice of the change on the court and all other parties within seven (7) days after the change takes place.