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Small Claims Court Limit
Involves Net From Set-Off Upon Sum Assessed
Last Updated: July 02 2026
Question: What is the set-off amount calculation in Ontario Small Claims Court when the court award limit is capped at $35,000 but the assessed counterclaim exceeds that limit?
Answer: DK Legal Practice can help you understand how set-off works in Ontario’s Small Claims Court: the $35,000 limit governs the net judgment the court can award, not the gross amount the court may assess on a claim or counterclaim. In practice, if the court assesses a counterclaim for an amount over $35,000, the set-off is generally calculated from the assessed counterclaim amount, not from the court’s monetary jurisdiction cap, as long as the final net judgment remains within the Small Claims Court award limit. The Divisional Court’s reasoning in 2146100 Ontario Ltd. v. 2052750 Ontario Inc., 2013 ONSC 2483 supports this approach. If you tell us the assessed amounts and how the net judgment was calculated, DK Legal Practice can help you check whether the set-off was computed correctly, call (416) 906-6663 to discuss your Ontario matter.
Does the Maximum Amount That Can Be Awarded In a Small Claims Court Case Become the Maximum Starting Point When Calculating a Set-Off?
If the Small Claims Court Assesses a Sum That Is Higher Than the Maximum Award Amount Allowed, the Assessed Amount Is the Basis For Reduction By Any Set-Off; Nevertheless, the Total Amount Granted Must Be Within the Court Award Limit.
Understanding the Small Claims Court Jurisdiction to Award Judgment As Net Set-Off Despite An Above Limit Assessment
The maximum amount that can be awarded as a Judgment in the Small Claims Court is $35,000, excluding legal expenses or interest. This limit is distinct from the amount that may be assessed. Furthermore, in cases where a set-off amount applies, the set-off is calculated from the assessed amount rather than from the award limit.
The Law
The case of 2146100 Ontario Ltd. v. 2052750 Ontario Inc., 2013 ONSC 2483, from when a limit of $25,000 applied to the Small Claims Court, confirms that the Small Claims Court may assess any sum and may apply from that sum, rather than from the court jurisdiction limit, a set-off sum when calculating a net Judgment award. Such principle was explicitly stated where it was said:
[17] In terms of the case at bar, the respondents expressly set out in their defendants' claim that they were owed over $42,000 from the appellants. They limited their ultimate recovery, however, to $25,000. Whether that limit is arrived at through set-off or abandonment of any sum over and above the monetary jurisdiction of the court is immaterial in my view: see Dunbar v. Helicon Properties Ltd., 2006 CanLII 25262 (ON SCDC), [2006] O.J. No. 2992, 2006 CarswellOnt 4580, 213 O.A.C. 296 (Div. Ct.).
[18] The respondents claimed a judgment of $25,000. They were awarded a judgment of $21,538.85. In my view, the process amounted to nothing more than the trial judge starting at $42,633 and making deductions for amounts owed to the plaintiff, to arrive at a net figure within the monetary jurisdiction of the court. This process is logically no different than assessing the value of a contract at $50,000, determining that $30,000 had been paid under the contract, leaving a balance owing of $20,000. There could be no doubt, in those circumstances, that the deputy judge had the jurisdiction to make a finding that the initial value of the contract was an amount in excess of the monetary limit of the court. But at the end of the day, it is the net judgment that matters. Here, the amount awarded was within the monetary jurisdiction of the Small Claims Court and did not exceed the amount claimed in the defendants' claim.
Within the 2146100 case, the Judge assessed slightly more than $42,000 on a counterclaim as brought against the Plaintiff. The Judge then went on to assess slightly more than $21,000 as due from the Defendant to the Plaintiff. In determining the net award due upon the Judgment, the Judge subtracted the $21,000 as a set-off from the $42,000 assessment rather than from $25,000 limit (at that time). Subsequently on Appeal, the Divisional Court upheld the manner in which the Judgment was calculated by dismissing the Appeal.
Summary Comment
The monetary jurisdiction limit of the Small Claims Court applies to the amount which the court may issue as a Judgment award rather than as a limit to an amount that the court may assess. This becomes important in cases where a set-off calculation is involved whereas the set-off sum is taken away from the assessed sum rather than taken away from the Small Claims Court limit.
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