Available Remedies:

Question:Can a Small Claims Court judge order an injunction or make a declaration in Ontario?

Answer:The Small Claims Court’s limited jurisdiction means it can order only compensatory remedies tied to the payment of money or the return of personal property, and it cannot grant injunctive relief (to force someone to do or stop doing something) or declarative relief (a binding opinion on rights), so your claim must fit within the court’s monetary and remedy limits under Courts of Justice Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C-43 and Small Claims Court Jurisdiction, O. Reg. 626/00.   If you’re unsure whether your situation calls for money damages or returning property instead of an order to stop conduct, a paralegal from DK Legal Practice can help you frame the proper remedy for Ontario Small Claims Court, call (416) 906-6663.

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Does the Small Claims Court Have the Power to Order Specific Conduct?

The Small Claims Court Is Unable to Grant Requests For An Injunction or Requests For Declarations. The Small Claims Court Is Empowered Only to Grant Various Forms of Compensatory Relief.

Note: Please contact DK Legal Practice by phone at: (416) 906-6663 to discuss any specific questions that you may have.

Understanding the Powers of the Small Claims Court Involving the Restriction to Handling Compensatory Relief Matters

Although the Small Claims Court is a division within the Superior Court of Justice, the Small Claims Court is a forum within which the judges, and usually deputy judges, are prescribed with limited powers; and accordingly, parties to Small Claims Court proceedings must restrict the remedies sought from the court to only those remedies falling within the Small Claims Court jurisdiction.

The Law

The Small Claims Court is a court of limited jurisdiction with restrictions upon the court, and thus restrictions upon the judges sitting within the Small Claims Court, to grant certain remedies.  Specifically, the Small Claims Court is limited to the granting the remedies prescribed by the Courts of Justice Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C-43, as well as the Small Claims Court Jurisdiction, O.Reg. 626/00, regulation for which each respectively state:

As such, the Small Claims Court is permitted to grant monetary awards to a maximum of $35,000.00 as well as permitted to order the return of property that is valued at a maximum of $35,000; and thus the Small Claims Court is without the authority to grant injunctive relief such as a directive that a person perform specific conduct or cease specific conduct as well as without the authority to grant declarative relief such as an opinion regarding a legal rights issue.

Whereas the Small Claims Court is restricted to the powers as shown above, only remedies that fall within those powers may be sought.  Remedies that may be sought from the Small Claims Court include, among possible others:

• Claims seeking an award of actual damages, which may also be referred to as special damages, being a form of monetary compensation that relates to losses that are precisely calculable such as debt amounts or costs of repairs, among other things;
• Claims for general damages, which may also be referred to as non-pecuniary damages, being a form of monetary compensation that is incapable of a precise calculation such as awards for pain due to a physical injury or emotional suffering due to stress or disappointment;
• Claims for punitive damages, which may also be referred to as exemplary damages, being a form of financial punishment that is awarded to show disdain for malicious and egregious misconduct and to deter similar misconduct in the future or by others ;
• Claims for rescission which involves a figurative reset that puts the parties in dispute back into the same position, financially, as existed previously to the dealings between the disputing parties and where a reset involves only the payment of money or return of property or both; and
• Claims for disgorgement which involve ill-gotten gains such as illegally obtained benefits or profits being stripped from an illegally acting party and instead being paid to the victim of the illegally acting party.

Conclusion

The Small Claims Court is limited in the power to grant remedies. The Small Claims Court is empowered to grant remedies involving the payment of money or the return of property only.  The Small Claims Court is limited to a certain monetary jurisdiction, meaning the sum of money or value of property involved. Currently, the limit is a maximum of $35,000 per party.