Filing Documents | Superior Court of Justice

The Rules of the Small Claims Court require parties to file documents for different reasons. For example, you may need to file a document so that the Court will have it for your hearing or so that court staff can issue it.

You can file Small Claims Court documents online, by mail, or in person. You may file documents by email only if:

your hearing is five (5) business days away or less, or
you are required to file documents within five (5) business days or less.

Small Claims Court forms are available online at ontariocourtforms.on.ca.

Filing online

This is a brief overview of online filing. For more detailed information about online filing, including any fees, see the Ministry of the Attorney General’s website.

Plaintiff’s claims

You can file your plaintiff’s claim online through the Small Claims Court E-Filing Service Portal, except if

you are claiming interest of more than 35% per year, or
any of the defendants are under a legal disability.

The Rules of the Small Claims Court define a person under a legal disability as:

anyone under 18
an absentee, as defined in the Absentees Act or
a person who is incapable of personal care or managing property, as defined in the Substitute Decisions Act, 1992.

Once your plaintiff’s claim is electronically issued, you will receive an email with an electronic copy of the claim for service.

If a defendant does not file their defence within 20 days after they were served with the plaintiff’s claim, then you can take additional steps through this portal to obtain default judgment against that defendant.

Filing by mail or in person

You can file any Small Claims Court document by mail or in person at a Small Claims Court location.

Small Claims Court addresses are on the Ministry of the Attorney General’s Court Addresses page.

Filing by email

You may file documents by email only if:

your hearing is five (5) business days away or less, or
you are required to file documents within five (5) business days or less.

Otherwise, you must file your documents online, by mail or in person.

Each location’s email address is on the Email Accounts for Small Claims Court Locations page.

When you file documents by email, you must follow these format, naming and email message requirements explained below.

Format

Documents must be in searchable PDF Photographs must be in PDF format.
Each document and photograph must be a separate attachment. Do not put multiple documents together in one PDF file.
The email, including attachments, cannot be larger than 35 MB.
Unless a hearing is ex parte (without notice to responding parties), your materials must indicate when and how the materials were served on responding parties. This is usually done through an affidavit of service.

Naming

The name of each document filed by email must contain:

Document type (e.g. plaintiff’s claim, affidavit of service)
Name of the party or person filing the document, including initials if more than one party in the case has the same surname
Their role in the case (e.g. plaintiff, defendant, moving party, litigation guardian, garnishee)
Date when the document was created or signed, in the format DD-MMM-YYYY (e.g. 12-JAN-2022)

Here are sample names to assist you:

Notice of Motion – Moving Party – Acme Inc. – 14-MAR 2022
Plaintiff’s Claim – Plaintiff – A. Smith – 21-NOV-2021
Consent to Act as Litigation Guardian – B. Williams – 12-JAN-2022
Affidavit – Responding Party – XYZ Ltd. – 5-MAY-2021

Email message

The subject line should be in capital letters and contain:

The level of court (SCC)
The type of matter
The court file number (put NEW if no court file number exists)
The type of document (e.g. defence, notice of discontinued claim)

The body of the email should contain:

The court file number (if one exists)
The short title of the proceeding
A list of the documents attached
The purpose of your email (filing documents)
The name, role and contact information of the party or person filing the documents