1. Learn about time limits
Question & Answer
I filed a claim with the Small Claims online service. What happens next?There are a lot of rules you must follow when you sue someone in Small Claims Court. If you don't follow the rules or do things within specific time limits, the court may not deal with your claim, and you may have to pay money to the person you sued.
These rules say that when counting time:
- don't count the first day
- count the last day
- if the last day falls on a weekend or holiday, you have until the next day that is not a weekend or holiday
Some of these time limits are:
| Action | Must be done |
| Plaintiff files a Plaintiff's Claim | In most cases, within 2 years of when the first learned about the problem |
| Plaintiff serves the | Within 6 months of the claim being issued |
| Defendant files a Defence | Within 20 days of getting the Plaintiff's Claim |
| Plaintiff asks for a terms of payment hearing | Within 20 days of getting the Defence |
| Get a date | No later than 90 days after the defendant files a Defence |
| Plaintiff gives the defendant their evidence for trial | No later than 30 days before trial |
After you the defendant, they have 20 days to respond to your claim.
If you serve them personally, the 20 days to defend starts right away. If you serve them by or courier, the 20 days to defend starts on the fifth day after the document was mailed or verified by courier that it was delivered.
No response
If the defendant does not respond to your claim within 20 days, you can ask the court to note them in default. This means the court officially recognizes that they missed the deadline for responding. There is a fee to do this.
To note the defendant in default, fill out a Form 9B: Request to Clerk and it with the court. Attach the Form 8A: Affidavit of Service to show the defendant was served with your Plaintiff's Claim.
The court can then:
- make a default judgment that orders the defendant to pay you the amount of your claim; or
- arrange an assessment hearing for you to explain what the defendant owes you
After a defendant is noted in default, the Small Claims Court Registrar can also sign a default judgment. But they will only do this for a . These are claims where the amount owed can be easily proved. For example, the defendant might owe you an amount:
- written in a contract
- written on a bounced cheque
- agreed to in a loan
If the Registrar does not sign your judgment or if you have a , you can ask for a default judgment for a non-liquidated claim.
If you don't note the defendant in default after the 20-day time limit passes, they still have time to respond to your claim.
