Date: April 2024
Commencing an action in the Superior Court can be overly costly and unnecessarily complicated, especially for relatively “smaller” and less complicated claims that happen to be above the $35,000.00 Small Claims Court threshold.
In my experience and through discussions with colleagues across the bar in Ontario, it seems that the Superior Court continues to be inundated with claims more suitable for Small Claims Court.
The current $35,000.00 has not kept up with true government caused inflation and I’d argue that this is a serious access to justice issue that needs to be solved.
Think about this…
The small claims court limited in Ontario was increased to $25,000.00 on January 1, 2010. At the time the CPI (Consumer Price Index) was 113.7.
Ten years later it was increased to $35,000.00 – a 40% increase. The CPI in 2023 was 158.7 – a 40% increase from 2010.
At first glance, some would argue that the increase to $35,000.00 simply tracked with inflation, correct?
However, remember, the CPI does not accurately calculate inflation for several reasons, including the following.
First, the CPI does not take into account the replacement of certain items for lower quality versions of those items over time (think about the degradation of food quality over a long period of time).
Second, the CPI does not fully take into account housing costs. Between 2010 and 2024, the average cost of a residential home in Canada increased by 245%. However, “the CPI does not include the purchase of property because it is not considered a consumer good.”
There are a number of factors that cause access to justice issues in Ontario, and inflation is one of those things. Increasing the Small Claims Court Limit in Ontario to at least $100,000.00 (like in Alberta) would increase the ability for parties to pursue claims not fit for the Superior Court and would likely help backlogs at the Superior Court.