How to Sue Someone in Ontario: The Basics

"How do I sue someone in Ontario?" is one of the most common searches that leads people to this site — and it's also one of the hardest to answer in a single sentence, because it usually bundles together several different questions that are easier to answer separately.

The question behind the question

Most people asking "how do I sue someone" are really asking some combination of: is this even something I can sue over, which court do I use, do I need a lawyer, and what actually happens once I file. Untangling these separately makes the whole process click much faster than trying to answer all of them at once.

Assumption one: you need a lawyer

This is probably the single biggest reason people never start a claim they'd otherwise win — the assumption that suing someone requires hiring a lawyer first. Small Claims Court is specifically designed for people to represent themselves, and many, likely most, cases proceed exactly that way. See do I need a lawyer or paralegal? for how to think through whether your situation is an exception.

Assumption two: any court will do

Ontario has more than one court, and Small Claims Court specifically handles money, property, and service disputes up to a set monetary limit. See how much can I sue for? for the exact limit and what counts toward it — getting this wrong before you file wastes real time.

Assumption three: being right is enough

Knowing you're right and being able to prove it in a way a court can rely on are two different things. The single biggest factor in most cases isn't who's telling the truth — it's who brought the better documentation. See do I have a claim? for the specific building blocks a provable case actually needs.

Assumption four: filing is the hard part

Filling out the claim form is often the easiest step in the whole process. Serving the defendant properly, meeting every deadline that follows, and preparing for a settlement conference or trial all take more sustained effort than the initial filing does. Go in expecting a process that unfolds over months, not a single afternoon of paperwork.

The actual shape of the process

Stripped down, suing someone in Ontario generally looks like this: confirm you have a claim and it fits Small Claims Court, try to resolve it directly first, file and serve a claim if that doesn't work, respond to whatever the other side files, attend a settlement conference, and go to trial only if nothing resolves it before then. Most cases end well before the final step.

Where to go for the full how-to

This piece is about clearing up the assumptions that stop people before they start. For the complete, practical walkthrough, see start a claim — it covers every stage above in full detail, with a guide for each one.

Frequently asked questions