PEI Small Claims Court Limit: How Much Can You Sue For?

The monetary limit for small claims in Prince Edward Island is $16,000 CAD. That number covers the principal amount of your claim — the money you are actually owed. Pre-judgment interest, post-judgment interest, and court costs do not count toward the cap.

What the $16,000 Covers

The limit was set by Order-in-Council EC2017-387, effective July 8, 2017, when it doubled from the previous $8,000 ceiling. It applies to claims for "debt or damages" in the Small Claims Section of the Supreme Court of PEI.

Eligible claim types include:

• Breach of contract — a contractor who took your deposit and did not finish the job, a vendor who delivered the wrong goods
• Unpaid invoices and debts — money owed for services rendered, loans, or outstanding accounts
• Property damage — a neighbour's tree fell on your fence, a careless driver damaged your property
• Return of deposits — non-residential deposits where the other party will not return your money
• Consumer disputes — defective goods, failed repairs, services not delivered as promised

What You Cannot Claim

Small Claims handles money claims only. The court cannot order someone to do something (specific performance), issue an injunction, or award damages for defamation, malicious prosecution, or false imprisonment — those go to the General Section of the Supreme Court.

Residential tenancy disputes — security deposits, unpaid rent, lease breaches — are handled exclusively by the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission (IRAC), not Small Claims Court.

What If Your Claim Exceeds $16,000?

You have two options:

1. Abandon the excess. You can file in Small Claims and permanently give up the amount above $16,000. Include a statement in your Form 7A: "The Plaintiff abandons that portion of the claim exceeding $16,000." This abandonment is final — you cannot later sue for the difference.

2. File in the General Section. If the full amount matters, you file in the Supreme Court's General Section instead. This is more expensive, more complex, and typically slower.

There is no minimum claim amount. You can file a claim for any dollar figure, though the $50 filing fee and your time spent mean very small claims may not be worth pursuing.

How Interest Affects the Calculation

Pre-judgment interest — the interest that accrues from the date the debt arose until the court enters judgment — does not count toward the $16,000 ceiling. Neither does post-judgment interest. So if you are owed $15,500 in principal and $800 in interest, the claim fits within the limit even though the total exceeds $16,000.

If your contract specifies an interest rate, the court enforces it. Without a contractual rate, pre-judgment interest follows the bank rate set by the Prothonotary under Section 53 of the Judicature Act.

The full breakdown of how each claim type fits the limit, plus the abandonment wording and interest calculations, is in the PEI Small Claims Filing Guide.

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