What Can You Sue For in PEI Small Claims Court?

Debt or Damages Up to $16,000

The Small Claims Section of the Supreme Court of PEI handles claims for "debt or damages" with a principal amount of $16,000 or less. That legal phrase covers more ground than it sounds like, but it also has firm boundaries.

If your dispute is about someone owing you money or causing you a financial loss, there's a good chance it fits. If you're looking for something other than a money judgment — like an order forcing someone to do or stop doing something — it doesn't.

Claims the Court Handles

Breach of contract: The most common type. Someone agreed to do something (or pay something) and didn't. This covers unpaid invoices, deposits for work never started, services paid for but not delivered, and broken purchase agreements. If there's a written or oral contract and one side didn't hold up their end, this is your claim.

Unpaid debts: Money that's owed and overdue. Loans between individuals, outstanding balances on commercial accounts, returned cheques, and amounts owed under payment plans all fall here.

Property damage: If someone damaged your property through negligence or deliberate action — a neighbour's tree fell on your fence, a delivery driver backed into your garage, a careless contractor scratched your floors — you can claim the repair or replacement cost.

Defective goods and consumer disputes: You bought something that doesn't work as promised, the seller refuses to refund or replace it, and the amount is under $16,000. A claim based on breach of contract, breach of warranty, or misrepresentation may fit; section 16 of PEI's Sale of Goods Act sets out implied conditions or warranties about quality or fitness in specified circumstances.

Recovery of contractor deposits: A significant category in PEI. You paid a contractor upfront for renovations, roofing, or other home work, they didn't deliver, and you want your deposit back.

Unjust enrichment: Someone received a benefit at your expense without a legal reason for keeping it — for example, you paid the wrong person by mistake, or you improved someone's property under a contract that turned out to be invalid.

Claims the Court Cannot Hear

Residential tenancy disputes: Security deposits, unpaid rent, lease breaches, and evictions between landlords and tenants go to the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission (IRAC) Residential Tenancy Office — not Small Claims Court. This catches many people off guard. IRAC has exclusive jurisdiction under the Residential Tenancy Act.

Equitable remedies: The Small Claims Section can only award money. It cannot order specific performance (forcing someone to complete a contract), grant injunctions (ordering someone to stop doing something), or declare title to land.

Defamation, malicious prosecution, false imprisonment: These claims must be filed in the General Section of the Supreme Court, regardless of the dollar amount.

Employment standards claims: Unpaid wages, vacation pay, and statutory severance go to the Labour Standards Board. However, a common-law wrongful dismissal claim seeking monetary damages under $16,000 can be brought in Small Claims.

Claims against the provincial government: Under section 8(2) of the Crown Proceedings Act, serve written notice of intended proceedings at least 90 days before issuing a Statement of Claim.

The $16,000 Limit and Abandonment

If your actual loss exceeds $16,000, you have two choices: sue in the General Section of the Supreme Court for the full amount (more complex, potentially requiring a lawyer), or abandon the excess and proceed in Small Claims for $16,000.

Abandonment is permanent. If you abandon $3,500 of a $19,500 claim to stay in Small Claims, you cannot later sue for that $3,500 separately. You state the abandonment directly in your Statement of Claim (Form 7A).

Pre-judgment interest, post-judgment interest, and court costs are excluded from the $16,000 ceiling. So a $16,000 principal claim with $800 in accrued interest and $90 in filing and service costs is still within jurisdiction.

For a detailed walkthrough of how to frame your claim, calculate your damages, and file the right forms, the PEI Small Claims Filing Guide covers every claim type with step-by-step instructions.

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