How to File a Counterclaim in Quebec Small Claims Court

Being sued in Quebec small claims court does not mean you are limited to playing defense. If the plaintiff owes you money from the same contract or incident, you can file a counterclaim — called a demande reconventionnelle — right inside your response form.

What Qualifies as a Counterclaim

A counterclaim is a monetary claim the defendant makes against the plaintiff within the same case. It must be directly connected to the original dispute. If a contractor sues you for $8,000 in unpaid renovation work and you believe they caused $4,000 in damage to your plumbing during that same job, that is a valid counterclaim. An unrelated debt from a separate transaction is not.

The counterclaim cannot exceed the Small Claims Division's $15,000 limit. If your claim against the plaintiff is worth more than $15,000, you have two options:

• Reduce it to $15,000 and waive the excess to stay in Small Claims
• Apply to transfer the entire case to the Regular Civil Division of the Court of Québec or Superior Court, where the full amount can be heard (but lawyers are allowed and costs go up)

You cannot split a counterclaim into multiple smaller actions to stay under the cap.

How to File

The counterclaim is built into Section 4 of Form SJ-871E — the same response form you use to contest the original claim. You file it through the online portal at quebec.ca/petitescreances within the same 20-day response deadline.

On the form, you select the counterclaim option, state the dollar amount, and provide a factual summary of what the plaintiff owes you and why. Attach any supporting documents — invoices, photos, contracts, text messages — that back up your claim.

Fees

The counterclaim has its own filing fee, separate from the contestation fee, based on the value of your counterclaim:

• Up to $5,000: $121 (individuals) / $191 (legal persons)
• $5,000.01 to $10,000: $223 / $318
• $10,000.01 to $15,000: $241 / $382

So if you are contesting the original claim and filing a $7,000 counterclaim, you pay the contestation fee for the original claim tier plus $223 for the counterclaim tier.

What Happens After You File

The court registry notifies the plaintiff about the counterclaim. The plaintiff has 10 days to file a written response to your counterclaim — without paying any additional fee. Both the original claim and the counterclaim are heard together at the same hearing.

The mediation route is based on the principal amount in dispute: contested claims of $5,000 or less go through mandatory mediation, while mediation for claims above $5,000 is voluntary. The counterclaim is heard with the original claim.

When a Counterclaim Makes Sense

A counterclaim is strongest when you have documentary evidence of what the plaintiff owes you — receipts, written estimates, photographs of damage, or messages where they acknowledged the problem. The judge sees both claims side by side, which can shift the dynamic from "defendant explaining why they shouldn't pay" to "two parties with competing claims."

The Contesting a Small Claim in Quebec guide includes a counterclaim section with a form prep worksheet for calculating your amount and organizing the supporting evidence.

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