Witness Subpoenas and Court Costs in Saskatchewan Small Claims

Your mechanic inspected the car and can confirm the engine was damaged before the sale. Your neighbour saw the contractor's crew leave your property half-finished. A co-worker overheard the verbal agreement. These witnesses strengthen your case — but what if they will not come to court voluntarily?

How Subpoenas Work in Saskatchewan Small Claims

A subpoena (Form K under The Small Claims Regulations, 2017) is a court order compelling a person to attend the hearing and, if needed, bring documents. You do not need a lawyer to request one.

The process:

1. Request the subpoena from the court clerk. Visit the Provincial Court registry where your case is filed and ask the clerk to issue a Form K for your witness. You need the witness's full name and address.
2. Pay the C$10 subpoena fee per subpoena issued.
3. Serve the subpoena on the witness. Hand-deliver it or send by registered mail, along with the mandatory witness allowances (see below). Service must happen with enough lead time before the hearing for the witness to arrange their attendance.

The subpoena compels attendance. If a properly served witness fails to appear, the judge can adjourn the hearing to allow re-service or, in serious cases, take action for contempt.

Mandatory Witness Allowances

When you serve a subpoena, you must also pay the witness their prescribed allowances at the time of service:

• Attendance fee — C$15 for a witness other than a professional witness or consultant, or C$40 for a professional witness or consultant; it is payable when the subpoena is served
• Travel, accommodation, and meals — a witness who lives more than 20 kilometres from the courthouse is entitled to necessary expenses at the rate approved for similar Saskatchewan public-service expenses

These prescribed allowances are payable to the witness when the subpoena is served.

Budget these costs into your claim. If you win, they are recoverable as court disbursements.

What Court Costs Can You Recover?

Section 36 of The Small Claims Act, 2016 governs cost awards. If you win your case, the judge has discretion to award you:

• Filing fee — the C$100 you paid to start the claim
• Service costs — process server fees, registered mail costs for serving the Form A Summons
• Subpoena fees — the C$10 per subpoena
• Witness allowances — the attendance fees and travel expenses you paid to your witnesses
• ISC corporate registry search costs — if you had to search for a corporate defendant's legal name
• Discretionary costs — capped at the greater of C$200 or 10% of the claim amount

What you cannot recover: lawyer fees. Even if you hired a lawyer or paid for legal consultations, those costs are not awardable under Saskatchewan small claims rules. This is a deliberate design choice — the system is built for self-represented litigants, and the costs regime reflects that.

When to Subpoena vs When to Ask

If a witness is willing to attend voluntarily, you do not need a subpoena. But there are good reasons to issue one even for willing witnesses:

• Employment protection. A subpoena gives the witness documentation to show their employer for time off work. "I've been ordered to appear in court" carries more weight than "someone asked me to come."
• Reliability. Willing witnesses sometimes get cold feet, forget the date, or decide it is not worth the trouble. A subpoena makes attendance a legal obligation.
• Evidence preservation. If you need the witness to bring specific documents — bank records, business records, contracts — the subpoena can specify exactly what they must produce.

Planning Your Witness Strategy

Before the hearing, decide which witnesses actually add something that your documents do not already prove. A witness who simply repeats what your emails already show adds time without adding weight. Witnesses are most valuable when they provide direct observation the documents cannot capture — they saw the damage happen, they heard the conversation, they inspected the work.

For each witness, prepare a list of questions that walks them through their knowledge in chronological order. The judge may ask follow-up questions directly. Keep it focused — the small claims hearing is meant to be efficient.

The Saskatchewan Small Claims Filing Guide covers witness preparation, subpoena logistics, and a hearing strategy checklist to make sure your evidence and testimony work together.

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