Ontario's 2-year limitation period: when your clock starts

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The answer

In most cases you must start your claim within 2 years of the day you discovered it. The law presumes you discovered it on the day the act or omission happened, unless you prove otherwise. There is also an outer limit: no claim after 15 years from the act or omission, whatever you knew. A signed written acknowledgment of a debt, or a part payment, restarts the 2 years. Talks do not stop the clock. File before the deadline, then settle.

What "discovered" means

A claim is discovered on the earlier of two days. The first is the day you first knew four things:

• an injury, loss, or damage had happened;
• an act or omission caused it or contributed to it;
• the act or omission was the defendant's; and
• a court proceeding was an appropriate way to remedy it.

The second is the day a reasonable person in your position first ought to have known those things. The clock starts on whichever day comes first.

When the clock starts: common cases

Situation	The clock usually starts	Why
An unpaid invoice with a due date	The day after the due date passed without payment	The loss occurred when payment did not come (s. 5)
A loan payable on a fixed date	The day the borrower missed the date	Same
A loan payable on demand	The first day the borrower failed to pay after you demanded it	s. 5(3): a demand obligation is breached on the first failure after the demand
Bad work you found later	The day you found the problem, or reasonably could have	s. 5(1)(b)
Damage to your car or property	The day of the damage, in most cases	s. 5(2) presumes discovery on the day of the act

For a demand loan made on or after January 1, 2004, the clock does not start until you demand payment and the borrower fails to pay. Make the demand in writing and keep the date.

What pauses the clock

• The clock does not run while the person with the claim is a minor with no litigation guardian.
• It does not run while the person cannot start a proceeding because of a physical, mental, or psychological condition, and has no litigation guardian. The law presumes capacity unless the contrary is proved.
• When such a pause ends with less than 6 months left, the period is extended to 6 months after the pause ends.
• The 15-year outer limit does not run while the defendant wilfully conceals the loss or its cause. The same applies while the defendant wilfully misleads you about whether a proceeding is appropriate.

Negotiation does not pause anything. Neither does a promise to "sort it out". Only the events above, or an agreement under section 22, change the clock.

What resets the clock

A written acknowledgment of a debt, signed by the debtor or the debtor's agent, is treated as a new starting date. It works even if the debtor refuses to promise payment, as long as the debt is acknowledged. A part payment of the debt has the same effect as a signed acknowledgment. Two limits: the acknowledgment or payment must reach you before the limitation period expires, and a spoken promise is not enough.

Can a contract change the limitation period?

Between businesses, yes. Parties who are not consumers can agree to vary or exclude the 2-year period. Any agreement made on or after October 19, 2006 can suspend or extend the period, but a consumer contract cannot shorten it. A tolling agreement, which pauses the clock while the parties negotiate, is the common use. Get it in writing before the deadline.

Other clocks that are not 2 years

Some claims run on their own statute:

• An Employment Standards Act complaint to the Ministry of Labour: within 2 years of the contravention.
• A landlord's application against a former tenant at the Landlord and Tenant Board: no later than 1 year after the tenant moved out.
• A claim against a municipality for a road or sidewalk in disrepair: written notice within 10 days of the injury, then the claim.
• A proceeding to enforce a court order: no limitation period at all.

When in doubt, count from the earliest possible date and file before it.

The second 2-year clock

After you file, the case gets its own clock. The clerk must dismiss the action at its second anniversary if no judgment step was taken and no trial date was requested. More than 70,000 Small Claims matters were dismissed this way in the year after May 2024. Read: how long does Small Claims Court take?

What to do

1. Write down the key dates: the agreement, the due date, the day you found the problem, the day you demanded payment.
2. Count 2 years from the earliest of them with the deadline calculator.
3. Is the deadline near? File the claim to protect it. You can settle at any time after.
4. Did the debtor sign something or pay part? Keep it. It can have restarted the clock.
5. Did the deadline pass? Get legal advice. Discovery, incapacity, and acknowledgment are questions of fact.

Common mistakes

• Trusting a spoken promise to pay. Only a signed writing or a part payment resets the clock.
• Counting from the invoice date instead of the due date, or from the due date when the loss came later. The clock starts at discovery.
• Waiting to demand payment on a demand loan. The clock starts at the first failure after the demand, so a late demand keeps the claim alive, but the 15-year outer limit still runs.
• Confusing the two clocks: 2 years to start the case, then 2 years of court life before dismissal for delay.

Questions people ask

What is the limitation period for a Small Claims Court claim in Ontario?

Two years from the day the claim was discovered (Limitations Act, 2002, s. 4), with a 15-year outer limit from the act or omission (s. 15(2)). The Act applies to claims in Small Claims Court the same way it applies in the Superior Court.

When does the 2-year clock start?

On the earlier of two days (s. 5(1)). The first is the day you first knew four things: that a loss occurred, that an act or omission caused it, who did it, and that a proceeding was an appropriate remedy. The second is the day a reasonable person in your position ought to have known them. The law presumes the day of the act or omission unless you prove otherwise (s. 5(2)).

Does a partial payment restart the limitation period?

Yes. Part payment of a liquidated sum by the debtor or the debtor's agent has the same effect as a signed written acknowledgment (Limitations Act, 2002, s. 13(11)). The claim is then treated as arising on the day of the payment (s. 13(1)). The payment must happen before the period expires (s. 13(9)).

Does a text or an email count as an acknowledgment?

An acknowledgment must be in writing and signed by the debtor or the debtor's agent (s. 13(10)). Whether a text or an email is "signed" depends on the facts; a typed name at the end of a message helps. Get legal advice before you rely on one.

Do negotiations pause the limitation period?

No. Only a written agreement to suspend or extend the period changes it (s. 22(3)), and only incapacity or minority without a litigation guardian pauses it by law (ss. 6, 7). File before the deadline and keep negotiating.

What happens if I miss the limitation period?

The defendant can raise the expired period as a defence and the claim fails, however strong the facts. A few exceptions exist: discovery later than the presumed date, incapacity, a written acknowledgment or part payment, or a business agreement that varied the period. Get legal advice at once.

Is there a limitation period for enforcing a judgment?

No. There is no limitation period for a proceeding to enforce an order of a court (s. 16(1)(b)). The enforcement documents themselves expire. A writ of seizure and sale and a notice of garnishment each last 6 years and can be renewed (rules 20.06 to 20.08).

When to get a lawyer

Get legal advice fast if your deadline is near, or has passed. Legal services provided by Mithril Law — Jonathan Kleiman, licensed Ontario lawyer.

Free tools

• Count your deadlines: /calculators/deadlines
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