Justice Index · Ontario · updated live

What actually happens to money claims.

Nobody publishes how often a demand letter works, how long a claim really takes, or how many judgments turn into money. Our cases record every date. Once a metric has 20 cases behind it, it goes live here. Nothing is identified.

From the platform

Paid after the demand letter, before any filing

collecting · 2 of 20

Cases with a demand letter that were marked paid without a claim being issued.

Median days, demand letter to paid

collecting · 0 of 20

Among cases that were paid after a letter.

Claims defended vs. defaulted

collecting · 0 of 20

Served claims that drew a defence, against those noted in default.

Median days, claim issued to judgment

collecting · 0 of 20

Default, settlement, and trial judgments together.

Judgments that reached paid

collecting · 0 of 20

A judgment is an order. This is the share that became money.

Median amount at stake

collecting · 2 of 20

Across every case on the platform.

Counts are of cases on this platform with the relevant dates recorded by their owners. They describe our users, not Ontario. Cases in progress are not counted as failures.

Public baselines

65,919

new Small Claims proceedings in Ontario in 2025, about 45% of all civil actions

Ministry of the Attorney General court statistics [VERIFY source table]

87,414

Small Claims cases pending in Ontario

same source

>70,000

actions administratively dismissed for delay in the year after May 2024 (rule 11.1.01)

same source

56%

of active general civil cases in Canada had a self-represented defendant at some point; 15% a self-represented plaintiff

Statistics Canada, Civil Court Survey, 2023/2024

257,450

new general civil cases in reporting provinces in 2023/2024, up 10%

Statistics Canada, The Daily, January 20, 2026

61%

of Canadian small businesses are owed up to $50,000 in overdue invoices

Intuit QuickBooks Canada survey, 2025 [VERIFY]

Every case you run here adds to the index, and the index makes the next case smarter: which letters get paid, which courts move, which debtors pay after a writ.

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