Ontario Small Claims Court Deadline Calculator
Result
Enter the required dates to see the result.
Reviewed 19 July 2026.
Always confirm the result against the current Rules of the Small Claims Court and the Ontario Guide to Procedures.
About this calculator
Small Claims Court deadlines are counted under Rule 3.01(1). Where a period is stated in days, the first day is excluded and the last day is included; where the last day falls on a holiday defined in Rule 1.02(1), the period ends on the next non-holiday. The engine used here is the same verified holiday engine used across LegalCalc Ontario.
Only three deadlines are offered as presets because their computation is expressly set by the current Rules: Defence under Rule 9.01 (20 days after service), Defendant's Claim issuance under Rule 10.01 (20 days after the Defence is filed), and service of a Plaintiff's Claim under Rule 8.01 (six months after issuance). Everything else belongs in a custom mode where you supply the number and the direction yourself.
The date-difference mode is pure calendar arithmetic. It is labelled that way because counting days between two dates does not, on its own, tell you anything about a legal deadline.
Worked example
Defence (Rule 9.01). A Plaintiff's Claim is personally served on Monday 1 June 2026. Twenty days after service is Sunday 21 June 2026 (a holiday under Rule 1.02), so the Defence deadline rolls to Monday 22 June 2026.
Six-month service (Rule 8.01). A Plaintiff's Claim is issued 31 August 2026. Six calendar months later clamps to Sunday 28 February 2027 (Sunday is a Rule 1.02 holiday), so the nominal end date rolls to Monday 1 March 2027. Renewal and service validity remain legal questions outside the calculator.
Custom before (planning convention). Hearing Wednesday 8 July 2026, minus 7 calendar days = Wednesday 1 July 2026 (Canada Day). With the backward-adjustment option turned on, the tool plans for Tuesday 30 June 2026; with it off, only the nominal date is shown.