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Where to sue, and why $50,000 is the number that decides your evidence

Practical tips to reduce unpaid invoices — and to decide when to escalate.

September 28, 20268 min

The Act to improve the efficiency and accessibility of justice (Bill 8, S.Q. 2023, c. 3) was assented to on 15 March 2023. Its most important provisions for a commercial creditor have been in force since 30 June 2023.

They moved three lines. Here is what each one changes, and the order in which you should think about them.

$50,000: the threshold that decides your evidence

Start with the one nobody talks about, because it is the one that costs files.

Article 229 C.C.P. bars pre-trial examination below a certain amount. That threshold rose from $30,000 to $50,000 on 30 June 2023.

In practice: on a $42,000 claim you cannot summon the debtor's representative before trial to have them admit, under oath, that they received the goods, accepted them without reservation, and never disputed the invoice.

That was the tool that resolved most contested collection files. Below $50,000 it is gone.

The simplified regime draws the same line: article 535.9 C.C.P. permits an oral pre-trial examination, one per party, only where the claim reaches $50,000, unless the court decides otherwise. And article 535.15 imposes joint expert evidence where the claim is under $50,000, absent authorization.

The consequence plays out before the litigation

Below $50,000, your file has to stand on its own the day you file it. Signed purchase order, countersigned delivery slip, an email where the customer confirms receipt or complains about the delay but not the goods, a statement of account, the absence of any written dispute. What you do not have on paper, you will no longer be able to extract from the debtor's mouth. In other words: the $50,000 threshold does not change how you plead. It changes how you invoice and deliver.

$75,000 and $100,000: where the file is argued

Article 35 C.C.P. was redrawn into three zones:

under $75,000: Court of Québec, exclusive jurisdiction;
from $75,000 to under $100,000: at the plaintiff's choice, Court of Québec or Superior Court;
$100,000 and above: Superior Court.

The middle zone is the novelty. Between $75,000 and $100,000 you choose the forum — and the Act specifies that your choice continues to prevail where the chosen court remains competent. Both limits are subject to indexation, so the figures above will move.

That choice has real strategic value. Below $100,000 the Court of Québec offers a simplified, fast procedure. The Superior Court imposes a heavier procedural frame — which weighs more on a debtor with limited resources than on you. The right choice depends on which of creditor or debtor has more to lose from a long proceeding.

Transitional provisions: claims under $85,000 brought before 30 June 2023 continue in the Court of Québec under the former rules.

$100,000: the simplified procedure, and it is mandatory

For any claim under $100,000 brought in the Court of Québec, articles 535.1 and following C.C.P. — the new Title I.1, “Special simplified rules for the recovery of certain claims” — apply as of right. It is not a procedural option to be requested.

The regime in short:

no case protocol is required (art. 535.2);
originating application limited to 5 pages; summary statement of contestation limited to 2 pages, 7 with a cross-application (arts. 535.3 and 535.6);
plaintiff communicates exhibits within 20 days; the defendant has 95 days (arts. 535.4 and 535.6);
preliminary exceptions notified in writing and filed within 45 days (art. 535.5);
case management conference by day 110 in the prescribed cases, held remotely unless otherwise ordered (art. 535.8);
written examination limited to 3 pages; oral pre-trial examination only from $50,000 (art. 535.9);
settlement conference between day 130 and day 160, converted to a pre-trial conference failing settlement (art. 535.12);
setting down by the clerk on the court's order, within six months of service at the latest (art. 535.13);
written statement standing as testimony, maximum 5 pages, on prior notice (art. 535.14);
joint expert evidence mandatory under $50,000, absent authorization (art. 535.15).

The timetable is tight and it runs by itself. Six months from service to setting down is fast for a creditor and uncomfortable for a debtor who was counting on time.

How to read all this when an invoice goes unpaid

Ask the questions in this order.

How much, excluding interest? That figure places the file on the grid, not the total claimed.
Is it under $50,000? If so, inventory your documentary evidence now. What you do not have, you will not get. If a document is missing — an unsigned delivery slip, an order placed by phone — now is the time to obtain written confirmation from the customer, while they are still speaking to you.
Is it between $75,000 and $100,000? Then you have a choice to make, and it is worth a conversation.
Is it under $15,000? That is another story: the Small Claims Division, where a legal person qualifies only if it had at most ten employees during the preceding twelve months — and where parties cannot be represented by a lawyer.

The takeaway

The 2023 reform is presented as a simplification, and it is one: shorter delays, lighter procedure, automatic setting down.

But it moves the effort. What you gain in speed before the court, you must have won in advance in your documents. Below $50,000, the file is built at the moment of delivery, not at the moment of suit.

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