The trial is over, the deputy judge ruled in your favour, and the judgment says the other side owes you money. Congratulations are in order, but so is a reality check: the court does not collect that money for you. If the debtor does not pay voluntarily, enforcement becomes your responsibility, and knowing which tools to use is the difference between a judgment that gets paid and a piece of paper that gathers dust.

MTS Paralegal Services P.C. has been enforcing judgments for clients across Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge, Guelph, Hamilton, and Southwestern Ontario for over 20 years, with roots in collections work that shaped the firm’s entire philosophy. As Timothy Ellis puts it, a judgment is only as good as the paper it is written on unless you can enforce it.

Step One: Find Out What the Debtor Actually Has

The smartest first move in most enforcement files is an examination hearing under Rule 20.10 of the Rules of the Small Claims Court. This process compels the debtor to attend before the court and answer questions under oath about their income, employment, bank accounts, assets, and debts. The creditor serves a Notice of Examination along with a blank Financial Information Form, which an individual debtor must complete and provide.

The examination does two things at once. It reveals exactly where the money is, which determines the most effective enforcement tool to use next, and it puts formal pressure on a debtor who has been ignoring the judgment. A debtor who fails to attend the examination, or attends but refuses to answer questions or produce documents, can be ordered to appear at a contempt hearing under Rule 20.11. After the examination, the court may also make an order as to payment, setting a schedule the debtor is required to follow. Ignoring a judgment has consequences, and the examination process is where those consequences begin.

Garnishment: Reaching Wages and Bank Accounts

Garnishment under Rule 20.08 of the Rules of the Small Claims Court allows a creditor to intercept money that third parties owe to the debtor, most commonly wages from an employer or funds sitting in a bank account. A Notice of Garnishment is issued and served, and the garnishee, meaning the employer or bank, is required to respond and redirect the applicable funds toward the judgment.

For employment income, Ontario’s Wages Act generally limits garnishment to 20% of a debtor’s wages for ordinary judgment debts, which means recovery through wage garnishment arrives steadily rather than all at once. Bank account garnishment can move faster when an account holds funds, though timing matters since a garnishment only captures what is there when it lands. Garnishment is frequently the most direct path to actual money, and it is a tool the firm deploys regularly on behalf of judgment creditors across Small Claims Court files.

Writs: Turning Property into Leverage

Where a debtor owns property, writs become powerful instruments. A writ of seizure and sale of personal property directs an enforcement officer such as a bailiff or Sheriff to seize and sell eligible personal property belonging to the debtor, subject to the exemptions set out in Ontario’s Execution Act. Vehicles, equipment, and other non-exempt assets can be pursued through this route when the debtor holds them.

A writ of seizure and sale of land is often even more effective in practice. Filed with the Sheriff in the jurisdiction where the debtor owns real property, it encumbers the property and stands in the way of any sale or refinancing until the judgment is dealt with. Few debtors are willing to let a judgment block a property transaction, which makes the land writ one of the strongest sources of leverage a creditor can hold, even without ever forcing a sale. The enforcement tools operate on renewable six-year cycles, and post-judgment interest continues to accrue under the Courts of Justice Act the entire time the debt goes unpaid.

Collectability: The Question That Should Come First

Every enforcement strategy begins with an honest assessment of whether the debtor can actually pay. A debtor with a steady job, a bank account, or real property is a collectable debtor, and the tools above will reach them. A debtor with no income, no assets, and a history of evading creditors presents a harder road, and spending money on enforcement steps that cannot produce recovery serves no one.

This is why collectability analysis belongs at the very start of a file, ideally before a claim is even issued. It is also why the examination hearing is usually the right opening move when a debtor’s finances are unknown. MTS Paralegal Services P.C. builds enforcement thinking into every Small Claims Court matter from the first consultation, drawing on decades of collections experience to focus effort where recovery is realistic.

Turn the Judgment into a Payment

Enforcement is a process with rules, forms, deadlines, and strategy, and errors at any stage can delay recovery or let a debtor slip further out of reach. Having experienced representation handle the examination, the garnishments, and the writs means every step lands correctly the first time, while the debtor learns that the judgment is not going away.

Timothy Ellis of MTS Paralegal Services P.C. built his early career on enforcement and collections, and that expertise remains central to the firm’s court related services today. Anyone holding an unpaid judgment should reach out through the contact page or call (226) 444-4882 to put a real collection strategy in motion.

You fought for the judgment. Now make it pay.

Small Claims Court… It’s What We Do.