Who Can Serve Court Documents in Ontario?

Updated October 31, 2026

The answer depends on the court. In family cases, the rules say certain documents must be served by someone other than the party who is bringing the case. In the Superior Court's civil rules and in Small Claims Court, we did not find a rule about who may serve, so check the rules for your court. In all three, the usual way to prove service is an affidavit of service.

Superior Court civil matters

The Rules of Civil Procedure cover civil cases in the Superior Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal. They say an originating process "shall be served personally as provided in rule 16.02 or by an alternative to personal service as provided in rule 16.03."

An originating process is the document that starts a case. Other documents are different: "No other document need be served personally, or by an alternative to personal service, unless these rules or an order require personal service or an alternative to personal service."

Personal service on an individual means "by leaving a copy of the document with the individual."

These rules set out how a document is served. We did not find a minimum age or licensing requirement for the person who serves, so we will not claim one exists or that none does. If this matters in your case, ask a lawyer or paralegal.

Family court

The Family Law Rules call this "special service," carried out by "leaving a copy" with the person to be served. The Family Law Rules also say no one may serve a document under them unless they are at least 18 years old.

Here the rules are clearer about who serves. Special service of certain documents "shall be carried out by a person other than the party required to serve the document." The list includes an application and a motion to change. There are exceptions, so read the rule or ask a lawyer or paralegal before you assume it applies, or does not apply, to your situation.

This is one reason people hire a process server in family cases.

Small Claims Court

The Small Claims Court Rules say a plaintiff's claim or defendant's claim "shall be served personally as provided in rule 8.02 or by an alternative to personal service as provided in rule 8.03."

There is also a deadline: "A claim shall be served within six months after the date it is issued, but the court may extend the time for service." We did not find a rule on who may do the serving, so check the rules or ask the court.

What is an affidavit of service?

An affidavit of service is a sworn statement by the person who served the document. It says who was served, how, when and where. The court uses it as proof that service happened.

Each set of rules names it:

• Superior Court civil: service "may be proved by an affidavit of the person who served it (Form 16B)."
• Family court: service may be proved by an affidavit of service (Form 6B).
• Small Claims Court: service "may be proved by an affidavit of service (Form 8A) of the person who served it."

The person who served the papers is the one who swears the affidavit, which is why it is a good idea to have a server who keeps clear notes of each attempt. A sheriff's service can instead be proved with a sheriff's certificate of service (Form 16C), and a lawyer's service with a lawyer's certificate (Form 16B.1).

Forms get updated, so always download the current version from the official court forms site before you use one.

How Rose City Process Servers can help

We serve Windsor and Essex County. A standard job is $140 in Windsor or $160 in most of Essex County, $180 in the Kingsville area or $210 in the Leamington area (see the price table), with up to 3 attempts, an email after each attempt with the time, GPS location and a photo, and a sworn Affidavit of Service included. We do not draft documents, complete forms or give legal advice, so please make sure your documents are final before you send them to us.

Common questions are answered on our FAQ, and you can see how we work locally on our Windsor process server page.

When you are ready, call (226) 773-4813 or order at rosecityprocessservers.ca/order/.

Sources

• Rules of Civil Procedure, R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 194: https://www.ontario.ca/laws/regulation/900194
• Family Law Rules, O. Reg. 114/99: https://www.ontario.ca/laws/regulation/990114
• Small Claims Court Rules, O. Reg. 258/98: https://www.ontario.ca/laws/regulation/980258
• Form 16B, Affidavit of Service: https://ontariocourtforms.on.ca/en/rules-of-civil-procedure-forms/16b-1/

Related services: personal service and family court documents and divorce papers.