Form 13A List of Proposed Witnesses
Complete instructions for preparing your witness list for Small Claims Court trial
Witness Lists in Small Claims Court
Form 13A is the document you use to tell the court and the other party which witnesses you plan to call at trial. Small Claims Court requires you to exchange witness lists at least fourteen days before the trial date so both sides know who will testify and can prepare appropriately. The form lists each witness’s name, address, and a brief description of what they will testify about. This advance disclosure prevents surprise testimony and gives both parties a fair opportunity to prepare their case and challenge the evidence presented against them.
Completing Form 13A requires careful thought about which witnesses can help prove your case and which might create problems under cross-examination. Not everyone who knows something about your dispute makes a good witness. The witness must have personal knowledge of relevant facts, must be able to explain those facts clearly in court, and must be credible enough that the judge will believe their testimony. These instructions help you identify appropriate witnesses, explain what information the form requires, and outline the strategic considerations that affect witness selection and the testimony you plan to elicit from each person. For a complete overview of all Small Claims Court forms including claims, defenses, and evidence documents, our comprehensive forms hub organizes every form type by litigation stage.
Download the Official Form 13A
The List of Proposed Witnesses form is available from the Ontario Court of Justice. Download the current official form before completing it using the instructions below.
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Who Can Testify as a Witness
Understanding witness eligibility and effectiveness in Small Claims Court
Personal Knowledge Required
A witness must have direct personal knowledge of the facts they testify about, which means they saw, heard, or experienced the events themselves rather than learning about them from someone else. Hearsay evidence, which is testimony about what someone else told the witness, is generally not admissible in court. The witness needs to be able to say “I saw this happen” or “I was there when this occurred” rather than “someone told me that this happened.” This requirement ensures the court receives reliable firsthand information rather than secondhand accounts that cannot be verified or challenged effectively.
Consider what specific facts each potential witness can testify about from their own direct observation or participation. A witness who was present during a conversation can testify about what was said. A witness who saw damage occur can describe what they observed. However, a witness who only heard about events later cannot provide testimony about those events even if they have strong opinions about what happened. Focus on witnesses who personally experienced the relevant facts rather than those who only know the general story of your dispute.
Credibility Considerations
Beyond having personal knowledge, witnesses must be credible, meaning the judge has reason to believe their testimony is truthful and accurate. Family members and close friends can testify, but judges recognize their relationship to you may affect their perspective or create bias. This does not make their testimony inadmissible, but it may affect how much weight the judge gives it. A stranger or neutral party who observed events often carries more credibility than someone with a personal stake in the outcome, though family testimony can still be valuable when it corroborates other evidence.
Consider each witness’s demeanor and ability to communicate clearly under pressure. Court proceedings can be stressful and intimidating, and witnesses must remain calm and coherent while answering questions from both sides. A witness who gets defensive, argumentative, or confused may damage your case rather than help it even if they have relevant knowledge. Think about how each person presents themselves and whether they can explain events clearly to someone who was not there. Sometimes a witness with slightly less knowledge but better communication skills helps your case more than someone who knows everything but cannot articulate it effectively.
Evaluating witness credibility and effectiveness requires understanding courtroom dynamics and anticipating how judges assess testimony. Our Small Claims Court representation includes witness evaluation and preparation to ensure your witnesses present their testimony clearly and withstand cross-examination without creating weaknesses in your case.
Expert Witnesses
Most Small Claims Court witnesses are lay witnesses who testify about facts they observed. Expert witnesses, who provide specialized professional opinions based on their training and experience, are less common in Small Claims Court but are sometimes necessary for technical matters. An expert can testify about things like property values, construction standards, medical diagnoses, or business practices when those issues are central to your case. However, expert testimony comes with additional requirements including qualifying the expert’s credentials and disclosing their report in advance.
Small Claims Court limits expert witness fees you can recover even if you win, which makes using experts expensive relative to typical claim amounts. Consider whether expert testimony is truly necessary to prove your case or whether lay witnesses and documentary evidence can establish the key facts without expert analysis. If you do need an expert, remember you must serve their report on the other party well before trial, and the expert must be available to attend court on the trial date to answer questions about their opinions and the basis for those conclusions.
Party Testimony
As a party to the case, you will testify about the events from your perspective and do not need to list yourself on Form 13A because your participation is assumed. However, you should think about your own testimony with the same critical eye you apply to other witnesses. Consider what facts you can personally testify about from your own knowledge and what gaps in your testimony other witnesses need to fill. Your testimony alone may not be sufficient if the dispute comes down to your word against the defendant’s word, which is why corroborating witnesses who can confirm key facts become important to establishing credibility.
Information Required for Each Witness
Form 13A requires specific information about each witness you plan to call at trial. The form helps the court manage the trial schedule and helps the other party prepare by understanding what testimony to expect. Complete each section carefully to ensure compliance with disclosure requirements and to give the court and opposing party adequate notice of your evidence.
Witness Name
Provide the witness’s full legal name as it appears on their identification. The name must be accurate for the witness summons if you need to compel their attendance at trial.
Witness Address
Include the complete address where the witness can be served with a summons if necessary. This does not need to be their home address if they receive mail elsewhere, but it must be a location where they can reliably receive documents.
Nature of Evidence
Describe what the witness will testify about in general terms. You do not need to provide word-for-word testimony, but give enough detail that the other party understands the topics the witness will address.
Time Required
Estimate how long you expect the witness examination to take including both your questions and potential cross-examination by the other party. This helps the court schedule trial time appropriately.
Strategic Witness Selection
Making smart decisions about who testifies at your trial
Quality Over Quantity
Small Claims Court allows you to call up to three witnesses without special permission from the court. More witnesses are not necessarily better, and calling unnecessary witnesses can weaken your case by boring the judge, wasting court time, or creating inconsistencies between witness accounts that the other party can exploit. Two strong witnesses who clearly establish the key facts are more effective than five witnesses who provide repetitive or marginally relevant information. Focus on witnesses whose testimony fills specific gaps in your case rather than accumulating as many people as possible.
Anticipating Cross-Examination
Every witness you call can be cross-examined by the other party, which means you need to consider what weaknesses or problems might emerge when the opposing lawyer or self-represented party questions your witness. A witness who helps your case on direct examination but falls apart under cross-examination may hurt more than help. Think about what inconsistencies in their story the other side might identify, what biases they might highlight, or what admissions they might elicit that damage your position. Sometimes the better strategic choice is not calling a witness whose testimony creates more risk than benefit despite having relevant knowledge.
Anticipating cross-examination vulnerabilities and preparing witnesses to handle challenging questions requires trial experience and understanding of courtroom tactics. Professional Small Claims Court representation includes thorough witness preparation that identifies potential weaknesses before trial and helps witnesses respond effectively to aggressive questioning without damaging your case.
Availability and Cooperation
Confirm each witness is willing and able to attend court on the trial date before listing them on Form 13A. A witness who agrees to help but then becomes unavailable leaves you scrambling to adjust your case at the last minute. Discuss the time commitment involved and make sure witnesses understand they may need to take time off work and spend several hours at court. If you are uncertain about a witness’s willingness to attend voluntarily, you can issue a summons compelling their attendance, but this requires additional court filings and fees and may affect the witness’s cooperation and helpfulness when they do appear.
Documentary Evidence Alternative
Consider whether documentary evidence can prove facts without needing witness testimony. Documents like contracts, receipts, emails, or photographs can sometimes establish facts more clearly and efficiently than witness testimony and cannot be cross-examined or shown to be biased. If you have strong documentary evidence of key facts, you may need fewer witnesses because the documents do much of the work of proving your case. Reserve witness testimony for facts that documents cannot establish or for providing context that helps the judge understand and interpret the documentary evidence you present.
Filing and Service Requirements
You must file Form 13A with the court and serve it on all other parties at least fourteen days before the trial date. This fourteen-day period gives opposing parties time to prepare for cross-examination and to identify their own witnesses in response to the testimony you plan to present. Count the fourteen days carefully, excluding the trial date itself but including weekends and holidays. Missing this deadline can result in the court refusing to let your witnesses testify, which may make it impossible to prove your case and could result in your claim being dismissed or the defendant’s defense succeeding.
Service must follow the same rules as serving other court documents, meaning personal service by someone over eighteen who is not a party to the case, or an accepted alternative method if personal service is not possible. The person who serves the documents must complete an affidavit of service proving service happened correctly and when. If the other party already has a lawyer or paralegal representing them, you can serve the witness list on the legal representative rather than on the party directly. Keep proof of service in your court file in case there is any dispute about whether proper service occurred within the required timeframe.
Common Questions About Witness Lists
What if I need more than three witnesses?
Small Claims Court limits witness testimony to three witnesses per party unless you get permission from the court to call additional witnesses. If you believe you need more than three witnesses, you must bring a motion before trial asking the court for permission to exceed this limit. The motion must explain why additional witnesses are necessary and what each additional witness will contribute that the first three cannot cover. Courts are reluctant to extend trial time unnecessarily, so you need to show compelling reasons why more witnesses are essential rather than merely helpful.
Before seeking permission for additional witnesses, carefully evaluate whether you truly need more than three people to prove your case. Often what seems like a need for many witnesses actually reflects not having identified the most effective witnesses to call. Three well-chosen witnesses who cover the key aspects of your case are almost always more effective than five or six witnesses who provide overlapping or marginally relevant testimony. Consider whether some facts can be proven through documents rather than witness testimony, which may reduce the number of witnesses you need.
Can I call a witness who lives far away or in another province?
You can call witnesses from anywhere, but practical considerations affect whether this makes sense for your case. A witness who lives far from the courthouse must travel to attend trial, which may be expensive and inconvenient for them. You are generally responsible for paying reasonable witness fees and travel expenses for witnesses you call, though Small Claims Court limits what you can recover from the other party even if you win. Consider whether the witness’s testimony is important enough to justify the cost and logistical complexity of bringing them to court.
For witnesses in other provinces, Ontario summons may not be enforceable there, which means the witness must attend voluntarily. If the witness is willing to testify remotely by video or phone, you need to bring a motion before trial asking for permission to present their evidence this way. Courts sometimes allow remote testimony when in-person attendance creates genuine hardship, but prefer in-person testimony when possible because it allows better assessment of witness credibility. The party opposing your request may argue that remote testimony is less reliable or that they cannot cross-examine effectively without the witness present in the courtroom.
What if a witness refuses to come to court?
If a witness is unwilling to attend voluntarily, you can issue a summons to witness that legally requires their attendance. The summons must be served personally on the witness along with attendance money, which is a small payment to cover their time and travel to court. Once properly served with a summons and attendance money, the witness must attend court on the date specified or face potential consequences for contempt of court. However, summoning an unwilling witness does not guarantee they will provide helpful testimony, and a hostile or uncooperative witness may hurt your case more than help it.
Before summoning a reluctant witness, consider why they are unwilling to attend and whether their testimony is truly essential. If the witness is simply busy or worried about taking time off work, explaining the importance of their testimony and offering to accommodate their schedule where possible may secure their voluntary cooperation. If they are refusing because they want to stay neutral in a dispute between people they know, they may testify accurately but without enthusiasm once compelled. If they are actively trying to avoid helping your case, their testimony under cross-examination may be problematic. Sometimes the better choice is presenting your case without a reluctant witness rather than forcing their attendance and risking unhelpful testimony.
Do I need to prepare my witnesses before trial?
Meeting with your witnesses before trial to review their testimony is not only permitted but highly recommended. You should discuss what questions you plan to ask, what facts their testimony will establish, and what they remember about relevant events. This preparation helps witnesses feel more comfortable with the court process and ensures their testimony comes out clearly and organized rather than rambling or confused. Preparing witnesses is different from coaching them to lie or change their testimony, which would be improper. Preparation means helping witnesses present truthful information effectively.
During preparation, review any documents related to the witness’s testimony so they can refresh their memory about dates, amounts, or specific details they may have forgotten. Discuss how cross-examination works and the types of questions the other party might ask to challenge their testimony. Help witnesses understand that they should answer only the question asked, admit when they do not know something rather than guessing, and remain calm if the questioning becomes aggressive. Witnesses who understand what to expect and have reviewed the facts they will testify about are far more effective than witnesses who show up unprepared and try to remember events without any review.
Effective witness preparation requires understanding both courtroom procedure and strategic testimony presentation. Our Small Claims Court services include comprehensive witness preparation sessions that help your witnesses understand the trial process, anticipate challenging questions, and present their testimony clearly and confidently under both direct examination and cross-examination.
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