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Won your case but haven't been paid? Estimate how much of the debtor's wages a garnishment could collect each pay period under Ontario's Wages Act — and roughly how long full recovery of your judgment may take.
Estimate only — not legal advice. Courts can vary garnishment percentages, and other creditors may share.In Ontario, a judgment creditor can garnish up to 20% of a debtor's net wages for an ordinary Small Claims Court judgment debt (up to 50% for support orders), under section 7 of the Wages Act. The creditor files a Notice of Garnishment after judgment; the employer then deducts the garnishable portion each pay and remits it to the court until the judgment, interest and costs are paid. Bank account garnishments are not subject to the wage exemption and can attach the full balance held.
For ordinary judgment debts, 80% of net wages are exempt under the Wages Act — a garnishment collects up to 20% of each net pay.
Support orders have a lower exemption — up to half of net wages can be garnished for child or spousal support arrears.
The wage exemption does not apply to bank garnishments — the bank remits up to the full amount owing from the funds it holds.
An Ontario judgment is enforceable for 20 years, with postjudgment interest accruing until the debt is fully paid.
Wage garnishment is the most commonly used enforcement tool after winning a Small Claims Court case. Once you have a judgment, you file a Notice of Garnishment with the court clerk and serve it on both the debtor and their employer. The employer is then legally required to deduct the garnishable portion of the debtor's wages every pay period and send it to the court, which distributes the money to you. It turns a judgment that the debtor is ignoring into a steady stream of payments they cannot opt out of.
Garnishment is available only after judgment — if you have not yet sued, start with our Small Claims Court calculator to value the claim. For the full enforcement toolkit, including examinations and writs, see our guide on how to collect a judgment in Ontario.
Section 7 of Ontario's Wages Act exempts 80% of net wages from seizure for ordinary judgment debts — so a garnishment collects up to 20% of each net pay. For support orders, the exemption drops to 50%, allowing up to half of net wages to be garnished. “Net wages” means pay after statutory deductions like income tax, CPP and EI.
These percentages are defaults, not absolutes: on a garnishment hearing, a judge can raise or lower the exemption based on the debtor's circumstances. Some income cannot be garnished at all — social assistance (Ontario Works, ODSP) is exempt, and federal pensions are generally protected. If other judgment creditors have also filed garnishments, the money paid into court is shared among them pro rata.
Suppose you hold a $12,000 judgment and the debtor earns $1,500 net per bi-weekly pay. The garnishable portion is 20% × $1,500 = $300 per pay. Collecting $12,000 at $300 per pay takes 40 pay periods — roughly 18 months. Because postjudgment interest keeps accruing on the unpaid balance the whole time, actual full recovery runs somewhat longer than the simple estimate — which is exactly why enforcing promptly, and pairing a wage garnishment with a bank garnishment where possible, shortens the road to being paid.
The two tools work very differently. A wage garnishment produces a predictable stream — a percentage of every pay until the debt is satisfied. A bank garnishment is a snapshot: when the notice is served on the bank, it attaches the funds in the account that day, up to the full amount owing, with no Wages Act exemption. A debtor with $9,000 in savings can see most of a judgment satisfied in one step. Many creditors use both — the bank garnishment for the lump sum available now, the wage garnishment for the balance. Enforcement filing fees are themselves recoverable and added to the judgment debt, alongside the costs the court awarded you at trial.
After you obtain a judgment, you file a Notice of Garnishment with the court clerk and serve it on the debtor and their employer. The employer must then deduct the garnishable portion of the debtor’s wages each pay period and send it to the court, which pays it out to you. Garnishment continues until the judgment, interest and costs are paid or the garnishment expires and is renewed.
Under section 7 of Ontario’s Wages Act, 80% of net wages are exempt from garnishment for ordinary judgment debts — meaning you can generally collect up to 20% of each net pay. For support orders the exemption is 50%. A judge can increase or decrease these percentages on motion where fairness requires it.
Yes. A bank account garnishment attaches the funds in the account when the notice is served, and the Wages Act exemption does not apply to money sitting in an account — the bank must remit up to the full amount owing from what it holds. Bank garnishment is a one-time seizure of what is there that day, while wage garnishment produces a steady stream.
Yes. Garnishment is an enforcement tool, not a collection shortcut — you must first sue and win (or obtain default judgment) in Small Claims Court. Only then can a Notice of Garnishment be issued on the judgment debt.
If you do not already know, you can request a judgment debtor examination — a court-ordered hearing where the debtor must answer questions under oath about their employment, income, assets and debts. Lying at an examination or failing to attend has serious consequences, including potential contempt proceedings.
Social assistance payments (Ontario Works and ODSP) are exempt from garnishment, and federal pensions such as CPP and OAS are generally protected in the government’s hands. Employment income is garnishable subject to the Wages Act exemptions. Money that exempt income turns into once deposited in a bank account can raise more complicated tracing questions.
Garnishment money paid into court is shared among all creditors who have filed garnishments against the same debtor, generally on a pro rata basis under the Creditors’ Relief Act, 2010. Being first does not give you priority over other judgment creditors — another reason to enforce promptly.
Yes. Postjudgment interest under section 129 of the Courts of Justice Act continues to accrue on the unpaid balance for as long as the judgment remains unpaid, so slow garnishment recovery means the total owing grows while you collect. This calculator estimates recovery time on the judgment amount you enter; interest will extend it somewhat.
The debtor (or their employer, or another creditor) can bring a garnishment hearing to dispute the amounts, claim the exemption should be higher, or raise payment arrangements. A judge can vary the garnishable percentage, suspend the garnishment, or order a payment schedule. Well-documented judgments with accurate figures survive these hearings best.
An Ontario Small Claims Court judgment is enforceable for 20 years. Individual enforcement steps like a Notice of Garnishment have their own renewal timelines, but the underlying judgment debt — with accruing postjudgment interest — remains collectable for two decades.
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</p>Winning was step one — getting paid is step two. Our paralegals and lawyers handle garnishments, debtor examinations, and writs across Toronto and the GTA.
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