Notice of Intent to Defend vs Statement of Defence in Ontario: Which One, and When
If you have been served over a debt and you are staring at a 20-day deadline, here is the short version. A Notice of Intent to Defend (Form 18B) is not a defence. It is a one-sentence placeholder you serve and file in the Superior Court of Justice to buy ten extra days to prepare the real document — the Statement of Defence (Form 18A). It exists only in the Superior Court. If your case is in Small Claims Court — where most Ontario consumer-debt lawsuits are filed — there is no equivalent form and no automatic extension: you file a Defence (Form 9A) within 20 calendar days. Mixing the two up is a fast route to a default judgment.
The two documents, side by side
A Statement of Defence is the substantive pleading. It answers the allegations and sets out your defences — that the limitation period has expired, that the amount is wrong, that the plaintiff has not shown it owns the debt. Filing it ends the default clock and forces the creditor to prove its case.
A Notice of Intent to Defend is a placeholder. The entire operative text of Form 18B is one line: “The defendant (or defendant added by counterclaim or third party) intends to defend this action.” Add the date, your contact information, and the party it is served on, and the form is finished. No facts, no admissions, no legal argument.
That brevity is the point: you can file it in an afternoon while you are still hunting for old statements or trying to get a lawyer on the phone.
The Superior Court clock — and the mistake people make
The response deadlines are printed on the front page of the claim itself (Form 14A):
- Served in Ontario — 20 days
- Served in another province or territory of Canada, or in the United States — 40 days
- Served outside Canada and the United States — 60 days
The form then says: “Instead of serving and filing a statement of defence, you may serve and file a notice of intent to defend in Form 18B prescribed by the Rules of Civil Procedure. This will entitle you to ten more days within which to serve and file your statement of defence.”
Two things get misunderstood constantly:
- The ten days are added, not restarted. Served in Ontario, you end up with 30 days from service — not 40. The “40 days” figure repeated online is wrong for a defendant served in Ontario.
- It must be served and filed inside your original window. A Form 18B delivered on day 22 buys nothing — there is no period left to extend.
For the first week after service, see what to do first after being served with a Statement of Claim.
Small Claims Court: the form simply does not exist
Since October 1, 2025, Ontario’s Small Claims Court handles claims up to $50,000, raised from $35,000 by O. Reg. 42/25. That captures most credit-card, personal-loan and collection-agency claims against Ontario homeowners — so this is the branch most readers are actually in. If you are unsure, start with being sued for debt in Ontario.
In Small Claims Court you file a Defence (Form 9A) within 20 calendar days of being served (Rule 9.01 of the Rules of the Small Claims Court). There is no Notice of Intent to Defend and no automatic ten-day extension. The court can extend the time on a motion, but nothing does it for you on request.
There is one piece of slack the Superior Court does not offer: once the 20 days pass, the court office will still accept your defence as long as the plaintiff has not filed a request to note you in default. That is not a grace period you can plan around — the plaintiff can file that request the moment day 21 arrives — but if you are already late, file immediately. You can also amend a filed defence later without a fee or court order, provided it is served on all parties and filed at least 30 days before the originally scheduled trial date. A short, accurate defence filed on time beats a polished one filed after you are in default.
What a Notice of Intent to Defend does not do
- It does not pause the case or stop interest. It buys drafting time, nothing else.
- It does not preserve your position on its own. If the Statement of Defence never arrives, the plaintiff can note you in default at the end of the extended period, exactly as if you had done nothing.
- It does not protect a defence you fail to plead. An expired limitation period must be raised specifically in the defence itself — see how to plead the limitation period and when a debt is too old to sue on in Ontario.
Being noted in default is the outcome to avoid: you are treated as admitting the facts alleged in the claim, you cannot file a defence or take other steps without the court’s permission or the plaintiff’s consent, and judgment can be signed against you without a hearing.
If your deadline is already tight
Superior Court, inside your response window: serve and file Form 18B. It takes minutes, commits you to nothing substantive, and buys ten days.
Ask for a written extension. Under Rule 3.02, times prescribed by the Rules can be extended by consent or court order. On a routine debt file, plaintiff’s counsel will often agree to a short extension — but get it in writing, and never treat silence as consent.
Small Claims Court: there is nothing to buy time with, so file the Form 9A and amend later if you need to.
One further option is printed on the claim itself: if the claim is for money only and you have decided not to fight it, paying the claim plus costs within your response window lets you move to have the proceeding dismissed — or, if the costs claimed look excessive, pay the claim plus $400 and have the costs assessed by the court.
Frequently asked questions
Does filing a Notice of Intent to Defend admit that I owe the money? No. It states only that you intend to defend. It contains no facts and no admissions.
How many days do I get in total? If you were served in Ontario and you serve and file the notice inside your 20-day window, you have 30 days from service to serve and file the Statement of Defence.
Can I file a Notice of Intent to Defend in Small Claims Court? No. Form 18B exists only under the Rules of Civil Procedure, which govern the Superior Court. To tell which court you are in, check the heading: Small Claims uses a Plaintiff’s Claim (Form 7A); the Superior Court uses a Statement of Claim (Form 14A).
What if I have already missed the deadline? Act today. In Small Claims Court your defence can still be filed if no request to note you in default has been filed. If you have already been noted in default, or judgment has been signed, the route is a motion to set it aside — brought as soon as is reasonably possible.
The difference between a filed defence and a default judgment is often a matter of days. If you have been served and are not sure which document you need or how long you have, tell us what you were served with and we will look at where your file stands.
Sources: Ontario Rules of Civil Procedure, R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 194, rr. 3.02, 18.01, 18.02, 19 · Form 14A, Statement of Claim (General) and Form 18B, Notice of Intent to Defend, Ontario Court Services · Civil claims: suing and being sued and Guide to procedures in small claims court — Replying to a claim, Ministry of the Attorney General · Small Claims Court, Ministry of the Attorney General · Rules of the Small Claims Court, O. Reg. 258/98, rr. 9.01, 11.06. General information for Ontario, not legal advice.
General information for Ontario, not legal advice. Reviewed by Angelos Spingos. Last reviewed September 17, 2026.