Wage Garnishment
Calculator.
Won a judgment and want it paid — or staring down a garnishment yourself? See exactly how much Ontario law lets a garnishment take: 20% of net wages for debts, 50% for support, and no percentage cap at all on a bank account. Per-paycheque numbers, monthly totals, and how long collecting takes — for both sides of the notice. Updated for 2026.
· Reviewed by Jonathan Kleiman, J.D.
Ontario Bar
for ordinary debts
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consultation
How much can be garnished in Ontario?
For wages: up to 20% of net pay for ordinary debts and up to 50% for support, under section 7 of the Wages Act. For bank accounts: there is no percentage cap — a garnishment can take what's in the account, up to the full amount owing.
Pick your side and your target, enter the numbers, and the calculator shows the per-paycheque and monthly figures, what one bank strike could recover, and roughly how long collecting the judgment will take — plus the traps on each side: exemption motions, joint accounts, protected benefits, and competing creditors.
Wage & Bank Account Garnishment Calculator
How much a garnishment actually takes in Ontario — per paycheque or from an account — and how long collecting takes. Fields marked * are required.
How does a wage garnishment actually work in Ontario?
A garnishment redirects money someone else owes your debtor — usually an employer or a bank — to the court, which pays it out to you. It needs a judgment first: garnishment is how you collect a win, not how you start a fight. The creditor files an affidavit (Form 20P), the clerk issues a Notice of Garnishment (Form 20E) naming one debtor and one garnishee, and once served, the garnishee must pay the garnished portion to the court clerk within 10 days of each amount coming payable. For wages, that means every paycheque sheds its garnished slice automatically — the notice stays in force for six years and is renewable, so it keeps working paycheque after paycheque until the judgment, interest, and costs are paid.
The Wages Act sets the slice: 80% of net wages are exempt, so ordinary judgment creditors collect up to 20% — and "net" subtracts only what the law requires (income tax, CPP, EI), not union dues or benefits. Support orders can take up to 50%, though those normally run through the Family Responsibility Office rather than Small Claims Court. Either way the percentages are presumptions: a judge can decrease the exemption on a creditor's motion, increase it on a debtor's, and a garnishment hearing can vary or suspend the flow entirely.
Why do collection lawyers reach for the bank account first?
Because the 20% cap dies at the teller's window. The Wages Act protects wages — money in your employer's hands. The moment a paycheque lands in a bank account it becomes ordinary money, and a bank garnishment can take it without any percentage limit, up to the full amount owing. Served at the right branch on the right day — say, just after payday — a single strike can recover more than a year of wage deductions. The trade-offs: you need to know where the debtor banks (a debtor examination extracts that under oath), joint accounts are only half-garnishable by default, and accounts fed by protected government benefits invite an exemption fight. Wage and bank garnishments also aren't either/or — a steady wage stream plus a well-timed bank strike is a common one-two.
Judgment in hand, patience running out?
Free 30-minute consultation. Bring the judgment and what you know about the debtor; leave with an enforcement plan — garnishment, writ, or examination — and a flat-fee quote to run it.
What if you're the one being garnished?
You have more protection than most people realize — but none of it is automatic. Your employer cannot fire or punish you for a garnishment (that's reprisal under the Employment Standards Act). If 20% of net leaves you unable to cover rent or support obligations, a motion under the Wages Act can raise your exemption, and a garnishment hearing can vary or suspend the payments — courts respond to real numbers, so bring them. If a bank garnishment has frozen money that is actually CPP, OAS, ODSP or Ontario Works, or money that belongs partly to someone else on a joint account, say so immediately and ask for a hearing: those funds are frequently protected, but only if someone stands up and claims the protection. And if the underlying judgment itself was a surprise — you were never served, or never got to tell your side — a motion to set aside the default judgment attacks the root instead of the symptom. Timing matters on all of these; none of them reward waiting.
Garnishment in Ontario FAQ
How much of my wages can be garnished in Ontario?
Up to 20% of your net wages for ordinary debts, and up to 50% for support or maintenance (Wages Act, s. 7). "Net" subtracts only what the law requires — income tax, CPP, EI — so it can be higher than your take-home pay if you also pay union dues or benefits. The percentages are defaults: a judge can lower the exemption on a creditor's motion or raise it on yours.
Can a creditor take everything in my bank account?
Potentially, up to the amount owing — the 20% cap protects wages, and money in an account is no longer wages. What survives: half of a joint account is the default garnishable share, and government benefits (CPP, OAS, ODSP, Ontario Works) are statutorily protected — courts often protect funds traceable to them. Those fights happen at a garnishment hearing, and they reward speed.
How do I garnish someone's wages?
Judgment first — then file the affidavit (Form 20P), have the clerk issue the Notice of Garnishment (Form 20E) ($144, one debtor and one garnishee per notice), and serve the employer, then the debtor within five days. Each payday, the employer sends the garnished share to the court clerk, who pays you. An employer who ignores the notice can be ordered to pay the amount itself. The enforcement guide covers the whole sequence.
Can I be fired because my wages are garnished?
No. Punishing an employee because their wages are subject to garnishment is a prohibited reprisal under s. 74(1)(b) of the Employment Standards Act, 2000 — that includes dismissal, intimidation, and threats.
What income can't be garnished?
CPP and OAS benefits are exempt under their federal statutes, and Ontario Works and ODSP are protected provincially. Disability income-replacement payments are deemed wages, so they get the 20%/50% protection rather than full exposure. Support obligations run through the Family Responsibility Office rather than Small Claims garnishment. Where protected money sits in a bank account, the exemption is argued at a garnishment hearing.
How long does a garnishment last?
Six years from issue, renewable before expiry — it catches debts payable to the debtor throughout that window, which is how a wage garnishment keeps collecting until the judgment is paid. More than six years after judgment, the creditor needs the court's leave before a notice can issue. Postjudgment interest keeps accruing the whole time — the Postjudgment Interest Calculator keeps your total current.
A judgment is a licence to collect. Use it.
Jonathan Kleiman enforces judgments across Toronto and Ontario — garnishments aimed at the right garnishee, writs where they bite, and debtor examinations that find the money. On the other side of the notice, he defends debtors facing garnishments they can't carry. Either way, get a realistic read before the next move.
- Free 30-minute consultation
- Flat-fee garnishments and enforcement steps
- Collection strategy matched to the debtor's assets
- Exemption and hardship motions for debtors
- Available evenings and weekends
- Serving Toronto and all of Ontario
Request a free consultation
Describe the judgment (or the garnishment you're facing) and Jonathan will contact you — usually the same day. If you ran the calculator, your numbers are attached automatically.
About this tool — please read
This page provides general legal information and simplified garnishment arithmetic for educational purposes only. It is not legal advice, does not account for the specific facts or law governing your situation, and creates no lawyer–client relationship. The wage figures apply the default exemptions in section 7 of the Wages Act (80% of net wages exempt for ordinary debts; 50% for support) — a court can increase or decrease those exemptions on motion, and a garnishment hearing can vary or suspend payments, adjust the garnishable share of jointly owned debts, and decide exemption claims over deposited funds, none of which this tool models. "Net wages" here means wages less deductions required by law; employers calculate the exact figure. Timelines assume the pay and percentage entered stay constant and exclude postjudgment interest accruing during collection, employment changes, competing garnishments (which share equally), and partial payments. Support and maintenance are normally enforced through the Family Responsibility Office, not Small Claims Court garnishment. Bank set-off rights, federal Crown debts (such as CRA collections, which follow different statutory regimes), and exemptions for specific benefit streams are outside this tool. Court fees are current as of 2026 but can change. Get advice from a lawyer or licensed paralegal before starting enforcement or responding to a garnishment.
The judgment was the easy part. Now get paid.
Book a free 30-minute consultation with Jonathan. Bring the judgment and what you know about the debtor — leave with an enforcement plan aimed where the money actually is, and a flat-fee quote to run it.