A Ontario Occupiers’ Liability Act, the owner has a legal duty “to take such care as in all the circumstances of the case is reasonable to see that persons entering on the premises, and the property brought on the premises by those persons are reasonably safe while on the premises.” While this does not mean…
Slip-and-fall accidents can occur for any number of reasons. Many of these reasons may be tied to some negligent act or omission on the part of a property owner. For example, if a shopping center fails to repair a known pothole in its parking lot, an injured person could sue for damages. The same goes…
On October 17, 2018, the use of recreational marijuana became legal throughout Canada. That makes Canada only the second country in the world to have legalized the drug nationwide, and the first member of the G7 countries to do so. As a pioneer in national marijuana legalization, many questions about the potential impact of that…
Can you be fired while on disability in Ontario? We explored that question in an article earlier this year. As we explained then, the answer to that question is that it depends—mostly on the reason you were fired. Because Ontario’s Human Rights Code (HRC) requires employers to accommodate workers’ disabilities to the point of undue…
When you’re injured in an Ontario automobile accident, Ontario law and your auto insurance policy entitle you to receive certain statutory accident benefits regardless of fault. If, as a result of your accident, you are unable to return to work for a period, those benefits include income-replacement benefits.However, in some circumstances, your insurer can require…
In 2014, the most recent year for which final statistics are available, Ontario roads were home to more than 200,000 motor vehicle accidents. Although that number seems high, it amounted to only 1.61 collisions for every million kilometres travelled in the province.Put differently, for most Ontarians, being involved in a collision is a rare event….
When you are injured in a car accident, Ontario law guarantees your right to certain benefits from your insurance carrier. These rights are spelled out in the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule (SABS) and cover much more than your immediate medical expenses or the damage to your vehicle.Ontario’s SABS also guarantees your right to income replacement…
When a rear-end car accident occurs, Ontario law starts with the presumption that the rear driver was responsible. This means that if a personal injury case goes to trial, the driver of the rear vehicle must prove he or she did not cause the rear-end accident.Among other things, this includes proving the driver maintained a…
According to Ontario traffic statistics, on average one person is injured in a distracted-driving collision every 30 minutes, and a driver using a phone is four times more likely to be involved in an accident than a driver paying full attention to the road. In 2014, distracted driving was responsible for one in every five…
According to preliminary statistics from the Ontario Ministry of Transportation, almost 500 Ontarians died as the result of 439 fatal traffic collisions during 2016. Though thankfully relatively rare, such cases are among the most tragic for everyone involved. Family and friends confront the unexpected loss of a loved one and the daunting prospect of living…
One of the first questions on many drivers’ minds following a motor vehicle accident is, “Am I at fault for the collision?” That question is important for several reasons. Who was at fault in Ontario auto accidents affects how much each person involved can recover for property damage and personal injuries. An at-fault driver can…
Personal injuries don’t just affect the person who’s injured. If you or a loved one has ever been injured in a motor vehicle accident, slip and fall, or other incident, you know the emotional and financial toll that injury takes on the injured person’s family.Ontario law recognizes the impact that injuries to a person have…
Ontario is a “no-fault” jurisdiction with respect to motor vehicle accidents. This means that your own insurance company is expected to pay you certain statutory benefits if you are injured in a car crash. Ideally, the system is supposed to promptly compensate you without the need to jump through a bunch of legal hoops. Unfortunately,…
A motor vehicle accident can leave you on the hook for significant damages, not just to injured persons but also to the vehicle’s owner. If you take out a rental car, for instance, your contract with the owner may require you to assume financial responsibility in the event of an accident. You may even be…
How many times a day do you post to your Facebook or Twitter account? For some of us, social media is as much a part of our everyday routine as brushing our teeth or driving to work. We have become accustomed to sharing every minute detail of our lives with our online friends, followers, and…
If you own a car that is involved in a Ontario Highway Traffic Act, the owner of a registered vehicle is “liable for loss or damage sustained by any person by reason of negligence in the operation of the motor vehicle.”However, an owner may escape liability if the person driving the vehicle had possession “without…
The Canadian family is changing. According to Statistics Canada, in 1991, 42% of Canadians were married, and 5.5% were cohabiting with another person as a couple. By 2017, the percentage of Canadians who were married had fallen to less than 39%, and the percentage who were cohabiting had jumped to almost 10%.Social shifts like these…
Like most Canadian provinces, Ontario follows a “loser-pays” rule in civil litigation. This means that as a general rule, the prevailing party in a lawsuit can seek reimbursement of a portion of the costs associated with the litigation from the losing party. Ultimately, if the parties fail to agree on costs, a judge makes the…
During 2016, more than 70,000 new civil lawsuits were filed in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (SCJ). The SCJ is the provincial court that hears all civil proceedings in Ontario. But, although 70,000 lawsuits may sound like a lot, that figure pales in comparison to the number of legal disputes addressed by forms of…
If you are involved in any kind of litigation or contested judicial proceeding, you want to know that the person deciding your case will act fairly and impartially according to the law. This is especially important in car accident cases in which an injured driver or passenger seeks statutory accident benefits.Statutory benefits are a key…
In Ontario, a negligent driver is not automatically liable for the “pain and suffering” or other non-pecuniary damages sustained by a car accident victim. The Ontario Insurance Act expressly states a driver is not responsible for such damages unless one of two exceptions apply: The first exception is for accidents in which the victim suffered…
According to the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), between January 1 and July 9, 2017, Ontario roads patrolled by the OPP saw 24 fatal accidents involving transport trucks. During the same period this year, that number rose to 33, representing a 38% increase. Overall, truck crashes in Ontario have accounted for 11% of all traffic collisions…
Every Ontario driver is required to carry auto insurance. Unfortunately, many drivers ignore this mandate. Or if they do have insurance, it is insufficient to compensate a motor vehicle accident victim for the full amount of his or her injuries. So what does the victim do in such circumstances?Generally, the victim would turn to his…
If you’re injured in a car accident in Ontario for which another person was at fault, you may already realize that you are entitled to Statutory Accident Benefits under your own auto insurance policy and third-party liability coverage under the at-fault driver’s policy. But what happens if you have a personal injury claim against another…
In 2014 (the most recent year for which final Ministry of Transportation), there were nearly 180,000 motor vehicle accidents involving only property damage. Of course, most of the 39,000 accidents that also caused personal injury or death included property damage as well.And that raises an interesting question that we don’t often hear addressed: What’s to…
The results of this quiz are not intended to guarantee the outcome of your potential case. It is an application we have developed to help you get a better understanding of your situation and should not be viewed as the equivalent of speaking with an attorney.
