The old adage that police have the role to “protect and serve” citizens is generally the standard that law enforcement and police officers are held to. While the vast majority of the time police do in fact “protect and serve” the residents of Ontario, there are sometimes unfortunate incidents where citizens are injured at the…
The birth of a child is one of the most joyous occasions in any family’s life. Parents plan for the arrival of their new baby with great happiness. Unfortunately, sometimes the joy of the arrival of a new baby is interrupted by an injury to a baby that occurs in the process of delivery. The…
The roar of the roller coasters… the smell of the popcorn and cotton candy and the sounds of screams billowing from the rides. Sounds like these coming from amusement parks have long given residents of Ontario great joy and tons of family memories. Amusement parks have been a great family pastime for years. However, not…
It’s a jungle out there. If you’re in Ottawa — whether you live here or you’re just passing through — it’s good to know how to stay safe. This guide provides essential information you need for safety awareness on the streets, and where to go if you’re injured.Awareness Starts on the Streets of OttawaSafety comes…
If you have been injured in an accident and are set to receive a personal injury settlement or disability benefits, one of the important questions that always comes to mind is how the benefits will be taxed. Understanding how such payments impact an individual’s tax liability is critical to determining whether a settlement and/or disability…
In most car accidents, it is not too difficult to determine liability. If a driver runs a red light, for example, and hits another car in the intersection, it is pretty clear who is at fault. There are cases involving more unusual fact patterns that require courts to answer somewhat trickier legal questions.McKay v. Park:…
Unlike some other Canadian provinces, in Ontario, jury trials are still regularly used in civil cases such as personal injury lawsuits. Are juries really fair to accident victims? In a 2016 case, Mandel v. Fakhim, an Ontario Superior Court judge expressed the opinion that “jury trials in civil cases seem to exist in Ontario solely…
Following a car accident, there are two methods of receiving compensation for your injuries under Ontario law. The first is by filing a claim with your own insurance company, which is obligated to pay certain “no-fault” benefits under Ontario’s Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule(SABS). The second is by filing a personal injury lawsuit against any third…
Following a motor vehicle accident, your insurance company is expected to pay you certain income replacement benefits (IRB) under Ontario’s Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule. IRB does not replace all of an accident victim’s pre-accident income. Rather, it provides payments of up to 70% of the victim’s gross weekly income, although no more than $400 per…
Property owners, such as companies that own apartment buildings, have a duty under Ontario law to keep their premises in safe condition. This means, among other things, that the property owner needs to maintain a reasonable schedule of safety inspections to identify and correct any potential hazards that might injure a tenant or lawful visitor…
A slip-and-fall accident may be the fault of multiple parties. If your accident occurs in a shopping centre, for example, liability might ultimately fall on the owner of the premises, an individual store that rents space, or even a contractor who performed shoddy maintenance work. Of course, when there are multiple parties who may be…
When you read about a motor vehicle accident in the press, you may be tempted to jump to conclusions about who is responsible. For instance, let us say you read that two cars collided in an intersection. According to the initial reports, one of the drivers had been drinking and was possibly impaired. You might…
If you suffer a catastrophic injury in a motor vehicle accident, you may be legally disabled and therefore unable to return to work. Aside from any benefits you recover under your auto insurance policy, or from the negligent driver in a personal injury lawsuit, you may also qualify for other benefits, such as long-term disability…
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…
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…
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…
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 a lawyer.
