In the Spring of 2019 MPP Norm Miller introduced Bill 118: The Occupiers’ Liability Amendment Act, 2020. Thanks to the hard work of Landscape Ontario and its members, this Private Member’s Bill passed into law on December 8th. These changes have been proclaimed and are now in full effect!
What the Bill does:
The Bill amends the Occupiers’ Liability Act to reduce the time period that those who slip and fall can sue the operator for a personal injury claim from two years to 60 days. It also stipulates what is considered notice to the owner or independent contractor and the obligations of the owner or contractor to notify the other parties.
These are important steps in helping to alleviate the insurance crisis as it provides a degree of certainty to insurers that slip and fall claims will not come out of the woodwork two years down the road. This also means that operators will be more likely to have accurate logs of who was working when the incident took place, information about the property condition, and a relationship with the current property owner for notification purposes.
What are the notification obligations:
If there has been damage to a person or property notification must be personally served on or delivered by registered mail to the occupier (owner/landlord) or the independent contractor employed by the occupier to remove snow or ice on the premises during the relevant period in which the injury occurred within 60 days. The party that receives the notification (either the occupier or contractor) must serve a copy of the notice on or send notice by registered mail to the other party (occupier or contractor).
The only exceptions to these rules are if cause can be demonstrated that would prevent notification in the time period or manner stipulated.
The updated Act can be found through the link below for further reference
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