RP Blog

By Riley Groskopf The Ontario Superior Court of Justice recently released its decision on a summary judgement motion in Walpole v. Brush, 2023 ONSC 4869. The decision addresses the liability of a landlord for a dog bite on its premises, when the premises has been rented out to tenants. FactsRead More

By Michael Kryworuk On August 15, 2023, the Ontario Superior Court released its decision in Rupani v. Willett, 2023 ONSC 3743, dismissing a motion by the defendants in a motor vehicle accident claim, seeking leave of the Court for an examination of two non-parties. History of the Litigation: This caseRead More

By Katrina Taibi Overview: The Court in Ramcharran v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance,[1] heard a threshold motion and concluded that the plaintiff’s injuries met the statutory threshold under the Insurance Act, as well as the additional requirement for unidentified and underinsured motorist coverage. Background Facts: On February 12, 2010,Read More

By Kathryn Orydzuk In 2015, the Ontario Legislature passed the Protection of Public Participation Act, S.O. 2015, c. 23, which introduced a powerful motion to counter “Gag Proceedings” or “Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation” into the Courts of Justice Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C. 43. The motions provide a defendantRead More

By Jennifer Singh In Morris et al. v. Prince et al. [1] the plaintiff was involved in a pedestrian accident, wherein he was hit by the defendant, operating a pickup truck. The plaintiff commenced an action against the defendant driver as well as the City of London. One of theRead More

By Jordan Petruska In Tsivaras v. The Cadillac Fairview Corporation, 2023 ONSC 3973, the defendant, Cadillac Fairview Corporation (“Cadillac”), brought a motion to dismiss the action for delay under subrule 24.01(1)(c) of the Rules of Civil Procedure, RRO 1990, Reg 194(“the Rules”). The court did not dismiss the action forRead More

By Samuel Pevalin, Student-at-Law Overview The Licence Appeal Tribunal (LAT) considered the issue of what constitutes an “accident” under 3(1) of the Statutory Accidents Benefits Schedule (“SABS”) in Rathbone v. Co-operators General Insurance Company, 2023 CanLII 58468. The applicant, Mr. Rathbone, sustained injuries when he ordered a coffee at a drive-thru andRead More

By Erin Crochetière The court in Gillespie v. Fraser, 2023 ONSC 4183, dismissed a defendant’s motion to set aside default judgment in circumstances where defence counsel was negligent. The facts of the case are unusual. The plaintiff’s mother was murdered by her father and he was convicted and sentenced toRead More

By Annie Levanaj In Filippova v. Cross, et al., 2023 ONSC 3777, the plaintiff, a nursing student, filed a lawsuit against her college, a long-term care home she received training from, and its employees after being removed from the nursing program in November 2020. The plaintiff commenced her original actionRead More

By Antoinette Monardo The Ontario Superior Court of Justice recently released its decision in The Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company v. Nelson, 2023 ONSC 386. This decision addresses the issues of jurisdiction and judicial review in the appraisal process. Context In October 2017, the Respondent’s home was destroyed inRead More

By Amanda Colarossi Overview In Dahi v. Certas Home and Auto Insurance Company, 2023 CanLII 32797, the applicant was involved in an accident on January 29, 2015 and sought payment of accident benefits from the respondent. The issues in dispute were whether the claimant was catastrophically impaired under Criterion 7,Read More

By Riley Groskopf The Ontario Court of Appeal recently released its decision in Jakab v. Clean Harbors Canada Inc., 2023 ONCA 377. The decision revisits the basics of contractual interpretation and the elements of negligent misrepresentation. Context The appellants, Mr. Jakab and Ontario Heavy Express Ltd. (a corporation wholly ownedRead More

By Michael Kryworuk In Interhealth Canada Limited v. O’Keefe, 2023 ONCA 368, the Ontario Court of Appeal considered an appeal by the plaintiff, Interhealth Canada Limited (“Interhealth”), of a decision by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. While the case was appealed on both substantive and procedural grounds, this blogRead More

By Kathryn Orydzuk In the recent decision in John Howard Society of Peel-Halton-Dufferin v. Pennock et al, 2023 ONSC 2839, released on May 11, 2023, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled on a motion for default judgment by the plaintiffs, and in the alternative, seeking judgment on the termsRead More

By Annie Levanaj The recent decision of the Court in Delanty v. Hogan, 2023 ONSC 2501, demonstrates that parties are expected to move actions forward and respond promptly when dealing with reconsiderations of WSIAT decisions. Background This decision arose from a motor vehicle accident. The plaintiffs were Ms. Delanty, aRead More

By Erin Crochetière The Court of Appeal in Wong v. Lui, 2023 ONCA 272, considered the applicability of the 15 year ultimate limitation period to claims advanced by a plaintiff who was a minor, but did not yet have a cause of action, during the running of the 15 yearRead More

By Jennifer Singh In Syed v. Security National Insurance Company [1], the LAT dismissed the applicant’s application and awarded the respondent, Security National Insurance Company, $2,000.00 in costs. Motions can be a useful tool at the LAT, but with finite resources frivolous motions constitute a hindrance. The awarding of costsRead More

By Riley Groskopf The Ontario Superior Court of Justice recently released its new certification decision in Nordik Windows Inc. v. Aviva Insurance Co., 2023 ONSC 1804. The decision of Justice Morgan was the second certification motion for the proposed class action, after Justice Belobaba issued an Order that a newRead More

By Michael Kryworuk In Shillington v. Stover, 2023 ONSC 1463, Regional Senior Justice C. Macleod considered a motion by one of the defendants, Million Dollar Round Table (“MRDT”), to strike the statement of claim against it as disclosing no cause of action under Rule 21.01(1)(b) of the Rules of CivilRead More

By Michael Brown An endorsement from a recent motion held in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice before McGraw AJ has provided an interesting look at the use of misnomers in pleadings and the doctrine of discoverability as it relates to unidentifiable parties. In Abramov v. Doe,[1] the Plaintiff broughtRead More

By Meryl Rodrigues In the recent decision of Sinclair v. Amex Canada Inc.[i], the Ontario Court of Appeal reaffirmed the principles in the oft-cited jurisdictional decision of Van Breda[ii], and articulated a (perhaps disputable) framework for their application in a given case, following the appeal of three Italian companies fromRead More

By Kathryn Orydzuk In the recent decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal, Haudenosaunee Development Institute v. Metrolinx, 2023 ONCA 122, the Court considered whether an extension of an Order granting interim injunctive relief was appropriate, in the most recent skirmish in the battle over the removal of 11 treesRead More

By Jennifer Singh In Varriano v. Allstate Insurance Company of Canada [1], the Court of Appeal overturned a Divisional Court decision [2] and reinstated the decision of the LAT adjudicator which found that the insurer’s letter denying IRBs complied with the legislative requirements of 37(4) of the SABS, even thoughRead More

By Franz Lopez In Black & MacDonald Limited v Eiffage Innovative Canada Inc.,[1] the Ontario Court of Appeal addressed an appeal of a lower court’s decision to stay two proceedings related to the construction of the Alex Fraser Bridge crossing over the Fraser River in Delta, British Columbia (the “Project”)Read More

By Erin Crochetière In Levac v. James,[1] the Court of Appeal for Ontario considered an appeal regarding the standard of care and causation in a class action alleging breach of applicable Infection Prevention and Control (“IPAC”) best practices causing infection. In the underlying class action, the plaintiffs alleged that theRead More

By Annie Levanaj The recent decision in Gillespie v. Fraser, 2023 ONSC 537 dealt with the plaintiff’s motion for default judgment against the defendant, Diana Tilbert, following her failure to deliver a Statement of Defence within the prescribed time. In this decision, the court summarizes the applicable criteria for awardingRead More

In Henry v. Zaitlen, 2022 ONSC 7259, the court considered the applicable rate of prejudgment interest (“PJI”). In the Courts of Justice Act, the PJI rate for non-pecuniary loss is 5% per year.  However, in MacLeod v. Marshall, 2019 ONCA 892, the Court of Appeal held that the trial judgeRead More

By Riley Groskopf The License Appeal Tribunal (“LAT”) recently released its reconsideration decision in Iravani-Fard v. Economical Insurance, 2022 CanLII 109480. The decision addresses the consequences of a claimant’s failure to attend insurer examinations, and recognizes the rights granted to insurers by the SABS. Facts at issue The claimant wasRead More