Occupiers' Liability Claims

Injured on Someone Else's Property? We Can Help.

Have you been injured on someone else’s property? Whether you slipped on ice outside a grocery store, tripped over a dangerous hazard in a shopping plaza, or were injured by some other unsafe condition, you may be entitled to compensation. This page explains how occupiers’ liability claims work in Ontario, what you must prove to succeed, the compensation you may be entitled to recover, and the steps you should take after an accident. It also answers many of the questions our clients commonly ask about occupiers’ liability claims.

Do I have a claim if I have been injured on someone else’s property?

Yes.

The Occupiers’ Liability Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. O.2 (“the Act”), is the key piece of legislation that governs claims against occupiers.

An occupier includes an owner of the property as well as any person who has physical possession or responsibility for the condition of the property, such as a property manager.

If you have been injured on someone else’s property, you may have a claim against the “occupier” of that property.

Under the Act, each occupier must take reasonable care in the circumstances to keep you safe while on their property.

If an occupier fails to take reasonable care to keep you safe and as a result causes you injury, then you may have a claim against the occupier for any damages arising from your injury.

What kinds of property are subject to the Occupiers Liability Act?

Such claims apply to businesses with physical locations that permit you entry to shop or purchase services such as:

Bars or taverns
Grocery and retail stores
Professional offices
Restaurants
Convenience stores
Plazas
Gyms
City boulevards that are obstructed by internet cables, in which case you may have a claim against the owner of the cable

The above is not an all-inclusive list. The Occupiers Liability Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. O.2 applies to essentially any location in which you are permitted entry to carry on an activity.

Such claims may also be brought against homeowners assuming you have been invited to the residence and are not a trespasser.

Who do I bring my claim against?

You will typically advance a claim against the owner of a property and as well the person or company responsible for carrying on maintenance at the property or who was responsible for addressing the defect that caused your injury.

For example, if you slip and fall on ice at a store entrance, you should bring a claim against the owner of the store as well as the winter maintenance contractor responsible for salting the entrance, if applicable.

If you trip and fall in a plaza, you should bring a claim against the owner of the plaza as well as the property manager responsible for inspecting and correcting such hazards.

A knowledgeable personal injury lawyer will identify the proper defendants to your claim.

What if I fall on city property?

The only entity that you cannot sue pursuant to the Occupiers’ Liability Act is a municipality.

Each municipality has its own set of laws that govern claims against a town or city. As such, if you are injured on city property, you will unlikely be able to bring a claim under the Occupiers' Liability Act against the city.

However, if you are injured by an object that has been left on city property by another person or business, then you can still bring a claim against that person or business under the Occupiers' Liability Act. An example of this could be exposed internet cables on a city boulevard. In that case, you would bring the claim against the owner of the cables. You may also claim against the contractor or person responsible for unearthing those cables, assuming this is a different person from the owner.

Common Examples of Occupiers' Liability Act claims

Some common examples of occupiers' liability claims include:

Slip and falls on ice located in a store parking lot or entrance;
Slip and falls on ice at someone’s home;
Slip and fall on slippery substances in a store;
Injury sustained due to a staircase collapsing in someone’s home or at a business;
Trip and fall on uneven pavement or a pothole in a plaza;
Trip and fall over a low hanging wire or other item;
Sustaining injuries as a result of overcrowding in a bar or nightclub;
Sustaining injuries at a trampoline park;
Sustaining injuries due to a violent altercation in a nightclub.

The above is not an exhaustive list of the types of claims that can be advanced under the Occupiers' Liability Act. If you have been injured on someone else’s property due to a hazardous or dangerous condition on the property or an activity carried on at the property, then you will likely be able to advance a claim under the Act.

Will my case be successful?

To successfully pursue a claim, you must prove the following:

The defendant occupier owed you a duty of care. This is often non-controversial as section 3 of the Occupiers' Liability Act indicates that occupiers owe individuals invited on to their property a duty of care

The defendant breached the standard of care. An occupier owes a duty to take “reasonable” care in the circumstances. Whether an occupier took reasonable care is highly fact specific. It is not enough to simply sustain an injury on someone’s property to successfully bring a claim. You must prove that there was a defect on the property and that the occupier failed to take reasonable care to protect you from that defect. An obvious example of a breach of the standard of care is where the owner of a large grocery store fails to take any steps to salt the parking lot despite the obvious accumulation of ice during the winter months.

The defendant’s breach of the standard of care CAUSED your injury and damages. You must be able to prove that the defendant’s failure to take reasonable care caused you to sustain an injury and sustain damages as a result. For example, if an individual slips and falls in an icy parking lot, then arguably the property owner’s failure to salt ice during the winter (breach of the standard of care) caused the individual to slip and fall and break their ankle. If they had to miss work due to their ankle injury, they would be able to claim for a loss of income, general damages for pain and suffering, cost of medical care, and possibly for the cost of housekeeping and home maintenance assistance.

The damages are not too remote. The type of harm suffered by the plaintiff has to be a reasonably foreseeable consequence of the defendant’s breach of the standard of care. An occupier will not be responsible for an extremely abnormal or bizarre chain of events that leads to an injury. For example, an occupier who fails to salt their driveway will be liable for damages sustained by an individual who slips and falls and breaks their arm in the driveway, as this is a foreseeable consequence of failing to salt one’s driveway. However, if that same individual is then taken to hospital by an intoxicated ambulance driver who swerves off the road and causes additional injury, then the occupier may not be liable for the additional injury.

What types of compensation can I claim?

You can claim the following types of compensation, which are referred to as the heads of damages:

General damages for pain and suffering
Loss of income
Cost of medical or rehabilitation treatment
Cost of housekeeping and home maintenance assistance.

With respect to general damages for pain and suffering, it is important to note that there is a limit on how much you can claim. A $100,000 cap was imposed in 1978 by the Supreme Court of Canada. Adjusted for inflation, this is approximately $461,748.63 as of 2026. This figure is reserved for the most severe injuries such as severe head injuries with paraplegia or worse. Multi-million-dollar awards for pain and suffering, which on occasion occurs in the United States, are simply not a reality in Ontario.

You must prove damages. This is often done by producing medical records and as well retaining medical experts to comment on the severity of your injuries, the impact of these upon your ability to work, whether you will need certain medical treatment, and whether you will need assistance with housekeeping.

You will also need to retain an accounting expert to calculate your loss of income claim, the cost of future care, and the cost of housekeeping and home maintenance, if applicable.

The strength of your claim is largely dependent upon the opinions of these medical specialists and accounting experts.

Are there any deadlines?

For slip and fall on ice claims, you must notify the occupier of your intention to commence a lawsuit within 60 days of the date of your fall. Failing to notify the occupier of your claim within this timeframe may result in your claim being barred. This deadline only applies to slip and fall on ice claims.

However, as a practical matter, it is prudent to place occupiers on notice of a claim as soon as possible and request that they preserve all evidence, including video footage. That way, if the occupier subsequently loses certain evidence, you may argue that the occupier lost crucial evidence despite being aware of a lawsuit. This may result in an “adverse inference” being made against the occupier. This means that a judge or jury may find that the evidence was not made available because it was unhelpful to the occupier and helpful to the plaintiff’s case.

For all claims, you must file a statement of claim (e.g., commence a lawsuit) within two years of the date you discovered your claim. The date you discovered your claim is often on the date you sustained an injury on the occupier's premises.

What should I do after being injured on someone’s property?

After being injured on someone’s property, you should do the following:

Take photos of the hazard
Report the incident to someone in charge of the property
Get witness names
Preserve footwear
Do not give statements before consulting with a lawyer
Take photos of video cameras
Pursue all appropriate medical care.

If your injuries prevent you from doing the above, a personal injury lawyer will investigate and attempt to obtain as much of this information as possible.

Finally, you should also accurately report the incident to all subsequent medical specialists and assessors. Defence counsel scour medical records for inconsistent reporting of the incident in an effort to undermine your credibility as to how the incident occurred.

How do I prove the occupier was negligent?

To prove the occupier was negligent, you must obtain evidence proving that the occupier failed to take reasonable care to keep you safe from harm.

Normally, an occupier will be found to have failed to take reasonable care (e.g., negligent) where they have had prior knowledge of a hazard and failed to take measures to correct the hazard. However, prior knowledge of a hazard is not a prerequisite to establishing a claim against an occupier. An occupier who fails to discover a hazard on their property may also be found negligent if the occupier did not have any system of inspection in place that likely would have enabled them to discover the hazard. Again, whether an occupier is negligent depends on the facts of each case.

The types of evidence relevant to determining an occupiers’ negligence depend on the facts and complexity of a particular case but often includes:

Surveillance footage
Maintenance logs
Weather reports
Inspection schedules
Witness statements
Photographs
Engineering evidence
Examination under oath of the defendant occupier(s)
Correspondence between occupiers discussing the hazard

You will need to retain a personal injury lawyer to gather all of the relevant evidence and in some cases, retain an engineering expert to provide an opinion in the case.

Will I be found partially at fault for my injury? What happens then?

You will be found partially at fault for your own injury if you did something unreasonable that contributed to the incident that caused your injury. This is known as the defence of contributory negligence, in which a plaintiff is held partially responsible for their own injury. Where the doctrine applies, the trier of fact (a judge or jury) will determine your proportion of fault (e.g., 20%) and deduct this proportion from your award for damages.

For example, an individual who wears high heels in a snowstorm and subsequently slips and falls on ice may be held contributorily negligent for not wearing appropriate footwear in a snowstorm. The trier of fact might assess their degree of fault in the range of 10-15%. Their total award for damages would be reduced by 10-15% to reflect the degree to which they were at fault for their own injury.

Another common example is where an individual is distracted by their cellphone, not watching where they are going, and consequently trips and falls over a pothole. In these circumstances, a trier of fact will likely find the individual contributorily negligent and will reduce damages accordingly.

By contrast, an individual who is walking down a staircase in a friend’s home which collapses beneath them and causes them injury will not be held contributorily negligent. However, this may change if the individual was jumping down the stairs or was aware of a defect with the staircase and nevertheless proceeded to walk down them.

The defendant occupier must prove the defence of contributory negligence and must establish that you did something unreasonably which contributed to your own injury. Whether the defence of contributory negligence applies to your case, and the degree to which it will reduce your award for damages, is highly fact specific. For more information on the defence of contributory negligence, see Hillier & Hillier’s article by clicking here.

Frequently asked questions:

Q. Do I have a case if there was no warning sign?

A. You likely have an even stronger case if there was no warning sign. If there was a warning sign alerting you to a hazard, and you disregarded that warning, the defence of contributory negligence may apply to reduce the value of your case. As well, the absence of a warning sign is one factor suggesting that the occupier failed to take reasonable care. If there was a warning sign, you may still have a case as this is only one factor in considering whether an occupier took reasonable care to keep you safe. In some circumstances, the presence of a warning sign, without more, may not result in a finding the occupier met the standard of care.

Q. What if I fell because of ice?

A. If you slipped and fell on ice then you may have a claim against the occupier of the property where you fell. You should take photographs of the ice after your fall and report the incident to someone in charge at the property if you are able to do so. You should also preserve your footwear. You should hire a lawyer promptly as you have 60 days from the date of your fall to send written correspondence to an occupier advising of your intention to commence a legal claim. Your lawyer will gather evidence relevant to the issues of liability and damages.

Q. What if I was partly at fault?

A. If you were partly at fault, then the defence of contributory negligence will apply to reduce your award for damages by whatever percentage you were found to be at fault.

Q. Can I sue if I fell at work?

A. This is a good question. If you fell at work while in the course of your employment, you will not be able to sue your employer or another worker assuming you work in an industry that has mandatory WSIB coverage. In this event, you may not be able to proceed with a claim against your employer, who might be the owner of the building and occupier. However, you may still be able to commence a claim against a third-party maintenance contractor who was responsible for fixing the hazard that caused your fall.

Claims arising from workplace accidents can be significantly more complicated because the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act may affect your right to bring a lawsuit. We have experience responding to applications brought by defence insurers seeking to bar our clients’ claims and can advise you whether you have the right to pursue compensation outside of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act. You can read a published decision involving Hillier & Hillier in which the insurer’s application to bar our client’s right to sue was dismissed (Decision No. 919/23, 2023 ONWSIAT 1672).

Q. What if there were no witnesses?

A. If there were no witnesses, then you can still rely on other forms of evidence to establish your claim such as photographs, surveillance, your own evidence, and incident reports. In this case it is even more important to obtain these other types of evidence.

Q. How much is my claim worth?

A. This depends entirely on the individual facts of your case. As mentioned above, depending on the severity of your injuries, you can claim general damages for pain and suffering up to approximately $461,000 as of 2026.

You can also claim a loss of income, future care costs, and cost of housekeeping and home maintenance assistance, but will need to obtain medical and accounting evidence to support and calculate the value of these heads of damages. For more information on assessing the value of your claim, click here to review an article discussing the heads of damages in the motor vehicle context, which is still relevant to the heads of damages in occupiers’ liability cases.

Q. Do most slip and fall cases settle?

A. Yes, most slip and fall cases do settle. In fact, over 90% of cases settle. Whether your case will settle is however dependent on the facts of your case.

Q. Can I sue if I slipped on black ice?

A. Yes, but you will still need to establish the following elements of a claim:

The defendant occupier owed you a duty of care;
The defendant occupier breached the required standard of care (e.g., failed to take reasonable care to keep you safe - in other words was negligent);
The defendant’s negligence caused your damages;
The damages claimed are not too remote.

In fact, slipping on black ice, which is difficult to see, actually reduces the likelihood that the defence of contributory negligence will apply. After all, if you were unable to see the black ice, then you are less likely to be held accountable for walking over it than if you could see the ice.

Q. Can I sue a grocery store?

A. Yes, you can sue the occupier of a grocery store, which often includes the owner and any contractor who is responsible for maintenance.

Q. What if I wasn't looking where I was going?

A. In this case, the defence of contributory negligence will apply to hold you partially accountable for your injuries. Your award for damages will be reduced by the percentage at which you are found to have been at fault.

Q. What if I was wearing improper footwear?

For this reason, it is important to preserve footwear as this is relevant to the issue of contributory negligence. Failure to preserve the footwear you were wearing at the time of your fall may result in an adverse inference being made against you. This means that the trier of fact may assume that you did not preserve the footwear because it was not appropriate footwear and would not help your case.

Q. What if the property owner says they salted?

A. Occupiers are not held to a standard of perfection, but reasonableness. If a property owner recently salted their property and missed a small area of their large commercial property, this may increase the difficulty in establishing the property owner was negligent compared to if the property owner did not salt at all.

However, you will still need to retain a lawyer who will seek maintenance logs and video surveillance which may contradict the property owner’s claim that they salted.

Q. What if I fell in a parking lot?

A. You will need to commence a claim against the occupier of the parking lot, which will include the owner of the property and the contractor responsible for maintaining the property.

Q. Can I sue my landlord?

A. Yes, if your landlord was an owner of the property and had control of the property.

In some situations, a landlord may not be held accountable. For example, if a landlord leased commercial premises to a tenant, who then opened a bar, and the tenant was responsible for all aspects of maintenance, and the landlord never appeared at the property, the claim will need to be brought against the tenant.

Q. Can I sue a condominium?

A. Yes, you can sue a condominium corporation that owned the property where you fell.

Q. How long will my case take?

A. The length a case takes to proceed to trial is often 3-5 years, sometimes more. It may settle any time before this however, depending on the facts of the case.

Q. What evidence should I preserve?

A. You should preserve:

Footwear
Clothes you were wearing
Photographs
Witness information
Photographs of video cameras that might have captured the incident

Q. What if I slipped at night?

A. You may still have a claim against the occupier, this is particularly true if the occupier failed to provide adequate lighting at nighttime.

Why Hillier & Hillier?

Ava Hillier and Eddie Wiley have represented many clients who have injured themselves on another person’s property and have pursued all types of occupiers’ liability claims ranging in complexity from simple to extremely complicated. They have extensive experience in gathering relevant evidence and consulting with engineering and medical experts to build cases for their clients. Call Hillier & Hillier at 905 453 8636 for a FREE CONSULTATION or click here to submit an online request for a consultation.