Occupier’s Liability
Anyone who controls a property owes a duty to keep it reasonably safe. We act for people injured on premises and deal with the notice requirements that apply.
When you enter a store, an apartment building, a restaurant, a parking garage, or a friend’s home, you are entitled to expect that the people in control of the property have taken reasonable care to keep it safe. When they have not, and you are injured as a result, Ontario law gives you a remedy.
At Kabir & Alam, we represent people injured on someone else’s property, from falls and structural failures to assaults that adequate security should have prevented.
What the law requires
Ontario’s Occupiers’ Liability Act places a duty on every occupier of premises to take reasonable care to see that people on the property are reasonably safe. An “occupier” is anyone with control over the property or the activities on it. That can include:
- Property owners and landlords
- Commercial tenants such as stores and restaurants
- Property management companies
- Condominium corporations
- Snow removal, cleaning, and security contractors
- Municipalities and other public bodies
The duty is one of reasonable care, not perfection. Whether an occupier met it depends on what the hazard was, how foreseeable it was, how long it existed, and what steps a reasonable occupier would have taken to address it.
Types of claims
- Slips, trips, and falls (see our Slip and Fall Injuries page)
- Falling objects, collapsing structures, and unsafe balconies or railings
- Inadequate lighting or security leading to assault or robbery
- Injuries in elevators, escalators, and parking garages
- Swimming pool and recreational facility injuries
- Injuries to tenants in poorly maintained rental buildings
Notice and time limits
Claims against municipalities carry very short written notice requirements, and injuries caused by snow or ice on private property also require prompt written notice to the occupier. Beyond those notices, a lawsuit generally must be started within two years of the injury. If you have been hurt on someone else’s property, contact us early so that no deadline is missed.
Building the case
Occupier’s liability claims are won on evidence about the condition of the property and what the occupier knew or should have known. We obtain inspection and maintenance records, incident reports, prior complaints, contracts with third-party service providers, and surveillance footage, and we retain engineers and other experts where the facts call for it.
How we can help
If you were injured on someone else’s property, we can help you:
- Identify every occupier who may share responsibility
- Send the required notices and start the claim in time
- Preserve the evidence before it disappears
- Document your injuries and financial losses
- Negotiate a fair settlement, or take the case to trial
You pay no legal fees unless we recover money for you. Our maximum contingency fee percentage is 33% of the amount recovered; the exact percentage and how it is calculated are set out in the Law Society of Ontario standard form contingency fee agreement, which we review with you before you sign anything. Our personal injury practice is led by Muniza Kabir, Managing Partner.
Injured on someone else’s property? Contact us for a free consultation.
The information on this page is general in nature and is not legal advice. Limitation periods and notice requirements apply to injury claims and can be short. For advice about your own situation, please contact us to arrange a consultation.