You fell on an icy walkway outside a plaza in February, broke your wrist, and spent the following weeks focused on surgery and recovery. In April a friend suggests you might have a claim. By then, in Ontario, you may already have lost it. Slip and fall claims carry some of the shortest notice deadlines in personal injury law, and they are almost never explained to the injured person at the time.
The general rule: two years
Under the Limitations Act, 2002, a lawsuit for personal injury must generally be started within two years of the day the claim was discovered, which for most falls is the day of the fall. That is the deadline most people have heard of. It is not the one that catches them.
Snow and ice: 60 days written notice
Since January 2021, the Occupiers’ Liability Act has required anyone injured because of snow or ice on private property to give written notice of the claim within 60 days of the fall. The notice must go to the occupier of the property or to the contractor hired to clear snow and ice, and it must state the date, time and location of the incident. It has to be served personally or by registered mail.
Miss the 60 days and the claim is barred, subject to two exceptions. The first is where the fall caused death. The second is where a judge is satisfied that there was a reasonable excuse for the delay and the defendant was not prejudiced by it. Courts have shown some flexibility on what counts as a reasonable excuse, but relying on that flexibility is a poor substitute for sending the notice on time.
The 60-day rule applies to parking lots, walkways, storefronts, condominium common areas, rental property and any other premises where an occupier or snow removal contractor was responsible. It does not apply to falls caused by something other than snow or ice, such as a broken step or a wet floor, which remain governed by the two-year period.
Municipal property: 10 days
If you fell on a public sidewalk, road or other property maintained by a municipality, the window is shorter still. The Municipal Act and, in Toronto, the City of Toronto Act require written notice to the municipality within 10 days of the injury. The same exceptions apply: death, or a reasonable excuse combined with no prejudice to the municipality.
There is a second hurdle for municipal sidewalk claims involving snow or ice. The injured person must prove gross negligence, a considerably higher standard than the ordinary negligence that applies to private occupiers. Ten days of notice plus a gross negligence test means these claims have to be assessed quickly and realistically.
Why the deadlines exist, and why they bite
The rationale is evidence. Ice melts, snow is cleared, and maintenance records are overwritten. Early notice gives the occupier a chance to preserve what it has. The practical consequence for the injured person is that a claim can be extinguished before they have finished the first phase of medical treatment, at a point when nobody has yet mentioned lawyers.
What to do in the first days after a fall
Whatever the eventual claim looks like, the following steps protect it:
- Photograph the exact spot, the surface conditions and your footwear, on the day if at all possible.
- Report the fall to the property owner, manager or store and ask for a copy of any incident report.
- Get names and contact details of anyone who saw you fall or saw the conditions.
- See a doctor the same day and describe how the fall happened.
- Note the weather over the preceding 24 hours. Environment Canada records can be obtained later, but your own contemporaneous note is useful.
- Identify who occupies the property and who clears the snow. The notice must reach the right party.
- Send written notice within the applicable window, keeping proof of delivery.
What the claim has to prove
Notice is only the gateway. To succeed, an injured person must show that the occupier failed to take reasonable care to keep the premises safe, or that the municipality was grossly negligent in its maintenance. Maintenance logs, snow removal contracts, weather data and the occupier’s own inspection records are the core of the evidence. Occupiers will also argue contributory negligence: that the injured person was not paying attention, wore inappropriate footwear, or chose an obviously dangerous route. These arguments do not defeat a claim, but they can reduce it.
Our slip and fall injuries and occupiers’ liability pages describe the kinds of cases we handle and how liability is established.
Do not wait to find out which deadline applies
Because the notice period depends on where you fell and what caused it, the safest course is to get advice within days, not weeks. If you have been injured in a fall anywhere in Ontario, book a consultation with Kabir & Alam Lawyers. We can identify the correct party, serve the notice properly, and preserve the evidence while it still exists.