13/12/2023 – Jurisdiction Ontario
Part 84 published on 01/12/2023
Appeal Dismissed. Condominium corporation’s snow removal contractor found negligent
The Plaintiff asserted a claim against the condominium corporation and the corporation’s snow removal contractor for injuries suffered as a result of a slip and fall on the condominium property. The lower Court found both defendants jointly liable. [See Condo Cases Across Canada, Part 77, March 2022.]
The snow removal contractor appealed. The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal. The Court of Appeal said:
Overall, I am not satisfied that the trial judge misapplied the appropriate standard of care. The trial judge correctly framed the issue as whether Exact Post applied the road salt to the roadway of the condominium in a sufficiently timely way to “avoid or mitigate the formation of icy conditions that would put the residents at risk of injury through slipping and falling.” The trial judge focused on the lag between the clearing of snow by Mr. Newman and the subsequent application of the road salt by Mr. Mitchell. Put another way, the trial judge’s focus in his reasons was not about what time Exact Post should have arrived at the condominium – it was about the timing of the application of the road salt after plowing was completed. The trial judge found that salt was applied about 3.5 hours after Mr. Newman had arrived, and 1.5 hours after the respondent’s fall. It was clearly open to him to find that this was neither timely nor appropriate.
Musa v. Carleton Condominium Corporation No. 255, 2023 ONCA 605