Category: Owner Occupier Liability

Injuries in Municipal Parks and Other Public Spaces – Who is Liable?

Playgrounds, parks and schoolyards are important and well-used features of most communities, providing spaces for children and families to engage in a variety of outdoor activities, during both winter and summer. Most of the time, these activities simply bring fun and enjoyment. However, sometimes accidents occur and someone is injured. If that happens to you or a loved one, you may wonder who could bear liability.

How common are playground injuries?

Some data is available to help understand the prevalence of injuries occurring in parks and playgrounds. One source suggests that as many as 20,000 to 30,000 children in Canada are treated in hospital emergency departments for playground injuries each year. Continue reading

Can you recover damages for a slip and fall on an icy sidewalk?

Walking on city sidewalks in Alberta in the winter and colder spring months can be treacherous. Many homeowners neglect to shovel the snow on city sidewalks in front of their homes following a snowfall, even though city and town bylaws require them to do so. In Edmonton, the city bylaw requires that a homeowner shovel the city sidewalk that runs alongside their property within 48 hours of the snowfall – in Calgary, the requirement is within 24 hours. Even if a homeowner shovels the city sidewalk, and perhaps also sands or salts, the sidewalk can remain treacherous, and pedestrians can slip and fall. Continue reading