Ontario’s 60-Day Notice for Snow and Ice Slip-and-Fall Claims: What Contractors Need on File

What section 6.1 says, in its own words

Section 6.1 of the Occupiers’ Liability Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. O.2, was added by 2020, c. 33, s. 1, which e-Laws shows in force on January 29, 2021. The quotes below are from the current consolidated text on e-Laws.

• Written notice within 60 days. “No action shall be brought for the recovery of damages for personal injury caused by snow or ice against a person or persons listed in subsection (2) unless, within 60 days after the occurrence of the injury, written notice of the claim, including the date, time and location of the occurrence, has been personally served on or sent by registered mail to at least one person listed in subsection (2).” (s. 6.1(1))
• Who it can be given to. The persons listed in subsection (2) are “An occupier.” and “An independent contractor employed by the occupier to remove snow or ice on the premises during the relevant period in which the injury occurred.” (s. 6.1(2))
• What it must contain, and how it is served. It is “written notice of the claim, including the date, time and location of the occurrence”, and it is “personally served on or sent by registered mail to at least one person listed in subsection (2)” (s. 6.1(1)).
• An occupier that receives it passes it on. It “shall personally serve a copy of the notice on, or send the notice by registered mail to,” “any occupiers of the premises during the relevant period in which the injury occurred” and “any independent contractor employed by the occupier to remove snow or ice on the premises during the relevant period in which the injury occurred” (s. 6.1(3)).
• A contractor that receives it passes it on. “An independent contractor employed by an occupier to remove snow or ice on the premises that receives a notice under subsection (1) shall personally serve a copy of the notice on, or send the notice by registered mail to, the occupier that employed the independent contractor.” (s. 6.1(4))
• Death. “Failure to give notice in accordance with subsection (1) is not a bar to the action in the case of the death of the injured person as a result of the injury.” (s. 6.1(5))
• Reasonable excuse, and no prejudice to the defence. “Failure to give notice in accordance with subsection (1) or insufficiency of the notice is not a bar to the action if a judge finds that there is reasonable excuse for the want or the insufficiency of the notice and that the defendant is not prejudiced in its defence.” (s. 6.1(6))
• Notice to one counts for all. “For greater certainty, the limitation on bringing actions after the 60-day period set out in subsection (1) no longer applies if notice is provided in accordance with that subsection to any person listed in subsection (2), even if the action is to be brought against a person that did not originally receive the notice.” (s. 6.1(7))

What it changes for a contractor

Section 6.1 lets the notice come straight to you. The contractor is one of the persons it can be served on: “An independent contractor employed by the occupier to remove snow or ice on the premises during the relevant period in which the injury occurred” (s. 6.1(2)). If it reaches you, you “shall personally serve a copy of the notice on, or send the notice by registered mail to, the occupier that employed the independent contractor” (s. 6.1(4)). If it reaches the occupier, the occupier has to do the same for the contractor it employed (s. 6.1(3)). And notice given to any person listed in subsection (2) counts even against a person that “did not originally receive the notice” (s. 6.1(7)).

Either way, a notice that names a date, a time and a place turns a vague complaint into a precise question: was this site serviced before that time, what was put down, and what did the surface look like? That question can come weeks after the storm, when the snow has melted and the crew has moved on to dozens of other nights.

A record made during the visit can answer it. Notes rebuilt from memory after a notice arrives, or an invoice line that says “salted, 12 visits”, usually cannot, and records that look assembled after the fact invite the argument that they were. You cannot go back and add the time, the position of the phone or a photo to a night that has passed.

What to keep for every visit

Keep these for every visit to every site, from the first storm:

1. Arrival and finish times — when the crew started and finished at that site.
2. Where the crew was — a GPS position at the start and finish, so the time is tied to the property.
3. Photos taken on site — each with the time and place it was taken, showing the surfaces you service.
4. Material put down — the product and the amount at that site, for that visit.
5. Who was there — the crew on the visit.
6. The weather — what was falling and when, from a documented source such as Environment and Climate Change Canada station data.
7. The contract — the trigger depth and exactly which surfaces you are responsible for, so a notice about a surface you never agreed to service can be answered from the paperwork.

When a notice arrives

1. Write down the day it reached you and how it came (by hand, by registered mail).
2. Note the date, time and location the notice names.
3. If you are the contractor and the notice came to you, personally serve a copy on, or send it by registered mail to, the occupier that employed you (s. 6.1(4)). If you are the occupier, do the same for the contractor you employed to remove snow or ice on the premises during the relevant period in which the injury occurred, and for any other occupiers of the premises during that period (s. 6.1(3)).
4. Tell your insurer, following the notice terms in your policy.
5. Pull every visit at that site for the days around the date named: times, GPS, photos, material and crew.
6. Leave the original records as they are. Add notes if you need to, but never edit what was recorded on the night.
7. Talk to an Ontario lawyer before you reply to the person who sent the notice.

How Icey Software keeps that record

Icey Software’s crew app, Field Mode, records each visit as it happens: when the crew started and finished, where the phone was (GPS), who was on the visit, and photos at every site, each with the time it was taken and, when the phone recorded one, the GPS position.

The crew logs the salt or de-icer put down at that site with “Log material”. The amount stays in your own records and never appears on the client’s report. When the crew completes a visit, Icey makes one site report for it and keeps it on the job. In parkades and other places without signal, starts, finishes, photos and material logs are saved on the phone with the time the crew tapped them and sync when the signal comes back.

When a notice names a site and a date, open that site’s Site Reports page and use the claim pack on the Job History tab. Pick two dates, up to a whole winter, and Icey builds one PDF of every visit at that site between them: arrival and finish times, crew, GPS, photos and the material put down. The claim pack is an internal document. It names the crew, it leaves out crew notes, inspections and incidents, and it downloads to your computer. Icey does not send it to anyone. Office roles that can dispatch can build it on every plan, including the Free plan, which is free forever for up to 10 sites and 5 crew.

Sources

• Occupiers’ Liability Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. O.2, section 6.1, on Ontario e-Laws, current consolidation (from January 29, 2021), checked October 24, 2026.
• General information, not legal advice. Read the current consolidated statute on e-Laws, and ask an Ontario lawyer about any specific notice or claim.