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ARTICLE · 21 MAY 2015

A Tomato Wagon? Defining "Automobiles" Under Ontario's Insurance Legislation

McCague Borlack LLP
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To be entitled to statutory accident benefits under Ontario's no-fault legislation, also known as the SABS, the individual seeking benefits must have been involved in an accident.

CanadaInsurance
Catherine Korte
Catherine Korte
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To the uninitiated, it might seem that defining the word "automobile" ... should
be a relatively simple matter. Those familiar with the byzantine nature of
insurance legislation know better.

- Justice Doherty, speaking for
the Court of Appeal for Ontario
in Copley v. Kerr Farms Ltd.1

To be entitled to statutory accident benefits under Ontario's no-fault legislation, also known as the SABS,2 the individual seeking benefits must have been involved in an accident. An accident, under section 3(1) of the SABS, is defined as:

an incident in which the use or operation of an automobile directly causes an impairment or directly causes damage to any prescription eyewear, denture, hearing aid, prosthesis or other medical or dental device.

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