Home Depot Not Liable for Slip and Fall in Parking Lot

In Alberta, occupiers owe a duty to maintain a reasonable system of maintenance and inspection to keep their premises reasonably safe for lawful visitors. This duty can be discharged either by the occupier itself, or by hiring an independent contractor. With respect to snow and ice removal maintenance, the courts have held that implementing a system where the independent contractor is to clear snow and ice after snow accumulation exceeds two inches is reasonable if combined with a system of inspection.

In Reichert et al v. Home Depot Canada Inc. et al, 2017 ABQB 184, the Plaintiff slipped and fell on some freshly fallen snow (between half-an-inch and one inch) in the parking lot of a Home Depot in Calgary, Alberta at 10:00 a.m. It had snowed earlier that morning. However, only trace amounts of snow had fallen during the prior two weeks. There was no snow on the ground the day before the slip and fall.