The Treatment Of Limitation Defence On Joinder Applications

Limitation periods are meant to bring certainty. They protect people and businesses from stale claims. For corporate clients, they support finality, record-retention planning, insurance analysis and commercial decision-making. In British Columbia, the basic limitation period is two years; a court proceeding generally must not be started more than two years after the claim is discovered. The more difficult question is what happens when a plaintiff seeks to add a new party to an existing lawsuit after that period has expired.

The short answer is that, in BC, an expired limitation period may not be the complete answer corporate defendants expect. If joinder is ordered, the limitation defence may be extinguished.