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ARTICLE · 14 JULY 2021

You Might Regret That Text: Text Messages And Limitation Periods In Ontario

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While the legal profession is grounded in tradition and ceremony, COVID-19 has forced courts to acknowledge the reality of the increasingly virtual way that we do business.

CanadaLitigation, Mediation & Arbitration
Gavin Fior, Student-At-Law
Gavin Fior, Student-At-Law
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While the legal profession is grounded in tradition and ceremony, COVID-19 has forced courts to acknowledge the reality of the increasingly virtual way that we do business.

In 1475182 Ontario Inc. o/a Edges Contracting v. Ghotbi, 2021 ONSC 3477, the Court held that text messages constituted an "acknowledgment of the debt owing" as required by s. 13 of the  Limitations Act, 2002, S.O. 2002 c. 24., Sched. B (the "Act"). Accordingly, the two-year limitation period was extended, and the impugned debt was enforceable. 

Section 13 the Act provides that the commencement of a limitation period may be delayed to the date on which a debtor acknowledges its indebtedness. The limitation clock begins running at the time of the acknowledgment. The acknowledgment must be in writing and signed for the exception to apply.

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