Case Study: Landlord Liability For Visitor Injuries

Can landlords be held liable for injuries sustained by their tenants’ visitors? A recent Saskatchewan Court of Appeal decision tells us the answer to this question is “sometimes”.

In Chettri v Brunet, 2026 SKCA, the Court of Appeal upheld the lower court’s finding that a landlord owes a duty of care to tenants’ visitors if the landlord is an occupier; one who exercises sufficient control over part of or the entire premises.¹ The standard of care was found to be that of an occupier to a licensee, “to take reasonable care to prevent damage from an unusual danger that the occupier knew or ought to have known existed”.²

Issues Giving Rise to the Plaintiff’s Claim

Alice Brunet was staying with her daughter, Melvina Bear, who was renting a house from Pramilla Chettri. While Ms. Brunet was exiting the house via exterior steps she slipped and fell, sustaining injuries to her wrist and knee.