Closing the Book on R v Sudbury

April 14, 2025 | Luiza Vikhnovich

At long last, the Court of Appeal for Ontario has had the final say on whether the City of Sudbury (“City”) exercised due diligence under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (“OHSA”) following the tragic death of a pedestrian.

As you may recall from our December 2024 newsletter, the City was charged as an “employer” under the OHSA when a pedestrian was killed walking by a construction project owned by the City. The City had contracted with a subcontractor to repair a watermain and repave the roads at the project. The pedestrian was struck by a road grader operated by the subcontractor’s employee.

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice upheld the City’s acquittal from all OHSA charges on the basis the City exercised due diligence. However, the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development (“Ministry of Labour”) sought leave to appeal the decision to the Court of Appeal for Ontario. Just last week, the Court of Appeal denied leave to appeal, finally closing the book on this case.

This is a significant outcome for the City which disputed (unsuccessfully, all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada) whether it could even be charged as an “employer” under the OHSA. We wrote about this in our January 2024 newsletter.

To read the full Sherrard Kuzz LLP Briefing Note please click here.