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Leave For Limitations Period

984499 Ontario Inc. o/a Ekarte General Contracting v. 1159337 Ontario Ltd. v. M.R Wright and Associates Co. 2020 Ont SCJ (Div Ct)

Under the Construction Lien Act, the court had to give leave to the defendant to issue a third party claim. In this case, the defendant issued the third party claim without leave and, more than five years later, sought to regularize the claim by seeking leave nunc pro tunc (i.e., as if it had been obtained at the very start). The court refused leave and dismissed the third party action. One cannot move for leave after the expiry of a limitation period.

Written by Jonathan Speigel, the founding partner of Speigel Nichols Fox LLP, leads the litigation and construction practices.