Ancient Ontario laws regarding limitations periods for lawsuits were swept away on January 1, 2004, to the relief of lawyers and their clients. These laws dated from the nineteenth century and were contained in legislation called the Limitations Act and in some later acts. This legislation was about the limited time period in which you may commence a lawsuit before you are barred from doing so. It was confusing to say the least. If you suffered injuries from a slip and fall on a municipal sidewalk, you had to sue within three months, but if your slip and fall was in a grocery store parking lot, you had six years to sue. If you were suing for negligence, you had to sue a police officer within six months, a doctor within one year, a car driver within two years, and an architect within six years.
This has now all changed. Under the new Limitations Act, there is a two year limitation for most claims. A claim is defined as a lawsuit to remedy an injury or damage that occurred as a result of an action or omission. For example, an action could be the negligent act of driving on the wrong side of the road. An omission could be the failure to perform the terms of a contract. The new Act also applies a discoverability rule. The limitation period runs from the time that a claim (injury, damage, etc.) is discovered. The discoverability date is the date a reasonable person ought to have known of the claim. The law is simpler now but there still remain complicated transition rules between the old and the new law.