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Home  About Us Reports Research Paper 2001 Compensation for Relational Harm Page 9
Research Paper
Compensation for Relational Harm
Appendix B - Provincial 'Fatal Accident' Legislation Tables
| Province/Territory | Alberta | | Title | Fatal Accidents Act | | Last Consolidation | R.S.A. 1980, c. F-5 | | Amendments/Changes | S.A. 1994, c. 16; S.A. 1996, c. 28; A.R. 20/2000 | | Beneficiaries | Children (including illegitimate children), grandchildren, stepchildren, siblings, parents, stepparents, grandparents, cohabitants (of the opposite sex and for a min. of 3 years), spouses (husband or wife) | | Nature of Damages Awarded | - Those damages that the courts considers appropriate to the injury resulting from the death
- Reasonably incurred expenses (including traveling, care, funeral & disposal of the deceased, and grief counselling expenses)
- Grief and loss of guidance, care and companionship ($43,000 for the spouse or cohabitant or parent of the deceased, to be divided equally in the case of claims by both parents; $27,000 for children of the deceased) | | Noteworthy Characteristics | 1) Bereavement damages are awarded automatically to those designated (parents, spouse, cohabitant, children), no questions asked, and without consideration of other damages granted. The amounts awarded for bereavement are to be reviewed every five years by the executive council to ensure their adequacy. |
| Province/Territory | British Columbia | | Title | Family Compensation Act | | Last Consolidation | R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 126 | | Amendments/Changes | S.B.C. 1999, c. 29; S.B.C. 2000, c. 24, s. 12 | | Beneficiaries | Children (including illegitimate and adopted children), grandchildren, stepchildren, parents, grandparents, stepparents, spouses (including marriage-like relationships between opposite-sex and same-sex couples of no less than 2 years duration, ending no earlier than a year prior to the death of the deceased) | | Nature of Damages Awarded | -Damages "proportionate to the injury".
-Practical expenses such as medical or hospital expenses and expenses for the funeral and disposal of the remains of the deceased. | | Noteworthy Characteristics | 1) B.C. explicitly includes a 'partnership' or 'corporation' among its possible defendants.
2) There is no mention in the legislation of damages for grief and loss of care, guidance and companionship.
3) Siblings are not included among the beneficiaries. |
| Province/Territory | Manitoba | | Title | The Fatal Accidents Act | | Last Consolidation | R.S.M. 1987, c. F50 | | Amendments/Changes | Proposed amendments are presently being presented to the legislature: Bill 41, An Act to Comply with the Supreme Court of Canada Decision in M. v. H., has received its second reading (June 12th, 2001). | | Beneficiaries | Child (includes someone to whom the deceased stood in loco parentis), grandchild, stepchild, siblings, parent (includes someone who stood in loco parentis to the deceased), grandparent, stepparent, spouse, common-law partner (soon: see Bill 41), support recipient. | | Nature of Damages Awarded | -Damages proportional to the pecuniary loss resulting from the death of the deceased.
-Funeral expenses
-Damages for loss of the care, guidance and companionship of the deceased. | | Noteworthy Characteristics | 1) The proposed Bill 41 extends benefits to cohabitants in a 'conjugal relationship', -the required gender of the cohabitant (opposite, the same, or either opposite or the same) is unspecified-, introducing a term was deemed to extend to same-sex couples in M. v. H.
2) The act explicitly limits damages awarded to pecuniary damages, and then lays out the exception of the loss of care, guidance, and companionship as a possible head for non-pecuniary damages. |
| Province/Territory | New Brunswick | | Title | Fatal Accidents Act | | Last Consolidation | R.S.N.B. 1973, c. F-7 | | Amendments/Changes | S.N.B. 1980, c. C-2.1, s. 153; S.N.B. 1981, c. 80, s. 29; S.N.B. 1982, c. 3, s. 27; S.N.B. 1986, c. 36, s. 1; S.N.B. 1987, c. 6, s. 29; S.N.B. 1992, c. 58, s. 1; S.N.B. 1995, c. 39, s. 1, 2. | | Beneficiaries | Child (including adopted and illegitimate), grandchild, stepchild, siblings, parent, grandparent, stepparent, spouse, cohabitant, support recipient. | | Nature of Damages Awarded | -Pecuniary
-Funeral and disposal of the body expenses
-Grief and loss of companionship (parents only)
-Punitive or exemplary damages where appropriate (these go to the estate of the deceased) | | Noteworthy Characteristics | 1) New Brunswick is the only province to explicitly authorize exemplary damages, but only for the benefit of the estate of the deceased.
2) Only parents can be awarded damages for grief and loss of companionship.
3) Like Manitoba, the NB legislation explicitly provides that it is for pecuniary damages that the act is meant to compensate, and makes an exception for moral damages for parents. |
| Province/Territory | Newfoundland | | Title | Fatal Accidents Act | | Last Consolidation | R.S.N. 1990 c. F-6 | | Amendments/Changes | S.N. 1995, c. L-16.1, s. 28 | | Beneficiaries | Child (including an adopted child, and someone to whom the deceased stood in the place of a parent), grandchild, stepchild, spouse, parent (including an adoptive parent, and a person who stood in the place of a parent to the deceased), grandparent, stepparent. | | Nature of Damages Awarded | -"Damages…proportional to the injury resulting from the death"
- Expenses for the funeral and disposal of the body of the deceased | | Noteworthy Characteristics | |
| Province/Territory | Northwest Territories | | Title | Fatal Accidents Act | | Last Consolidation | R. S. N.W. T. 1988, c. F-3 | | Amendments/Changes | | | Beneficiaries | Child (includes adopted child and someone to whom the deceased stood in loco parentis), grandchild, stepchild, spouse, parent (includes adoptive parent and someone who stood in loco parentis to the deceased), grandparent, stepparent. | | Nature of Damages Awarded | -Damages "proportional to the injury resulting from the death"
-Medical and funeral expenses | | Noteworthy Characteristics | |
| Province/Territory | Nova Scotia | | Title | Fatal Injuries Act | | Last Consolidation | R.S.N.S. 1989, c. 163 | | Amendments/Changes | | | Beneficiaries | Child (including a person to whom the deceased had a settled intention to act as a parent, and the illegitimate child of the deceased mother), grandchild, stepchild, spouse, opposite-sex cohabitant (of at least one year prior to the death of the deceased) parent (including the mother of the illegitimate deceased child), grandparent, stepparent. | | Nature of Damages Awarded | -Non-pecuniary and pecuniary damages as are proportionate to the injury (including, though not restricted to, expenses incurred for the care of the deceased, and an amount for the loss of guidance care and companionship reasonably to be expected)
-funeral expenses | | Noteworthy Characteristics | 1) Nova Scotia explicitly offers both pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages without further restriction |
| Province/Territory | Ontario | | Title | Family Compensation Act | | Last Consolidation | R.S.O. 1990, c. F-3 | | Amendments/Changes | S.O. 1999, c. 6, s. 25 | | Beneficiaries | Child (includes a person whom the deceased demonstrated a settled intention to treat as a child of his or her family), grandchild, sibling, spouse (includes a cohabitant), same-sex partner, parent (includes someone who demonstrated a settled intention to be a parent of the deceased), grandparent. | | Nature of Damages Awarded | -Pecuniary damages resulting from the death or injury, including:
-expenses reasonably incurred for the benefit of the injured or deceased persons
-funeral and travel expenses
-expenses for services rendered gratuitously to him or her by the claimant, or for the loss of income that was the result thereof
-compensation for the loss of care, guidance and companionship reasonably to be expected had the death or injury not occurred | | Noteworthy Characteristics | 1) Ontario is the only province that includes non-fatal injuries in its dependants compensation legislation |
| Province/Territory | Prince Edward Island | | Title | Fatal Accidents Act | | Last Consolidation | R.S.P.E.I. 1988, c. F-5 | | Amendments/Changes | S.P.E.I. 1992, c. 24, s.1; S. P.E.I. 1994, c. 52, s. 79 | | Beneficiaries | Child ( including a child conceived but not born, and adopted child and someone to whom the deceased stood in the place of a parent), grandchild or any other lineal descendant of the deceased, in-law, spouse, dependent opposite-sex cohabitant, support recipient, any other person dependent on the deceased for at least three years prior to the death of the deceased. | | Nature of Damages Awarded | -Pecuniary damages
-Funeral and disposal of the body expenses
-Administration of the estate expenses (in particular circumstances and not exceeding $500)
-Damages for the loss of care, guidance and companionship reasonably to be expected | | Noteworthy Characteristics | 1) P.E.I. includes an unborn child as a beneficiary
2) The act has a definition of dependency that extends itself to anyone who has been financially dependent for a certain amount of time. Same-sex couples and siblings, for example, could be granted pecuniary compensation under these headings. |
| Province/Territory | Saskatchewan | | Title | Fatal Accidents Act | | Last Consolidation | R.S.S. 1978, c. F-11 | | Amendments/Changes | S.S. 1984-85-86, c. 16, s. 8; S.S. 1989-90, c. 54, s. 4; S.S. 1993 c. 8 | | Beneficiaries | Child (includes adopted child and a person to whom the deceased stood in loco parentis), grandchild, stepchild, spouse (includes opposite-sex cohabitant), parent, adoptive parent, grandparent, stepparent, and a person who stood in loco parentis to the deceased). | | Nature of Damages Awarded | -"such damages as are proportioned to the injury resulting from the death"
-medical expenses, funeral expenses, grief counselling, loss of earnings, and any other out-of-pocket expenses reasonably incurred. | | Noteworthy Characteristics | |
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