The plaintiff was injured in a motor vehicle accident on Highway 401 and sued the owner and the operator of the vehicle that struck him for damages. The defendants issued a third party claim against the Province of Ontario. Nearly five years after Province delivered its defence, the defendants sought to add the contractor hired by the Province to perform maintenance on the roadway. Justice Muszynski granted leave for issuance of the third party claim. The Province had not pleaded in its statement of defence that it relied on a contractor for maintenance of the subject roadway. Justice Muszynski found that the defendants could not have known about the contractor before they received documentation from the province in 2019 (three years after commencement of the third party reasoclaim against the Province).
