Smith v. Ricksons Enterprises Ltd., 2026 NSSC 18
Reading time: 4 minutes (approx.)
By: Hayley Gardner (Articled Clerk)
On the weekend of Friday, January 14 to Sunday, January 16, 2022, a stormy winter weather system crossed the province of Nova Scotia, leaving an accumulation of significant amounts of sleet, snow, and ice.
Greg and Sue Marshall operated a convenience store in Annapolis County named “Double D Grocery”. In light of the weather conditions, they decided not to open the store on Saturday, January 15. It reopened the next day, on Sunday, January 16, and at about 3:30pm that afternoon, Robert Smith slipped and fell in the store’s parking lot.
Mr. Smith filed an action against the owners of Double D Grocery for failing to maintain a sufficiently safe premises, pursuant to the duties created by the Occupiers’ Liability Act, R.S.N.S. 1996 c. 27. The matter was heard before the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia on the issue of liability, alone, as the parties had agreed upon damages.
Greg Marshall testified that he was responsible for maintaining the parking lot outside Double D Grocery. He would typically use his truck, which had a mounted snowplow and a hand-operated salt spreader. In order to reduce wear and tear to his equipment, Mr. Marshall said he would use steel pads under the blade of his plow, which caused the blade to hover at least ¼ inch above the ground while clearing snow.
Mr. Marshall testified that he plowed the parking lot of Double D Grocery sometime between 7:00am and 8:00am on Sunday, January 16, and then spread salt afterwards. He did not plow or salt the parking lot again that day.
Mr. Marshall also explained that, in his experience, salt is less effective for treating ice or packed snow on a cold, overcast day than sand is. However, using his salt spreader was much easier than spreading sand by hand.
Rosinski J. found that Mr. Marshall was aware that snow had continued to accumulate throughout the day, and that there was a layer of ice and/or sleet underneath the snowfall from the weekend’s storm.
With this actual knowledge, and with the foreseeability of hazards arising from ongoing weather conditions that day, Mr. Marshall ought to have been aware that his regular practice of clearing snow ¼ inch above the ground and spreading salt would not be sufficient to ensure that the parking lot was safe throughout the entire day on Sunday, January 16.
Rosinski J also concluded that the practice of holding the only employee present responsible for monitoring and inspecting the parking lot did not reasonably respond to the known and foreseeable risk. The owners of Double D Grocery were found to be 100% liable for Mr. Smith’s injuries.
