New law protects Ontario's agritourism farms from 'frivolous' lawsuits ...

Aastha Shetty · CBC News

· Posted: Dec 27, 2024 7:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 5 hours ago

Reducing liabilities for farm-based tourism operators is the focus of new legislation.

Perth-Wellington MPP Matthew Rae tabled the Growing Agritourism Act which requires farmers to warn people of the inherent risks of visiting a working farm in Ontario by installing a simple sign or by signing a contract.

Rae says before this legislation, farm operators would be liable under the Ontario Liability Law, every time someone gets hurt while visiting the farm — even if the farmer has done everything possible to mitigate those risks.

"Someone from downtown Toronto may not be wearing the proper footwear. They may come out in stilettos to pick their pumpkins, not necessarily the smartest thing," he said. "We can't pave a walkway in every corner of the pumpkin patch."

"[This legislation] will protect our farm operators from some of those frivolous lawsuits," Rae explains.

Cheryl Haskett is the Chief Everything Officer of Udderly Ridiculous, a farm in Bright, Ont. that offers all kinds of on-farm experiences like alpaca walks and goat cuddles.

She says she's hoping the legislation will help protect her from lawsuits filed over simple hazards that come with visiting a farm.

"People come [to visit the farm] in very strange things because they want an Instagram photo, but they don't understand that it's uneven ground. This is farmland. We're farming and you're coming to a facility where you have to prepare. It's no different than going outside in the middle of winter. If you go in a T-shirt, you're going to get cold," she said.

"But common sense is not always common."

Kevin Vallier is the CEO of Agritourism Ontario, an association that represents about 300 members across the province. Vallier says they are thrilled to hear about the legislation.

"This act doesn't give carte blanche for agritourism operators to do whatever they want and never get sued," he explained.

"It just provides a layer of protection because when you walk onto an active working farm, there are of course inherent risks. The ground is uneven, the grass could be wet, if you're feeding a baby goat, it might nip your finger."

He says he knows at least one farmer currently in the middle of several lawsuits because visitors got hurt.

"They're actually are in the middle of three lawsuits. I believe they're all over a million dollars each because three people injured their leg and fell because the ground was uneven. One gentleman actually stepped over two barriers that prevented public access and then injured themselves," Vallier said.

"It can be incredibly frustrating for owners too because then, of course, their insurance goes up."

Haskett is hoping the legislation will help lower her insurance premiums.

"I'm certainly hoping that not only it will bring it down, but that will bring more opportunity for more competition because sometimes you're stuck with one company at a very high rate because it's the only one that will insure you for what you want to do or even come close."

She says she pays thousands of dollars in insurance every month to cover different activities like regular production farming to different aspects agritourism.

Haskett says so far, they have been asking visitors to sign a waiver before cuddling a goat or taking part in other on-farm activities — but that's not always enough.

"There are lots of people that do come on site that don't sign a waiver form because they're not doing an experience. But they're on our property. There's always an inherent risk somebody does something silly and causes injury and then they want to sue and that's a risk for family farms," she said.

"We already have so few family farms left and there's so many family farms that are going by the wayside. [Agritourism] is a way sometimes for family farms to stay alive from one generation to the next."