The plaintiffs moved to strike jury notices filed by the defendants after the plaintiffs amended their Statement of Claim to double the damages sought from $750,000 to $1.5 million, prompted by new expert reports on future care costs.
The court applied the principles from Dow v. Ottawa Hospital-Civic Campus to determine if the amendment reopened pleadings for all purposes, including the timely filing of jury notices.
The court found that the amendments were necessary, implicitly contained new allegations regarding the plaintiff's limitations and future care needs, significantly changed the nature of the action, and necessitated further discoveries.
As the defendants filed the jury notices promptly and were not the party seeking the amendment, the court concluded that pleadings were reopened for all purposes, granting the defendants a statutory right to a jury trial.
The plaintiffs' motion to strike the jury notices was dismissed, as were their alternative requests for costs and further discoveries of the defendants.
