The appellant insurer appealed a preliminary arbitral ruling in a statutory accident benefits priority dispute under s. 268 of the Insurance Act and O. Reg. 283/95.
The central issue was whether the 90-day notice requirement in s. 3 was automatically suspended by O. Reg. 73/20 during the COVID-19 emergency period.
The court held, on a purposive interpretation of the emergency regulation, that the notice requirement functioned as a limitation period for that temporary regime and was therefore automatically stayed.
The arbitral dismissal of the priority claim was set aside on that basis, while the court noted that if this interpretation were wrong, deference would support the arbitrator's discretionary findings under s. 2.
