Am I Liable If a Client Slips and Falls at My Home-Based Business in Alberta?

Your duty as an occupier under Alberta law

Usually yes. If you run a business from your home in Alberta and clients come to your property, you are almost certainly an “occupier” under the Occupiers’ Liability Act, RSA 2000, c O-4. The Act defines an occupier as anyone with “responsibility for, and control over, the condition of premises, the activities conducted on those premises” and who is allowed to enter (Occupiers’ Liability Act, RSA 2000, c O-4, s 1(c)(ii)). Controlling your own home and inviting clients in for business purposes fits that definition directly.

As occupier, you owe every client a “common duty of care”: you must “take such care as in all the circumstances of the case is reasonable” to keep them reasonably safe (Occupiers’ Liability Act, RSA 2000, c O-4, s 5). This duty is not limited to warning people about danger. Section 6 makes clear it covers the physical condition of the premises itself and any activities carried on there, such as a slippery entryway, an unmarked step, or a trip hazard in a client waiting area (Occupiers’ Liability Act, RSA 2000, c O-4, s 6). A fall caused by a genuinely hazardous condition on your property is the kind of harm this duty is designed to cover.

When liability can be reduced or eliminated

The duty of care is not absolute, and several conditions in the Act can reduce or remove your liability for a specific fall.

• The client accepted an obvious risk. If a client knowingly and willingly accepted a risk, you are relieved of the duty to protect them against that specific risk (Occupiers’ Liability Act, RSA 2000, c O-4, s 7).
• You had a signed waiver or clear notice. You can restrict or exclude liability by express agreement or express notice, such as a signed waiver form, but only if you took reasonable steps to actually bring it to the client’s attention (Occupiers’ Liability Act, RSA 2000, c O-4, s 8(1)).
• A warning sign alone is not enough. Posting a “wet floor” sign does not by itself discharge your duty of care unless it is genuinely sufficient to keep the visitor reasonably safe (Occupiers’ Liability Act, RSA 2000, c O-4, s 9). A sign that does not actually prevent the fall does not protect you.
• An independent contractor caused the hazard. If the fall was due to the negligence of a contractor you hired, such as a snow-clearing or maintenance company, you are not liable under the Act provided it was reasonable to have that work done by a contractor and you took reasonable care in selecting and supervising them (Occupiers’ Liability Act, RSA 2000, c O-4, s 11(1)).
• The client was partly at fault. If the client’s own carelessness contributed to the fall, Alberta’s Contributory Negligence Act applies, so damages are apportioned between you and the client rather than the claim succeeding or failing entirely (Occupiers’ Liability Act, RSA 2000, c O-4, s 15(1)).

Employees are covered by a different regime

The Occupiers’ Liability Act governs your responsibility to clients as “visitors,” but it expressly does not apply to an employer’s duties toward its own employees (Occupiers’ Liability Act, RSA 2000, c O-4, s 3). If someone who works for you, rather than a client, is injured on the premises, that situation falls under a separate legal framework, not this Act.

How long a client has to bring a claim

A client generally has 2 years from the date they knew, or ought to have known, that they were injured, that the injury was attributable to your conduct as occupier, and that it warranted a legal claim, to start a lawsuit (Limitations Act, RSA 2000, c L-12, s 3(1)(a)). This is Alberta’s general limitation period for civil claims, including those brought under the Occupiers’ Liability Act.

What this means in practice

Whether you end up liable for a specific fall turns on the same facts a court would look at: was the hazard reasonably foreseeable, did you take reasonable steps to address it, and did the client’s own conduct or knowledge of the risk play a role. None of the exceptions above are automatic. A waiver only works if it was properly communicated; a contractor’s error only shields you if the arrangement itself was reasonable. The starting position under Alberta law is that you, as occupier, bear responsibility for keeping the premises reasonably safe for clients you invite in.