Case Overview:
The Plaintiff, Peace Wapiti School Division, sought to amend its Statement of Claim to add Flint Corp. as a defendant or substitute Flint for an existing defendant, ABC Corporation. The case arises from a fire at Whispering Ridge Community School in April 2021, allegedly caused by faulty heat trace tape or its improper installation.

Background:

• The school’s portable units included heat trace tape installed by contractors in 2018.
• Flint performed maintenance work on the heat trace tape in 2020.
• Post-fire investigations attributed the cause to heat trace tape malfunctions and potential installation flaws.
• Flint’s involvement came to light only after a 2024 review revealed Flint had worked on the system in 2020.

Legal Issues:

• Flint argued that the claim was time-barred under Alberta’s Limitations Act, which requires actions to be filed within two years of discovering the cause and parties responsible for an injury.
• The Court examined whether Peace Wapiti exercised reasonable diligence to identify Flint's role within the limitation period.

Court Analysis:

• The Court found Peace Wapiti acted with due diligence, promptly investigating the fire and suing the apparent responsible parties.
• Flint’s role only became discoverable after inspections and record reviews in 2024.

Decision:

• The amendment to include Flint as a defendant was granted, as the delay in identifying Flint was reasonable, and no irreparable prejudice to Flint was shown.
• The decision does not specify any monetary award