Are Online Waivers Legal in Manitoba?

One of Canada's leading waiver cases came from Manitoba: in Dyck v. Manitoba Snowmobile Association, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld a signed race release. For lake and cottage-country operators, outfitters, trampoline parks, climbing gyms, camps, event organizers and rental shops, a signed agreement can release claims by adult participants, give the notice Manitoba's Occupiers' Liability Act expects, and record the risks, rules and medical details for every guest. This guide covers e-signatures, how waivers are treated in Manitoba, and what to know about participants under 18.

This guide is general information about Manitoba law, with links to the statutes and cases, so you and your lawyer can look into anything that applies to your business.

Waiver Law in Manitoba at a Glance

Are Electronic Signatures Legal in Manitoba?

Yes, for the purpose that matters here. The Electronic Commerce and Information Act has a Part 2 that deals with signature and writing requirements under specific "designated laws" (s. 13), and a Part 3 that deals with electronic contracts. Part 3 is the one that applies to a waiver, which is a private contract. Section 19(1) says that, unless the parties agree otherwise, an offer, an acceptance, or anything else material to forming a contract may be expressed by an electronic document or by an act such as touching or clicking on a computer screen. Section 19(2) says a contract "shall not be denied legal effect or enforceability merely because an electronic document was used in its formation." We found no Manitoba rule requiring a recreation waiver to be signed on paper; what matters in practice is showing that this person agreed to these terms.

Are Liability Waivers Enforceable in Manitoba?

Generally, yes, for adults. In Dyck v. Manitoba Snowmobile Association, [1985] 1 S.C.R. 589, a racer signed a form releasing the association from liability however caused, including negligence, and was injured when he collided with a race official on the track. The Supreme Court of Canada held the release was a complete defence. It said Mr. Dyck freely joined the association's activities, there was no pressure or unfair advantage, the races had inherent dangers he should have been aware of, and it was "in no way unreasonable" for the association to protect itself against liability.

The current framework is from Tercon Contractors Ltd. v. British Columbia, 2010 SCC 4: does the clause, properly read, cover what happened; was it unconscionable when made; and if valid, is there an overriding public policy reason not to enforce it? The person challenging the clause has to prove that public policy reason. Waivers can still fail if they aren't brought to the signer's attention: in Crocker v. Sundance Northwest Resorts Ltd., [1988] 1 S.C.R. 1186, the Supreme Court would not let a resort rely on a waiver that was signed with a race entry form, was not drawn to the participant's attention, and was never read.

Manitoba's Reasonableness Test for Occupiers

Manitoba's Occupiers' Liability Act lets an occupier "restrict, modify or deny" its duty of care "by express agreement or by express stipulation or notice" (s. 4(1)). But s. 4(2) says no restriction is valid "unless in all the circumstances of the case it is reasonable," and lists factors a court must consider:

• the relationship between the occupier and the person affected;
• the injury or damage suffered and the hazard causing it;
• the scope of the restriction; and
• the steps taken to bring it to the attention of the people affected.

Section 4(3) separately requires reasonable steps to bring the restriction to the person's attention. We found no Manitoba decision applying this test to a recreation waiver, so how courts weigh the factors is open. On its face, the scope and notice factors favor clear, activity-specific wording and a good record of how each guest received it.

Gross Negligence and Intentional Harm

Canadian courts have not drawn a bright line at "gross negligence" the way many US states do. Under the third Tercon question, a court can refuse to enforce a valid waiver for overriding public policy. In Loychuk v. Cougar Mountain Adventures Ltd., 2012 BCCA 122, the BC Court of Appeal described the kind of conduct that has met that bar: a business that knew it was putting the public in danger with a substandard product or service, or was reckless about it.

More Than a Release

A signed agreement does other work in Manitoba beyond the release itself:

• It's how an occupier gives notice. A signed agreement is a direct record of the steps taken to bring a restriction to the guest's attention, one of the s. 4(2) factors and the s. 4(3) requirement.
• It records the risks the guest accepted. The Act says an occupier owes no duty for risks willingly assumed by the person entering (s. 3(3)). A signed description of your activity's risks is evidence of what the guest was told; how much it matters depends on the facts.
• It bears on shared fault. Under The Tortfeasors and Contributory Negligence Act, where a guest's own negligence contributed, the court apportions damages by each side's degree of negligence (s. 4). A guest's agreement to your rules and staff instructions is part of that picture.
• It collects what you need. Health conditions, emergency contacts, consent to first aid, and photo consent, before anyone takes part.

Waivers for Minors in Manitoba

For families, the parent's form is where a parent or guardian approves the child's participation, agrees to your rules, and gives you medical information and emergency contacts. It's also a record that the risks were explained to the adult responsible for the child.

Whether it releases the child's own injury claim is a separate question. The age of majority in Manitoba is 18 (The Age of Majority Act, s. 1), and contracts generally can't be enforced against a minor. We found no Manitoba statute allowing a parent to waive a child's future injury claim, and no Manitoba decision on the question. In BC, a court has held that a parent cannot waive a child's right to sue (Wong v. Lok's Martial Arts Centre, 2009 BCSC 1385), relying on BC's Infants Act, and Canadian commentators generally treat parental waivers as unlikely to stop a child's own claim.

Points to Raise With Your Lawyer

WaiverFile doesn't draft waivers, and the wording of your agreement is a job for you and your lawyer. Based on the cases and statutes above, these are points worth raising when preparing a Manitoba agreement:

• How the scope of the release fits the activity and its hazards, given the s. 4(2) reasonableness factors.
• How the agreement is brought to each guest's attention before the activity. The court in Crocker faulted a waiver that was folded into an entry form and never pointed out.
• Whether the wording clearly covers the claims you mean it to cover, including the business's own negligence (Tercon's first question).
• A plain description of your activity's specific risks and rules.
• How the form handles participants under 18.

How WaiverFile Helps Manitoba Businesses

Once your agreement is written, WaiverFile makes it easy for every guest to sign it and keeps a complete, easy-to-find record of each one:

• Your agreement, laid out your way. Add the agreement text you and your lawyer prepared, and use the editor's formatting options (bold, capitals, font size) to lay it out the way it was written. Unlimited forms let you keep a separate agreement for each activity.
• A checkbox or initials where you want them. Add initial boxes inside the agreement text and required checkboxes for the rules, risks and clauses you choose, so each one has its own acknowledgment.
• Time to read. Guests sign ahead from their own phone or computer by email, text, QR code or your website. Waivers are built into online booking, so you see each guest's status at check-in.
• A record of what was signed. Each signed form stores the signature, the answers, and the date and time, plus the IP address and device for online signing. Add a photo of each signer or their ID if you like.
• Medical questions. Required questions capture health conditions and emergency contacts. HIPAA features add extra protection for health information. (HIPAA is a US law. In Manitoba, private businesses' handling of personal information falls under the federal PIPEDA.)
• Families on one form. A parent adds each child by name and date of birth, and minors are flagged at check-in.
• Sign anywhere, find anything. Use a tablet kiosk on site, even offline at the lake in the Venue app. Search any waiver in seconds, or download them in bulk as a ZIP file for any date range.

Start with one of our free waiver templates, review it with your lawyer, and set up a free account to start collecting signatures.

Sources and Further Reading

• The Electronic Commerce and Information Act, C.C.S.M. c. E55 (s. 19)
• The Occupiers' Liability Act, C.C.S.M. c. O8 (ss. 3-4)
• The Tortfeasors and Contributory Negligence Act, C.C.S.M. c. T90 (s. 4)
• The Age of Majority Act, C.C.S.M. c. A7
• Loychuk v. Cougar Mountain Adventures Ltd., 2012 BCCA 122 (quotes Dyck v. Manitoba Snowmobile Association, [1985] 1 S.C.R. 589, and Tercon)
• Tercon Contractors Ltd. v. British Columbia (Transportation and Highways), 2010 SCC 4 (Supreme Court of Canada case page)
• Lexpert: Crocker v. Sundance Northwest Resorts Ltd., [1988] 1 S.C.R. 1186
• Wong v. Lok's Martial Arts Centre Inc., 2009 BCSC 1385 (BC)
• Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada: Summary of privacy laws in Canada

Published November 4, 2026