Are Online Waivers Legal in Nova Scotia?

For Nova Scotia trampoline parks, climbing gyms, riding stables, rafting and tour operators, camps, gyms and rentals, a signed agreement does several jobs: it can release claims by adult participants, it's how an occupier gives the notice Nova Scotia's Occupiers' Liability Act requires, and it records the risks, rules and medical details for every guest. This guide covers e-signatures, how courts treat waivers, the Act's reasonableness rule, what else a signed agreement does, and what is known about minors.

This guide is general information about Nova Scotia 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 Nova Scotia at a Glance

Are Electronic Signatures Legal in Nova Scotia?

Yes. The Electronic Commerce Act says information "shall not be denied legal effect or enforceability solely by reason that it is in electronic form" (s. 6) and that a requirement for a signature "is satisfied by an electronic signature" (s. 11). Section 21 confirms a contract can be formed by electronic document or by clicking an icon, and can't be denied effect just because an electronic document was used. Nobody has to accept electronic documents, but consent can be inferred from conduct (s. 7).

Are Liability Waivers Enforceable in Nova Scotia?

Nova Scotia courts apply the common-law principles from the Supreme Court of Canada:

• Dyck v. Manitoba Snowmobile Association, [1985] 1 SCR 589: a signed entry form releasing a race organizer, including for negligence, barred the injured racer's claim.
• Tercon Contractors v. British Columbia, 2010 SCC 4: courts ask whether the clause applies to the facts, whether it was unconscionable when made, and whether an overriding public policy should stop enforcement.
• Crocker v. Sundance Northwest Resorts, [1988] 1 SCR 1186: where waivers fail. A waiver didn't hold where no attempt was made to draw it to the participant's attention and he didn't know it existed.

The Occupiers' Liability Act Test

If the injury happens on premises you occupy, the Occupiers' Liability Act applies. Section 7 lets an occupier "restrict, modify or deny" its duty by express agreement or notice, but such a restriction is not binding "unless in all the circumstances of the case it is reasonable." The factors include the relationship between the parties, the injury and the hazard that caused it, the scope of the restriction, and the steps taken to bring it to people's attention, and the occupier must take reasonable steps to bring the restriction to the person's attention (s. 7(3)). We found no Nova Scotia decision applying this test to a recreation waiver. On its face, the scope and notice factors favor clear, activity-specific wording and a good record of how each guest received it.

A Recent Nova Scotia Case

In Inglis v. Medway Pines Stables, 2020 NSSC 97, a rider was hurt on a trail ride. The stable relied on a detailed release she had signed two months earlier, which named negligence and the Occupiers' Liability Act. The court refused summary judgment and sent the case to trial, because there were factual disputes about how the release was signed and whether it applied only to the first ride or to every later ride. Applying Tercon, the court quoted earlier authority that a release is interpreted to cover only matters specifically in the parties' contemplation when it was given. We found no later ruling in the case.

Gross Negligence and Intentional Harm

We didn't find a Nova Scotia decision on whether a waiver can cover gross negligence. Under the Occupiers' Liability Act, even when a visitor willingly assumes a risk, the occupier still owes a duty not to create a danger with deliberate intent to harm and not to act with reckless disregard of the person (s. 5). And under Tercon a court can refuse to enforce a clause for overriding public policy reasons.

More Than a Release

A signed agreement does other work in Nova Scotia 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, which s. 7 requires and which is one of its reasonableness factors.
• It records the risks the guest accepted. For risks a visitor willingly assumes, the Act reduces the occupier's duty to not creating a danger with deliberate intent to harm and not acting with reckless disregard (s. 5). 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 Contributory Negligence Act, liability is divided in proportion to each person's fault (s. 3). A guest's agreement to your rules and staff instructions is part of that picture if they were broken.
• It collects what you need. Health conditions, emergency contacts, consent to first aid, and photo consent, before anyone takes part.

Waivers for Minors in Nova Scotia

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, and the Occupiers' Liability Act lists the age of the person entering among the factors in deciding whether reasonable care was taken (s. 4(3)).

Whether it also releases the child's own claim hasn't been decided. The age of majority in Nova Scotia is 19 (Age of Majority Act, s. 2). We found no Nova Scotia appellate decision on whether a parent can waive a child's injury claim in advance. In New Brunswick, the Court of Appeal in Dewitt v. Strang, 2016 NBCA 63, declined to decide that question before trial, and a 2019 MLT Aikins review describes the issue as unresolved in most common-law provinces.

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 Nova Scotia agreement:

• How the scope of the release fits the activity and its hazards, given the s. 7 reasonableness factors.
• Which dates, visits and activities the agreement covers. The court in Inglis sent the case to trial partly because it was disputed whether one signed release covered later rides.
• How the agreement is brought to each guest's attention, which s. 7(3) requires and the court in Crocker found missing.
• Whether the wording covers negligence and the actual risks of your activity.
• How the form handles participants under 19.

How WaiverFile Helps Nova Scotia 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.
• A signature with every booking. Waivers are built into online booking, so guests can sign as part of each booking, and staff see waiver status per guest at check-in. Guests can also sign ahead by email, text, QR code or your website.
• A dated record. 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, riding experience and emergency contacts. HIPAA features add extra protection for health information. (HIPAA is a US law. In Nova Scotia, 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 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

• Electronic Commerce Act, SNS 2000, c 26
• Occupiers' Liability Act, SNS 1996, c 27, ss. 4-7
• Contributory Negligence Act, RSNS 1989, c 95 (s. 3)
• Age of Majority Act, RSNS 1989, c 4
• Inglis v. Medway Pines Stables, 2020 NSSC 97
• Tercon Contractors Ltd. v. British Columbia (Transportation and Highways), 2010 SCC 4
• Crocker v. Sundance Northwest Resorts Ltd., [1988] 1 SCR 1186
• Dyck v. Manitoba Snowmobile Association, [1985] 1 SCR 589
• Dewitt v. Strang et al., 2016 NBCA 63 (New Brunswick)
• MLT Aikins, "Minors: The Special Case of Liability Waivers" (2019)
• Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada: Summary of privacy laws in Canada

Published November 4, 2026