Kaitlyn MacDonell, Partner at Howie, Sacks & Henry LLP, recently successfully defended a catastrophic impairment finding before the Licence Appeal Tribunal (LAT), securing an important result for her client following an insurer’s request for reconsideration.
Our client sustained significant injuries in a December 2021 motor vehicle accident. Following a contested hearing, the LAT determined that the client had Class 4 (Marked) impairments across all four functional domains under the AMA Guides and met the requirements for catastrophic impairment under Criterion 8 of the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule (SABS).
The insurer sought reconsideration, asking the Tribunal to overturn the catastrophic impairment designation. It challenged the adjudicator’s causation analysis and the assessment of the medical evidence supporting the Class 4 findings.
In a decision released July 7, 2026, the Tribunal dismissed the insurer’s request in its entirety. The Tribunal found that the insurer’s arguments amounted, in substance, to disagreement with how the original adjudicator weighed the evidence, which is not a reviewable error warranting reconsideration.
The catastrophic impairment finding therefore stands.
Why This Decision Matters
Reconsideration is a narrow remedy. It is not an opportunity for an unsuccessful party to simply reargue the evidence or ask a different adjudicator to reach a different conclusion.
For injured people, the stakes are significant. A catastrophic impairment designation provides access to substantially enhanced medical, rehabilitation and attendant care benefits, which are resources that can be critical to supporting long-term recovery and care.
This result also highlights the importance of developing a comprehensive evidentiary record from the outset. In complex catastrophic impairment cases, obtaining a favourable decision is only part of the challenge. The record must also be capable of withstanding appellate and post-hearing scrutiny.
The result reflects Kaitlyn and Howie, Sacks & Henry LLP’s commitment to meticulous preparation, strategic advocacy and protecting our clients’ entitlements at every stage of the litigation process.
Read the full decision on CanLII:
https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onlat/doc/2026/2026canlii68590/2026canlii68590.html
