Your child got hurt because of someone else’s carelessness a careless driver, an unsupervised daycare, a dog that should have been restrained, a fall no one prevented. That is a hard thing for any parent to sit with: the fear in the first hours, the hospital visits, the questions that don’t get answered fast enough. You do not have to work through this alone.
Maana Law represents Mississauga and Peel Region families in child injury claims, from the first phone call through to final settlement, on a No Win – No Fee basis. We handle the parts of a child’s claim that work differently from an adult’s the litigation guardian paperwork, the court approval process, and the long-term valuation a child’s injury actually needs. so a parent managing a child’s recovery isn’t also left to figure out Ontario’s civil procedure rules alone.
How can we help
A child injury claim is not a smaller version of an adult claim. it runs on a different set of rules, built specifically to protect a minor who cannot legally act for themselves. A parent cannot simply accept an insurance company’s number and move on; Ontario law requires court approval before any settlement for a minor becomes final, and once approved, the money is protected rather than handed over on the spot.
Our Mississauga child injury lawyers manage that entire process for you from preparing the litigation guardian affidavit, to gathering the medical and school evidence a judge will want to see, to standing with you at the court approval hearing.
We know when the limitation clock does and doesn't run for a minor, exactly what a judge needs to see before approving a settlement, and how a long-term injury gets valued for a five-year-old rather than an adult, which is a very different calculation.
Every case gets direct attention, not a call centre. We prepare your litigation guardian affidavit, gather medical and school evidence while it's still available, and build your claim around your child's actual long-term needs rather than an insurer's early guess.
Our Services
The first days after your child’s injury shape how strong the eventual claim is and they matter for your child’s recovery either way.
Beyond your child’s health, the documentation from that visit becomes the foundation of your evidence. Even an injury that looks minor is worth a medical assessment, since some effects a concussion, a growth plate injury take time to show themselves.cord connects your whiplash or back injury to the accident.
from the school, daycare, property owner, or driver involved, and ask for your own copy. These records can be destroyed after a set retention period, so don’t wait to ask.
the hazard, the vehicle, your child’s visible injuries as soon as it’s safe to do so. A photo taken that day is worth more than a description weeks later.
names of any witnesses, the time, the weather or lighting conditions, anything a staff member said in the moment.
connected to your child’s recovery, even ones that seem minor at the time. You may not know yet which document turns out to matter.
before accepting any offer. Insurance adjusters sometimes contact parents directly and quickly, before the true extent of an injury is known a fast offer is rarely a fair one.
A child cannot sue on their own, no matter their age. Instead, a parent or guardian called a litigation guardian brings the claim on the child’s behalf. This is a legal formality with a purpose: the child still owns the claim and any compensation that results from it; the litigation guardian’s role is to act in the child’s best interest throughout the case, not to receive or control the money personally.
Parents are often surprised to learn how much oversight this involves. It is not simply a matter of a parent deciding what’s best and an insurer paying out a court reviews the process at the end to confirm the settlement is genuinely fair to the child, independent of what the adults involved have agreed to.
What becoming a litigation guardian requires, under Rule 7 of Ontario’s Rules of Civil Procedure:
| Step | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Sign an affidavit (Rule 7.02) | Confirms you have no conflict of interest with the child, and are fit and willing to act in their best interest throughout the case |
| No independent legal capacity for the child | The child cannot instruct a lawyer, negotiate, or settle on their own at any age under 18 the litigation guardian acts throughout |
| Court involvement at settlement | A judge, not the parent alone, must review and approve any settlement before it becomes binding (Rule 7.08) |
We prepare this paperwork for every client. It is a standard, routine step in every child injury claim in Ontario not a barrier, and not something that should slow your case down if it’s handled correctly from the start.
Drivers. In a child pedestrian accident or bicycle accident, or in a crash where your child was a passenger, the at-fault driver and their insurer are typically responsible. Drivers owe an extra degree of care in school zones, near playgrounds, and on residential streets where children are known to be present courts have long recognized that a driver's duty of care rises in these settings.
Schools, daycares, and camps. Negligent supervision claims arise when staff fail to watch children appropriately for their age and activity, ignore a known hazard, or fall short of the staff-to-child ratios their own policies or licensing require. Whether a claim succeeds often turns on whether the level of supervision actually matched what the activity called for a busy field trip needs closer supervision than quiet indoor play, for example.
Property owners. Under occupiers' liability rules, anyone who controls a store, pool, playground, or apartment building must keep it reasonably safe for children, who are held to a lower standard of hazard awareness than adults. A hazard an adult would obviously avoid may not be obvious to a child, and the law takes that difference into account.
Dog owners. Ontario's Dog Owners' Liability Act makes dog owners strictly liable for a bite or attack your family does not need to prove the owner was careless, only that their dog caused the injury. This standard works in your favour. See our dog bite injury claims page for more detail on how these claims work.
No, you don’t just accept the insurance company’s offer, even if it sounds reasonable. Any settlement for a child in Ontario must be approved by a judge under Rule 7.08 before it becomes final. The judge reviews the settlement terms, the medical evidence, and a sworn statement from the litigation guardian explaining why the amount is fair to the child specifically not just convenient for the adults involved. As of June 2025, updated court rules allow much of this approval process to happen in writing, and require private or sensitive information to be redacted from the public court file before it’s filed, which is a meaningful privacy protection for your child.
Once a settlement is approved, the funds are usually paid into court under Rule 7.09 and held by the Accountant of the Superior Court of Justice until the child turns 18, rather than handed to a parent directly. For larger settlements, a structured settlement or trust may be set up instead, providing scheduled payments timed to the child’s future medical, therapy, and education needs this protects the compensation so it’s actually there for your child as an adult, not spent before they’re old enough to manage it themselves.
In some cases, a court can also direct the Office of the Children’s Lawyer to review a proposed settlement, or to act as litigation guardian if no suitable adult is available. This isn’t automatic in every case it happens only when a judge specifically asks for it but it’s another layer of protection built into Ontario’s system for children who can’t advocate for themselves.
Some injuries do not show their full effect right away, and settling based on an insurer’s first offer risks locking in a number before anyone actually knows the long-term cost.
| Injury Type | Why Settling Early Is Risky | What the Claim May Need |
|---|---|---|
| Concussion / mild brain injury | Can look resolved within weeks, then resurface later as a school learning or attention problem | A neuropsychological assessment before the claim is valued, sometimes months after the injury |
| Growth plate fracture | Affects bone that is still growing; length or alignment problems can appear years after the original break has healed | Orthopedic follow-up through the child’s remaining growth years |
| Spinal cord injury or other catastrophic injury | Full lifetime care needs only become clear as the child develops and their needs change with age | Life-care planning and future cost projection from medical experts |
| Birth injury (cerebral palsy, Erb’s palsy, oxygen deprivation) | A distinct medical malpractice claim, not a standard accident claim, with its own evidence requirements | Medical expert review of the labour and delivery record |
Beyond these specific risks, compensation in a child injury case can include past and future medical and rehabilitation costs, attendant care where your child needs ongoing help with daily activities, costs to adapt your home or vehicle for a permanent injury, loss of future earning capacity where an injury will affect your child’s ability to work as an adult, pain and suffering compensation for the child themselves, and a separate Family Law Act claim for a parent’s own loss of care, guidance, and companionship.
Future costs are usually the largest and hardest part of a child’s claim to calculate, simply because no one can be certain yet how an injury will affect a five-year-old at 25. We work with medical and life-care planning experts to build real evidence for these long-term costs, rather than accepting an early number based only on how your child looks and functions today.
Road and transport injuries pedestrian, bicycle, and passenger injuries, including truck and commercial vehicle collisions, which carry their own distinct liability questions around blind spots and driver training.
School, daycare, and camp injuries negligent supervision and unsafe-premises claims where the level of care didn't match the age of the children or the activity involved.
Sports and recreation injuries organized sports, camps, and playground equipment failures, where coaching negligence or poorly maintained equipment is often the real cause.
Birth injuries — a distinct medical malpractice claim rather than an accident claim, covered in full detail on our dedicated birth injury page.
Our Mississauga injury lawyers guide you step-by-step toward maximum compensation.
We review how the accident happened, the medical records available so far, and who may be legally responsible, and identify who will act as litigation guardian.
We collect school, medical, and specialist records, built to support both the immediate injury and the long-term costs a judge and insurer will eventually need to see.
We counter early lowball offers with documented evidence and a clear position on why the amount is fair to your child specifically, not just convenient to settle quickly.
We prepare the Rule 7.08 motion record and litigation guardian affidavit, and guide you through the court approval hearing itself, so nothing about that process is unfamiliar when the day comes.
Insurance companies sometimes argue that a child contributed to their own accident running into a street, or riding a bicycle without a helmet, for example. Courts do not judge a child by an adult standard. A young child is held only to what a reasonable child of the same age, intelligence, and experience would have done in the same situation, which is a meaningfully lower bar than the standard applied to adults.
Not wearing a helmet during a bicycle accident may reduce compensation in some cases, but it does not usually remove your child’s right to claim against the driver or other responsible party for causing the crash itself. Every case turns on its own facts, so an insurer’s claim that your child was “partly at fault” is something that should be tested against the actual standard the law applies to children, not simply accepted at face value.
| Deadline | What Applies |
|---|---|
| As soon as possible | Get medical care and preserve evidence witnesses, photos, and incident reports don’t wait, even though the legal clock is often paused |
| While your child is a minor | The 2-year limitation period generally does not run without a litigation guardian in place (Limitations Act, 2002, s. 6) |
| At minimum 6 months after a guardian is appointed | Even if an insurer forces early appointment of a litigation guardian, your family keeps this floor before any deadline can expire (s. 9) |
| By age 18, at the latest | The 2-year clock generally starts here if nothing has triggered it earlier |
Because these rules genuinely differ from the adult two-year deadline most people have heard of, it’s worth confirming your specific situation directly rather than assuming either that you’re already too late, or that there’s no urgency at all. Both assumptions can cost a family real compensation.
Your Case, Our Priority
At Maana Law, we believe in providing personalized care and attention to each case. Meet the two passionate leaders of our firm, who are dedicated to securing the best outcomes for our clients:
Aman Kalra, the founder of Maana Law, has spent his career advocating for those affected by negligence and accidents. With his deep commitment to justice and exceptional legal expertise, Aman ensures that each client receives the compensation they deserve. Fluent in both Hindi and English, Aman connects effortlessly with clients from diverse backgrounds, making him a trusted advocate in Mississauga and beyond. His leadership and the team at Maana Law share his passion for excellence in personal injury law.
Gagan is the backbone of our firm’s day-to-day operations, ensuring that everything runs smoothly for our clients. As a law clerk and office administrator, Gagan is often the first point of contact for clients and ensures their needs are met with efficiency and care. A proud alumna of Osgoode Hall Law School, she is a licensing candidate with the Law Society of Ontario. Fluent in English, Hindi, and Punjabi, Gagan bridges language barriers, making sure all clients feel understood and supported in their legal journey.
Common Questions
Nothing up front. Maana Law works on a No Win, No Fee basis for child injury claims you pay legal fees only if we recover compensation for your child.
Often, yes. Not wearing a helmet may reduce compensation in some cases, but it does not usually remove your child’s right to a claim, and the driver or other responsible party can still be held liable for causing the crash itself. Every case depends on its facts, so ask us directly about yours.
The two-year limitation period is usually paused while your child is a minor without a litigation guardian. Even if an insurer forces the appointment of one early, the law guarantees your family at least six months from that point before any deadline can expire. Speak with us early anyway, so evidence is preserved.
Usually not right away. Funds are typically paid into court or placed in a structured settlement or trust for your child, protected until they turn 18, unless the court approves another arrangement.
Some injuries, especially concussions and growth plate fractures, take time to show their full effect. Get your child a medical assessment regardless of how minor the injury looks, and keep the records this protects both your child’s health and any future claim.
Legal Steps to Take Following a Car Accident in Ontario Being involved in a car accident can be a daunting experience, but knowing the legal
Car Accident Services in Ontario What You Need to Know Experiencing a car accident can be a stressful and overwhelming situation. In Ontario, understanding the
Understanding Your Rights After a Car Accident in Ontario Owning a vehicle in Ontario is not just about the freedom of driving; it comes with
Manna Law is located at 90 Matheson Blvd W Suite 101, Mississauga, ON L5R 3R3, Canada.
If you would like to visit our law office and are traveling by bus from downtown Mississauga, take the MiWay Bus to Square One Terminal. Then, walk west (around 5-7 minutes) to reach our office at 90 Matheson Blvd W. The approximate travel time is about 20-30 minutes.
If you are traveling by car from downtown Mississauga, head west on Dundas Street towards Hurontario Street. Turn right onto Hurontario Street, continue for a short distance, and our office will be on your left. The approximate travel time is about 5-10 minutes (depending on traffic).
We are available 24/7.
For additional questions, you can call us at +1 437-979-4878 or check our reviews on Google.
