Ontario legal information · Ottawa and Eastern Ontario
The useful question is more specific than the page title.
Routine deletion before a dispute is anticipated is different from destroying material after litigation is reasonably expected.2
An honest explanation and technically sound recovery effort are safer than altered screenshots or a reconstructed conversation presented as original.
Keep responsibility, available coverage and actual loss in separate columns.
Legal route
Civil procedure can require production of relevant electronic records.
Insurance or benefit route
Insurers may request material relevant to a benefit or fraud investigation, subject to proper scope.
Practical decision
Privacy, privilege and third-party rights should be reviewed before broad device collection.
Build the record from material another person can verify.
Device, account and deletion chronology.
Cloud backup, export and recipient copies.
Metadata, original format and chain of custody.
Preservation notices and recovery steps.
Protect the next date without pretending every claim follows one clock.
Act before backups rotate, devices are replaced or accounts close.3
Evidence preservation does not replace filing within a limitation period.
How a personal injury lawyer may use this information.
General information explains the framework. Legal advice should connect that framework to the event, the people and insurers involved, the available records and the deadlines in the individual claim.
- Freeze further deletion
- Locate independent copies
- Preserve metadata
- Explain gaps accurately
Not every file requires every step or legal representation. The work should respond to the actual dispute, evidence gap or decision that is approaching.
Sources and legal references
These official sources provide the legal and procedural foundation for this page. Their current wording and the facts of the claim control.
View 3 sources
- Ontario — Rules of Civil Procedure
Ontario civil procedure, including parties under disability, discovery, settlement and trial.
Back to footnote ↑ - Ontario — Limitations Act, 2002
Ontario's basic limitation and discoverability framework, subject to important exceptions.
Back to footnote ↑ - Ontario — Negligence Act
Apportionment of fault and contribution between people responsible for a loss.
Back to footnote ↑