Good Samaritan law

First Aid & CPR Ontario

The Good Samaritan: compassion and protection

Drawn from the Bible (Luke 10:25-37), the parable of the Good Samaritan tells of a traveller left for dead who is rescued by a stranger that tends to him and sees to his care. Beyond its religious context, it carries a universal message: the moral duty to help others in danger, through compassion and altruism.

Inspired by this principle, many so-called Good Samaritan laws have been enacted around the world to protect those who assist in good faith during an emergency from legal action. The exact scope of that protection, however, varies from one jurisdiction to another: here is what the law applicable to your region provides.

Statute citation

Governing act Good Samaritan Act, 2001, S.O. 2001, c. 2; Chase McEachern Act (Heart Defibrillator Civil Liability), 2007, S.O. 2007, c. 10, Sched. N
Scope of protection A person who voluntarily provides emergency aid without expectation of compensation is not liable for damages resulting from their negligence, unless the damages were caused by gross negligence. The Act does not cover professionals acting in the course of their employment.
Duty to rescue No
AED liability protection Protected
Statute Chase McEachern Act (Heart Defibrillator Civil Liability), 2007 — protects the voluntary, good-faith use of a defibrillator (AED), except for gross negligence
No legal duty to rescue AED protection

Your protection under the law

In Ontario, the Good Samaritan Act, 2001 shields anyone who steps in to help a person in distress, voluntarily and with no expectation of payment: they cannot be held liable for damages arising from ordinary negligence, the only exception being gross negligence. The Chase McEachern Act, 2007 reinforces that assurance by expressly covering the good-faith use of an automated external defibrillator (AED). These protections do not, however, extend to professionals acting in the course of their employment.

No duty to act, but every reason to

In Ontario, the law does not compel a bystander to step in: helping remains a personal choice, never a legal obligation. Yet the moment you choose to act in good faith, the province stands behind you, and that protection reaches all the way to pulling an AED off the wall. The only question that truly remains is whether you will know what to do.

Why training matters

During a cardiac arrest, every minute without resuscitation cuts the chance of survival by roughly 10 percent. Ontario's paramedics do remarkable work, but they cannot be everywhere at once: it is the bystander, right there on the scene, who forms the first link in the chain of survival. Learning CPR and how to use an AED turns those decisive minutes into life-saving action instead of letting them slip away in the wait. The person you save may be a loved one, a colleague, or a stranger you happen to reach in time.