Aviva has agreed to settle a certified class action over pandemic-era business income insurance claims brought by Ontario denturists.
Ontario's Superior Court of Justice has approved a notice plan for settling the class action against Aviva Insurance Company of Canada, brought by a denturist and his professional corporation on behalf of Ontario denturists.
The class covers denturists insured by Aviva under a Commercial Insurance Policy issued on behalf of the Denturist Association of Ontario, through its Denturist and Hearing Aid Specialists Program. The policy, bearing Policy 81278157, included Restricted Access and/or Negative Publicity coverage under a Business Income - Actual Loss Sustained (Broad Form Perils) provision, Form 402014-02.
Members of the class submitted claims for lost business income after access to their premises was restricted by a civil authority order - including Ontario's March 23, 2020 mandatory closure order - or by any later civil authority order, or as a direct result of a COVID-19 outbreak within one kilometre of their premises.
It was certified on July 27, 2021. The following month, Aviva supplied class counsel with the names, addresses, emails and phone numbers of class members so that direct notice of the certification could be distributed.
On July 2, 2026, the parties signed a Settlement Agreement, conditional on court approval under section 29(2) of the Class Proceedings Act, 1992. The approval motion, brought on consent of Aviva, was heard in writing on August 10, 2026.
Justice E.M. Morgan approved the Notice of Proposed Settlement and a Pre-Approval Notice Plan for reaching class members, finding the notice "appropriately informative" and consistent with the methods used for the earlier certification notice.
The notice plan sets an objection deadline of August 28, 2026, giving class members a window to raise concerns with the proposed settlement before a separate hearing considers final approval.
The file carries a Commercial List number rather than a standard class proceeding number, a result of procedural history that included a period on the Commercial List. The court directed that this formality not affect the filing of this or any future motion materials, which are to proceed as though the file carried a class proceeding number.
The order does not disclose the settlement's financial terms or resolve any coverage dispute on the merits. It governs only the process for informing class members and setting up their opportunity to object, ahead of the court's later decision on whether to approve the settlement itself.
