Surveillance is lawful and common in Ontario injury and disability claims. It records short periods in public and is routinely presented out of context. Being filmed doing something once is not evidence that you can do it repeatedly or sustain it through a working week.
What it usually is
An investigator recording from a public place over a few days, producing perhaps a few minutes of usable footage from many hours. It is legal, and it happens in serious claims more often than people expect.
It is also used in long-term disability files, sometimes years into a claim.
Why a clip proves less than it appears to
Most injuries fluctuate. A person can lift a bag on a good day and be unable to work a full week regardless. Footage of the good day says nothing about the other six.
It also cannot record pain, medication, or what the following day looked like. Those are the things the claim is actually about.
Where it does real damage
Surveillance hurts most when it contradicts something you said. If you told an assessor you never drive and there is footage of you driving, the problem is the inconsistency rather than the driving.
That is the practical lesson: describe your limitations accurately, including the good days. Overstating is what surveillance is designed to find.
Questions we get every week
Generally yes, in public places. There are limits, and footage obtained improperly can be challenged.
No. Doing something once is not proof of the capacity to do it repeatedly or to sustain employment.
No. Live your life and follow your treatment plan. What matters is that how you describe your limitations is accurate.
Where this applies
Long-Term Disability
Most long-term disability denials in Ontario are not about whether you are ill.
Read moreInsurance Disputes
Ontario insurers owe policyholders a duty of good faith in how they handle a claim.
Read moreTraumatic Brain Injury
A traumatic brain injury can be severe and permanent while every scan comes back normal.
Read more