What is the test for liability for negligent infliction of mental harm?

Liability for negligent infliction of mental harm is conditioned upon the claimant showing (i) that the defendant owed a duty of care to the claimant to avoid the kind of loss alleged; (ii) that the defendant breached that duty by failing to observe the applicable standard of care; (iii) that the claimant sustained damage; and (iv) that such damage was caused, in fact and in law, by the defendant’s breach: Saadati v. Moorhead, 2017 SCC 28 at para. 13.

The first question is whether a duty of care was owed by the defendants to the plaintiff. This question is answered by first determining whether the proposed cause of action fits within an established category of relationships giving rise to a duty of care. Where the relationship between the plaintiff and defendant is of a type that has already been judicially recognized as giving rise to a duty of care, or is analogous to a recognized duty, a court may usually infer that sufficient proximity is present and that if the risk of injury was foreseeable, a prima facie duty of care will arise. See Paxton v. Ramji, 2008 ONCA 697 at para. 30 and authorities cited.