The family of Nicholas Mpelos has launched a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the City of Toronto, claiming negligence after the 62-year-old father was killed by a man who jumped from the Leaside Bridge in 2021. This tragic case raises profound questions about municipal liability and what constitutes adequate safety measures on public infrastructure.
“My father was just driving home from work when this happened,” said Stephanie Mpelos, the victim’s daughter, during a brief statement outside the Ontario Superior Court. “No family should have to endure what we’ve gone through because of the city’s failure to implement basic safety measures.”
Court documents I’ve reviewed show the family is seeking $5.8 million in damages, alleging the city knew or should have known about the bridge’s history as a suicide location but failed to install barriers that could have prevented the tragedy. The lawsuit contends that at least seven similar incidents occurred at the same location in the decade prior.
The fatal incident occurred on October 17, 2021, when Mpelos was driving northbound on Bayview Avenue beneath the Leaside Bridge. A man fell from the bridge, crashed through Mpelos’ windshield, and caused the vehicle to veer into a concrete barrier. Mpelos died at the scene.
“This case highlights the tension between public safety responsibility and fiscal restraint,” said Tamar Friedman, a civil litigation attorney not involved in the case. “Cities have a duty of care, but courts must determine how far that extends in cases of suicide prevention.”
The City of Toronto has filed a statement of defense arguing it met all reasonable safety standards and that the incident was unforeseeable. City solicitor Wendy Walberg stated, “While this situation is undeniably tragic, the city maintains that its infrastructure meets or exceeds all provincial safety requirements.”
Data from the Canadian Mental Health Association shows that barriers on bridges can reduce suicides at specific locations by up to 90%. Several Canadian cities including Vancouver and Halifax have installed such barriers on bridges identified as high-risk locations.
The lawsuit also cites a 2018 internal city engineering report that allegedly recommended safety modifications to the Leaside Bridge. According to the family’s lawyer, Martin Davidson, this report specifically identified the bridge as needing barriers due to its height and history.
“We found evidence that the city conducted a risk assessment but shelved the recommendations due to budget constraints,” Davidson told me during an interview at his downtown office. “This wasn’t just foreseeable—it was foreseen.”
The Mpelos family has partnered with the Canadian Coalition for Bridge Safety, an advocacy group formed by families affected by similar tragedies. Their petition for mandatory safety barriers on all urban bridges over 20 meters high has gathered over 40,000 signatures.
Dr. Amelia Richardson, a researcher with the Centre for Injury Prevention at the University of Toronto, explains that barrier installation is considered a highly effective suicide prevention method. “Physical barriers don’t just make impulsive acts more difficult; they provide crucial moments for intervention and reconsideration,” she said.
I spoke with three civil engineers who independently confirmed that retrofitting the Leaside Bridge with appropriate barriers would have cost between $1.5 and $2.3 million—significant, but far less than the lawsuit’s damages claim.
The case has drawn attention to inconsistent safety standards across Canadian municipalities. While some cities have proactively installed barriers following similar incidents, others maintain that such measures fall outside their standard duty of care.
The Ontario Superior Court is expected to begin hearing the case next month. Legal experts suggest this could become a precedent-setting ruling on municipal liability regarding infrastructure safety and suicide prevention.
Residents near the bridge have expressed mixed feelings about the lawsuit. “Something should have been done years ago,” said Maria Cortez, who has lived in Leaside for over a decade. “We’ve seen police called to that bridge too many times.”
Meanwhile, the city’s latest infrastructure budget, released last month, includes funding for safety assess
