Can a pensioner who signed a loan agreement be held liable for breach of contract?

1468025 Ontario Limited v. 998614 Ontario Inc., 2015 ONSC 7216, aff’d 2016 ONCA 504 involved financial arrangements between two companies controlled by a son and his father. The plaintiff son sought to enforce a loan agreement against the father and his company. The father relied on non est factum, claiming that at the time he signed the loan agreement, he was 68 years old with a limited capacity to read English, and only a grade one education. The court held that the father was literate enough to be able to understand the general nature of the signed agreement, and that he had, in fact, understood it. Further, on the father’s own version of events, he had signed the agreement without attempting to read it and without asking any questions. This despite the fact that he was in a law office at the time, with a lawyer with whom he was comfortable. The court found he was careless, and declined to accept the defence.