What are the elements required to establish a claim of negligent misrepresentation?

The elements required to establish a claim of negligent misrepresentation were set out by Iacobucci J. in Queen v. Cognos Inc., 1993 CanLII 146 (SCC), [1993] 99 D.L.R. (4th) 626 (S.C.C.) at 643: The decisions of this court cited above suggest five general requirements: (1) there must be a duty of care based on a "special relationship" between the representor and the representee; (2) the representation in question must be untrue, inaccurate, or misleading; (3) the representor must have acted negligently in making said misrepresentation; (4) the representee must have relied, in a reasonable manner, on said negligent misrepresentation; and (5) the reliance must have been detrimental to the representee in the sense that damages resulted.

In Kingu v. Walmar Ventures Ltd., supra, at para. 22, McLachlin J.A. also dealt with the requirements of tort liability for a claim of negligent misrepresentation. One of the requirements set out was "a duty of care on the person making the statement to the recipient". However, she said that duty of care does not arise unless: (a) the person making the statement is possessed of special skill or knowledge on the matter in question, and (b) the circumstances establish that a reasonable person making that statement would know that the recipient is relying upon his skill or judgments... In the previous paragraph, she said: ... the question of whether a duty of care in tort arises must be carefully scrutinized in the light of all the surrounding circumstances, including the rights and obligations which the parties have themselves established by their contract. In para. 25, in dealing with the liability of vendors of a hotel for representations made by them as to the clientele and financial status of the hotel, she said: ... before a duty of care arises with respect to a gratuitous statement, it must be established that the maker is possessed of special skill or knowledge and that a reasonable person in his position would have realized that the recipient of the statement was relying on it.