Can a corporation sue for defamation in Ontario the same way a person can?

Yes. A corporation can sue for defamation in Ontario over statements that damage its business reputation, using largely the same legal framework that applies to an individual plaintiff, since a company's commercial reputation is considered a protectable interest in much the same general way a person's personal reputation is protected under the same body of law.

There are some practical differences, though. A corporation cannot claim damages for personal hurt feelings or emotional distress the way an individual plaintiff can, since a corporation simply does not experience those things, so its damages generally focus on demonstrable harm to its business reputation, such as lost customers, lost contracts, or damage to its standing within its industry. Because corporations often have an easier time pointing to concrete financial consequences than an individual plaintiff might, provable losses can end up playing a larger practical role in a corporate defamation claim, even though the presumed-damage principle discussed elsewhere still applies to the reputational harm itself in the same general way it does for an individual.