Does Ontario's Good Samaritan Act protect someone who tries to help at an accident scene?

Yes. Ontario's Good Samaritan Act protects a person who voluntarily and without expecting compensation provides emergency first aid or medical assistance at the scene of an accident or other emergency from being sued for damages resulting from that care. The idea is to encourage bystanders, and off-duty professionals who happen to be present, to step in and help without fear of a lawsuit over imperfect but genuinely well-intentioned assistance given in a stressful, fast-moving situation.

This protection is not unlimited, though. It generally does not cover situations where the helper was grossly negligent - meaning a serious, marked departure from what a reasonable person would do, not just an honest mistake - and it does not protect someone who caused the emergency in the first place from also claiming this protection for how they responded afterward. It also generally does not extend to people who are acting within the scope of a paid professional duty to respond, such as an on-duty paramedic performing their job, since the Act is aimed at protecting voluntary bystander assistance rather than substituting for professional standards of care that already apply in that context.