Does a homeowner owe the same duty of care as a business to someone visiting in Ontario?

Not exactly the same in practice, even though both are governed by the identical Occupiers' Liability Act standard of reasonable care. Courts recognize that what counts as reasonable naturally differs between a business inviting members of the public in for commercial purposes, which is generally expected to have more systematic safety practices - regular inspections, trained staff, and documented maintenance - and a private homeowner hosting personal guests occasionally, where the same level of formal system simply is not realistic to expect.

This does not mean homeowners are somehow exempt from liability; they can absolutely be found to have breached their duty of care, particularly where a known hazard was left unaddressed. Rather, the purpose of the visit and the nature of the relationship between the parties shape what precautions are considered reasonable in that specific context. The result is that the same underlying legal duty is applied with the realistic circumstances of a private home in mind, rather than assuming a homeowner should operate with the same formal systems and record-keeping expected of a commercial property manager.