Who is responsible for hotel charges if primary cardholder disappears?

I am about to meet with an online friend in Canada and they have offered to pay for the hotel charges. Would I be responsible for paying if they/their card disappear?

• hotel location: Canada
• additional named guests listed in hotel booking: only me
• booking method: online

It is a possibility that we stay at the hotel for a few days, and one of us accidentally (or intentionally) makes major damage which is not fully covered by the pre-charge/deposit. Alternatively, it is possible for them to cancel their card between checking in and checking out, or their credit limit is lower than what the hotel wants in return for the damages.

Generally speaking, no. The person who checks in, pays the deposit and signs the form is the one that the hotel will hold responsible for any damage, and this will be stated in the small print nobody ever reads in that form and/or the original online reservation.

The hotel may try to guilt you into taking responsibility if your online friend does a runner, but they have no legal standing to do so since you're not a party to their contract.

As an aside, as the comments have already noted, this is a somewhat odd line of enquiry. If you don't trust that your "friend" will pay the bill, are you sure you trust them enough to stay overnight in the same room? Or did all this actually happen already and the hotel is now trying to make you responsible?