The Ontario “Construction Lien Amendment Act” Passes

On December 5, 2017, the Ontario Legislature passed Bill 142 – the “Construction Lien Amendment Act” which will dramatically change and modernize the Ontario Construction Lien Act (to be re-named the Construction Act) – legislation that has stood in place in this Province with little in the way of change for decades.

Those involved in the construction industry that will be affected by this new legislation – from owners to lenders to contractors to suppliers – have different and varied interests and so it’s no surprise, really, that there will likely be little consensus as to what changes will represent an improvement to the current regime and which ones will prove problematic. From conversations I’ve had and seminars I’ve attended, though, it seems that there is fairly widespread agreement that 1) some of the changes are overdue and 2) the learning curve for both industry players and their lawyers is going to be relatively steep as the changes take effect.

It’s expected that the amended legislation will roll out and come into force sometime in 2018.