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Ontario guide

Ontario

Which laws set a contractor's payment and safety duties in Ontario?

Three instruments do most of the work on an Ontario construction job. The Construction Act sets when you invoice, when the owner must pay, the 10% holdback, liens and adjudication. The Occupational Health and Safety Act and the Construction Projects regulation, O. Reg. 213/91, set the notice of project, the site notices and the incident reports.

Payment and liens: the Construction Act

The contractor gives the owner a proper invoice. The owner has 7 days to say it is deficient and 14 days to give a notice of non-payment, and pays every amount it does not dispute within 28 days. Every payer retains a 10% holdback, and an unpaid party can preserve a lien within 60 days, by registering a claim for lien on title or, where the lien cannot attach to the premises, giving the owner a copy (s 15, 16, 31(2)-(7), 34(1), (3)-(5); O. Reg. 304/18 s 11, 11.1).

How the Act works, or read every duty the library holds from the Construction Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C.30 (Ontario).

Site safety: the OHSA and O. Reg. 213/91

The constructor must file a notice of project with the Ministry before beginning work on a project that meets a threshold (OHSA s 23(2); reg 6(1)-(5)). The constructor and the employer must notify an inspector, and the joint health and safety committee, health and safety representative and trade union, immediately when a person is killed or critically injured at a workplace (s 51(1), 66; O. Reg. 420/21 s 1(1)), and the employer sends a written report within 48 hours.

How the safety rules work, or read every duty the library holds from the Occupational Health and Safety Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. O.1 (Ontario) and the Construction Projects, O. Reg. 213/91 (Ontario).

What this page is, and is not

It is the section text this library holds for Ontario's Construction Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C.30 (Ontario), the Occupational Health and Safety Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. O.1 (Ontario) and Construction Projects, O. Reg. 213/91 (Ontario), with the window and the consequence. It is not legal advice, and it is not a substitute for reading the Acts, the regulations and the contract you signed.

Demiton does not yet track Ontario projects. These pages set out the duties; the product does not run these checks on an Ontario job today.

No library of law is complete, and Demiton never says this one is. An obligation the library does not hold, and you did not add, is not protected. You can add your own to any job.

Every document we hold

Common questions

Which laws set construction payment and safety duties in Ontario?

Three instruments do most of the work on an Ontario construction job. The Construction Act sets when you invoice, when the owner must pay, the 10% holdback, liens and adjudication. The Occupational Health and Safety Act and the Construction Projects regulation, O. Reg. 213/91, set the notice of project, the site notices and the incident reports.

Which statute sets construction payment and lien deadlines in Ontario?

The Construction Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C.30 (Ontario). Its windows include a notice of non-payment within 14 days of the owner receiving a proper invoice, payment within 28 days, and a lien preserved within 60 days.

Which contracts do the prompt payment and adjudication rules cover?

Parts I.1 (prompt payment) and II.1 (adjudication) do not apply to a contract entered into before 1 October 2019, to a later contract whose procurement the owner commenced before that day, or to a subcontract under either (s 87.3(4)). A contract entered into, or procured, before 1 July 2018 stays under the Act as it read on 29 June 2018 (s 87.3(1)).

What changed in the Construction Act on 1 January 2026?

The amendments in force on 1 January 2026 (Building Ontario For You Act (Budget Measures), 2024, Sched. 4) apply to every other improvement from that day (s 87.4(2)), except as s 87.4(3) to (7) provide: the annual holdback release starts later for a contract entered into before that day (s 87.4(4)). 15 days from 1 January 2026 (2024, c. 20, Sched. 4, s. 23); the Act said 10 days before then.

When is a notice of project needed in Ontario?

File a notice of project with the Ministry before beginning work on a project that meets a threshold (OHSA s 23(2); reg 6(1)-(5)). Thresholds (reg 6(1)): labour and materials expected to exceed CAD 50,000 (CAD 250,000 in an automobile factory); erecting or structurally altering a building over two storeys or 7.5 metres; demolishing a building at least 4 metres high with at least 30 square metres of floor; a bridge or earth or water retaining structure over 3 metres, or a silo or chimney over 7.5 metres; work in compressed air; a tunnel, caisson, cofferdam or enterable well; an enterable trench over 300 metres long, or over 1.2 metres deep and over 30 metres long; an ice road; or any work the regulation requires an engineer to design.

Does Demiton track Ontario projects?

Not yet. These pages set out the duties the library holds for Ontario; the product does not run these checks on an Ontario job today.

Does Demiton hold every Ontario duty?

No library of law is complete, and Demiton never says this one is. An obligation the library does not hold, and you did not add, is not protected. You can add your own to any job.