This article was originally published on Law360TM Canada (www.law360.ca), part of LexisNexis Canada Inc.
The Construction Act R.S.O. 1990, c. C.30, as we know today, originally came into force on March 1, 1983, as the Construction Lien Act. This Act laid the foundation of construction law in Ontario. The Construction Lien Act was amended and renamed as the Construction Act on July 1, 2018. The purpose of the Construction Act is to ensure protection of contractors, subcontractors and suppliers. It provides an efficient structure to protect them by securing prompt payment methods with strict deadline rules and resolving construction disputes through adjudication process.
With the most recent changes to the Construction Act that became effective January 1, 2026, an attempt has been made to streamline and broaden the scope of some of the provisions relating to holdbacks, prompt payments and adjudication. These changes were introduced through two Bills, Bill 216, Building Ontario for You Act (Budget Measures) 2024 and Bill 60, Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, 2025 along with Ontario Regulations 264/25, 265/25, 266/25, and 267/25 that were filed on November 27, 2025. These Regulations support the major amendments to the Act introduced through Bill 60. All these regulations either amend or replace O. Reg. 306/18.This article will focus on three major changes that came into force at the beginning of this year.