The Ontario government plans to introduce legislation next spring that will modernize the province’s construction industry, which accounted for 6.7 per cent of Ontario’s GDP in 2015.
Over the past 18 months, construction law experts Bruce Reynolds and Sharon Vogel of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (BLG) have led a thorough and comprehensive review of the Construction Lien Act, and issued a report “Striking the Balance:” Expert Review of Ontario’s Construction Lien Act.”
The Construction Lien Act sets out the rules regarding who has a lien (security against the property) and the process by which lien claimants can administer their rights.
In their report, Bruce and Sharon made more than 100 recommendations addressing a wide variety of issues, such as:
• Elongated payment cycles causing a wide ripple effect to industry participants;
• Inefficient dispute resolution resulting in a drain on judicial resources and the provincial construction economy;
• The disruptive nature of federal insolvency legislation on construction projects in the event of contractor insolvency; and
• A variety of technical issues noted by stakeholders to be frustrating the purpose of the Construction Lien Act.
To read the full report, click here: “Striking the Balance:” Expert Review of Ontario’s Construction Lien Act
