Canada
Canada was, until recently, “a bit of an outlier” — most US states and most common-law countries had adopted Prompt Payment Legislation long before Canada did. Since 2019 it has been catching up through a province-by-province rollout layered on top of its existing construction-lien regimes. The Ontario Construction Act regime came into force on 1 October 2019, Alberta’s Prompt Payment & Construction Lien Act on 29 August 2022, and a federal Prompt Payment for Construction Work Act applies to federal projects (with Canada Dispute Adjudication for Construction Contracts, CanDACC, as adjudicator authority).
Canada [part-of] Prompt Payment Legislation Canada [relates] Ontario Construction Act
The shared architecture cascades deadlines down the Construction Payment Pyramid: an owner must pay a contractor within 28 days of a “proper invoice”, the contractor must pay subcontractors within 7 days of receiving payment, and so on. Disputes go to fast interim Construction Adjudication — a determination is binding and enforceable like a court order but not final. Ontario amendments effective 1 January 2026 added a mandatory annual release of the 10% statutory holdback and permitted private adjudicators.
Canada [regulates] Construction Payment Pyramid Canada [relates] Construction Adjudication
Canada’s defining weakness is the gap between enactment and force. British Columbia’s Construction Prompt Payment Act received Royal Assent on 27 November 2025 but is not yet in force — it awaits regulations, an adjudication authority and a transition period. Nova Scotia’s amended Builders’ Lien Act (Bill 119) received Royal Assent in April 2019 and still has not come into force years later. The result is an uneven national map in which a subcontractor’s statutory protection depends entirely on the province and on whether that province’s law has actually been proclaimed — a milder version of the implementation-lag problem seen acutely in South Africa.
Canada [supports] Construction Payment Problem
Connections
- Ontario Construction Act — first Canadian prompt payment regime, source: 2019
- Prompt Payment Legislation — Canada is a recent adopter, source: 2026
- Construction Adjudication — interim remedy across the provinces, source: 2026
- Construction Payment Pyramid — payment cascade the laws regulate, source: 2026