Missed the Lien Deadline in Ontario? What You Can Still Do

First, make sure you’ve actually missed it

A surprising number of people who think the lien is dead are wrong in one direction or the other. Check these before you give up on it — or before you assume you’ve got more time than you do:

• Which rules apply? Contracts signed, or procurements started, before July 1, 2018 run on the old Construction Lien Act and its shorter clock. Everything since runs on the current Act.
• What was your real last day? The clock usually runs from your last day of actual work or delivery. Coming back to fix a deficiency, or to pick up your tools, normally doesn’t move it. But if you did more real work later than you think — work you invoiced — the date may be later.
• Was a certificate of substantial performance published? Publication on a trade news site can start the clock for everyone who supplied before it, whether they saw it or not. It can also mean work you did afterwards has its own, separate lien.
• Is it public land? On municipal and provincial jobs the claim for lien is served on the municipal clerk or the ministry instead of being registered on title. On federal land there is no lien at all — look for a payment bond.

The details are on how to register a construction lien. If you’re anywhere close, call a lawyer today rather than reading further.

What’s usually still open

The trust claim — the one most trades never hear about

Under the Construction Act, money a contractor receives — or is owed — for your job is held in trust for everyone who supplied work and materials to it, until they’re paid. Using that money for another job, for overhead, for the bank or for the owners themselves is a breach of trust.

Three things make it powerful. It doesn’t depend on a lien, so it survives an expired one. The directors and anyone who controls the company can be personally liable if they knew, or ought to have known, what was going on. And since January 2026 it can be combined with a lien claim in one action. The full picture is on construction trust claims.

The payment bond nobody mentioned

A labour and material payment bond is a kind of insurance that pays trades and suppliers when the contractor doesn’t. A public contract over $500,000 must have one. Private jobs sometimes do too — and nobody thinks to ask.

• Ask the owner and the GC, in writing: “Is there a labour and material payment bond on this project, and who is the surety?” A section 39 request has to disclose it.
• The standard Ontario bond form gives written notice to the surety within 120 days of your last supply — for holdback, 120 days after you should have been paid — and a lawsuit within one year of the contractor’s last work. Read the actual bond, because private bonds use their own wording.
• Since January 2026, lower-tier trades can recover under the standard bond without having preserved a lien.

Adjudication — if you’re still inside 90 days

Since January 1, 2026, you can start an adjudication up to 90 days after the contract is completed, abandoned or terminated. For a sub, the 90 days can run from your own last supply. An adjudicator decides in about a month once your documents are in, and the other side has 15 days to pay. Fees and the honest small-claim math are on construction adjudication.

Suing for the debt

Whatever happens to the lien, the contract debt is still there. You generally have two years from when you knew you had a claim. Small Claims Court handles claims up to $50,000, it costs $108 to file, and you don’t need a lawyer. The catch is collecting once you win — read Small Claims for unpaid construction invoices before you file.

The clock that keeps running while you talk

Here’s the trap. You’re negotiating in good faith, they keep promising a cheque, and the two-year limitation clock keeps running the whole time. Talking doesn’t stop it.

What does help: a clear, written, signed acknowledgment of a specific amount owed, made before the limitation runs out, restarts the clock. An Ontario court has accepted an email for this. So ask them to confirm the balance in writing. If they do, you’ve bought yourself time. If they won’t, that tells you something too.

Questions trades ask

Not legal advice. This is general information from an Ontario builder, current to October 2026. Your dates and rights depend on your contract and your facts — confirm them with an Ontario construction lawyer before you rely on them. Read the Construction Act on ontario.ca.

Getting paid: the full set of guides