Ontario Construction News staff writer
Ontario contractors are facing a major regulatory shift with the provincial government passing Bill 60: Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, 2025 this week. The legislation introduces amendments to the Construction Act. The changes affect multi-year civil and infrastructure projects and aim to streamline administration and cash flow.
Holdback release uncoupled from lien expiry
The most significant change under Bill 60 is the decoupling of annual holdback release from mandatory annual lien expiry. Earlier amendments under Bill 216, which are not yet in force, linked lien expiry to holdback release, automatically freeing funds each year.
Bill 60 reverses that approach, maintaining the existing lien periods while still allowing annual holdback release. Contractors can now expect funds to be released 60 to 74 days after publication of a notice of annual release.
The change is particularly important for public-private partnership agreements. Amendments to subsection 87.4(5) confirm that certain agreements signed before late 2024 will continue under the previous rules, avoiding retroactive disruption for multi-year transportation, healthcare and utilities projects where financing is closely tied to contract terms.
Clive Thurston, president of Thurston Consulting Services former president of the Ontario General Contractors Association, says the changes “will improve the process and bring us closer to the system it’s based on in the UK.”
“Is it perfect? No. It is never possible for humans to get things perfect,” Thurston said. “Is it better? Yes, no question. Are there still some things that need addressing? Absolutely. And because the system is built to adapt, I believe these issues will be better addressed in the future.”
Noting there were skeptics when previous reforms were introduced,” Thurston says the Act moved forward “because it needed to and it made sense.”
“When we first succeeded in moving this forward as an industry, there were a few ‘sky is falling’ voices who wanted to be exempt or cried they couldn’t possibly comply,” he said. “The fear of a tsunami of adjudications did not appear and many of my then-members reported owners were paying more promptly.
“More education on how it worked and the value of adjudication was evident and delivered. Yet here we are: the sky did not fall, and there has been a much more improved system allowing trades and general contractors to get paid.”
Termination and notice rules clarified
Bill 60 also revises termination provisions. Under the new rules, a Notice of Termination must be published within seven days of the termination event. The termination date is legally deemed to be the publication date of that notice, or the date of the first notice if multiple notices are issued. The province says the measure is intended to reduce disputes over lien rights.
Section 30, which restricts the use of holdback funds to obtain substitute services until all liens have expired or been discharged, has been revised. The term “defaults” has been replaced with “abandonment or termination”, which could affect how parties document performance issues or frame disputes.
While chages improve access and choice with adjudication, clarify designer rights and improve timelines, Thurston says more will be needed.
“Major large corporations—homegrown and foreign—are still trying to circumvent the Act’s requirements,” he said. “Smaller and mid-size companies are intimidated and coerced into accepting timelines that exceed the Act. While adjudication helps, they are again intimidated not to use it for fear of being blacklisted from bidding.
“There is no process to deal with these situations, no reporting system, no whistleblower protection, no penalty to bring these large owners, who believe they don’t have to abide by our laws, into line.”
The amendments maintain the push toward faster, more predictable holdback release cycles while removing the annual lien expiry system. Contractors can expect improved cash flow during multi-year projects, but lower holdback reserves near project completion could affect subcontractor security.