Prompt payment rules for construction in Canada

STA 0+120How the payment clock runs

Where prompt payment legislation is in force, it follows the same basic shape everywhere it exists:

1. The contractor (or subcontractor) submits a proper invoice.
2. The owner has a fixed number of days to pay it in full — 28 days under Ontario's Construction Act¹, Alberta's Prompt Payment and Construction Lien Act², Saskatchewan's Builders' Lien Act³, Manitoba's Builders' Liens Act⁴ and the federal real property regime⁵.
3. If the owner disputes the invoice, it must issue a notice of non-payment within a shorter window — 14 days in Ontario¹, Alberta², Saskatchewan³ and Manitoba⁴, 21 days federally⁵.
4. Once the contractor is paid, it has to pay its subcontractors within a further short window — 7 days in Ontario¹, Alberta², Saskatchewan³ and Manitoba⁴.
5. An unpaid party can refer the dispute to adjudication rather than waiting for a civil claim to work through the courts.

STA 0+240Status and timelines by jurisdiction

Quebec and the remaining Atlantic provinces are not included above because a confirmed prompt payment timeline was not verified for them in the current research.

STA 0+360British Columbia and Nova Scotia: passed, not active

This is the distinction most worth getting right. British Columbia's Construction Prompt Payment Act received Royal Assent on November 27, 2025 but is not yet in force; it comes into effect on a future date set by regulation, and once it does, the 28-day owner-payment clock, 7-day subcontractor clock and 14-day dispute notice apply, with the adjudication authority still to be named⁸. Nova Scotia passed its own prompt payment and adjudication amendments through Bill 119 (2019) and Bill 211 (2022), but the government has stated it is still developing supporting regulations, and no prompt payment timelines currently sit in the consolidated Act⁹. In both provinces, a contractor working today is still on the older builders lien framework for payment timing, not the new one.

STA 0+480Federal real property contracts

The Federal Prompt Payment for Construction Work Act covers federal real property projects. The Crown or its service provider must pay a proper invoice no later than the 28th day after receiving it, with a notice of non-payment due no later than the 21st day⁵. A contractor paid by the Crown must pay each subcontractor no later than the 35th day after the Crown received the invoice, with its own notice of non-payment due by the 28th day; a subcontractor paid that way must in turn pay its own subcontractors no later than the 42nd day⁵. Interest on a late amount is calculated at the average bank rate plus 3% simple interest per year, and Saturdays, statutory holidays and the period from December 24 to January 1 are excluded from every day-count¹⁰. Alberta's provincial prompt payment regime, in force since August 29, 2022, specifically exempts Government of Alberta project contracts, which fall under the Public Works Act instead⁶ — a reminder to check which regime actually governs a given public contract rather than assuming.

STA 0+600What counts as a proper invoice

The clock does not start on any piece of paper called an invoice; it starts on a "proper invoice" as each act defines it, which generally means one that identifies the contractor, describes the work or materials and the period covered, states the amount claimed and how it was calculated, and is submitted in a form the contract or the act allows. An invoice missing required backup, sent to the wrong party, or submitted before the work it bills for was actually done, is not a proper invoice yet, and a dispute over whether the clock has even started is one of the more common early flashpoints in a prompt payment claim. Contractors working on a jurisdiction's prompt payment regime for the first time should confirm exactly what their contract and the applicable act require an invoice to include before assuming a submission date is also the clock-start date.

STA 0+720What adjudication actually does

Adjudication is not arbitration and it is not a lawsuit. It is a fast, interim determination by a qualified adjudicator, meant to keep cash moving on a live project rather than freezing payment for months while a full dispute works through the courts. A losing party can generally still pursue the underlying dispute later through litigation or arbitration; adjudication settles who pays what right now, not who was ultimately right. That distinction is the point of the whole system: a subcontractor with cash tied up in a disputed invoice does not have to choose between walking off a job and funding months of litigation just to keep working. Each jurisdiction designates its own nominating authority to run the process and maintain a roster of qualified adjudicators — Alberta, whose regime took effect August 29, 2022, uses ARCANA and ADACC⁶; Saskatchewan, in force since March 1, 2022, uses the Saskatchewan Construction Dispute Resolution Office⁷ — and a party has to refer a dispute to that authority to get an adjudicator assigned.