Under Ontario's Construction Act, a contractor, subcontractor, or supplier who has not been paid must preserve a lien by registering it on title within 60 days of the last date they supplied services or materials, then perfect it within 90 days by starting a court action. Missing either deadline can permanently extinguish the lien. A Toronto construction lien lawyer moves quickly to protect these strict timelines.
- The 60-day preservation deadline runs from substantial performance, contract completion, or abandonment — whichever applies to your situation.
- A lien must then be perfected within 90 days of the last date it could have been preserved, by starting a court action and registering a certificate of action.
- Missing either deadline can mean permanently losing the right to register the lien — these timelines are not generally extendable.
- A registered lien attaches to the property, giving you leverage that an ordinary unsecured debt claim does not.
- Lien claims can proceed alongside a trust claim under the Construction Act, which gives additional protection against funds being diverted.
- Owners facing a lien have their own options, including vacating the lien by paying money into court.
What Is a Construction Lien?
A construction lien is a legal claim registered against a property by a contractor, subcontractor, or supplier who has not been paid for work or materials that improved that property. It gives you security against the property itself, rather than leaving you with only an ordinary, unsecured claim against a debtor who may be difficult to collect from. Ontario's Construction Act governs the process, and it moves on a strict, largely non-extendable timeline.
The 60-Day Preservation Deadline
To preserve a lien, it must be registered on title within 60 days. That 60-day clock generally begins on the earliest of: the date the contract is completed, the date a certificate or declaration of substantial performance is published, or the date the contract is abandoned or terminated. Because different triggering events apply to different projects and different parties on the same project, identifying the correct start date is often the most consequential decision in a lien claim.
Failing to register within the 60-day window generally means permanently losing the right to register a lien against that property — there is no general extension for missing it, regardless of the reason.
The 90-Day Perfection Deadline
Preserving the lien is only the first step. To keep it alive, it must then be perfected within 90 days of the last date it could have been preserved — by commencing a court action to enforce the lien and registering a certificate of action on title. Two separate clocks, two separate filings, both mandatory. See our related guide on enforcing a judgment in Ontario Superior Court for what happens after a lien claim succeeds and proceeds to judgment.
| Step | Deadline | What's Required |
|---|---|---|
| Preserve | 60 days | Register the lien on title |
| Perfect | 90 days after the preservation deadline | Start a court action; register a certificate of action |
Trust Claims Under the Construction Act
Beyond the lien itself, the Construction Act creates statutory trusts over certain construction-related funds — meaning money received for a project must generally be held and applied to pay those who did the work, before being used for other purposes. A trust claim can provide an additional avenue for recovery, including in some cases against individuals who diverted trust funds, alongside or instead of a lien claim.
Lien and trust claims are not mutually exclusive. We routinely assess both avenues together to maximize a contractor's or supplier's realistic recovery.
If You Are the Owner Facing a Lien
Property owners are not without options when a lien is registered. A lien can be challenged on validity grounds, or vacated — removed from title — by paying an amount into court (typically the lien amount plus an allowance for costs), which frees up the property while the underlying payment dispute is resolved separately. This is often essential where a pending sale or refinancing is at risk because of a registered lien.
How We Help
- Urgent deadline assessment. We calculate your preservation and perfection deadlines immediately — this is not work that can wait.
- Registration. We prepare and register the claim for lien correctly, including the amount, the property description, and the parties.
- Perfection and litigation. If payment is not resolved, we commence and register the court action required to perfect the lien within the 90-day window.
- Resolution. Many lien claims resolve through negotiation once registered, given the leverage a lien provides — but we are prepared to litigate to judgment where necessary.
A subcontractor completes their portion of a Toronto commercial build and is not paid the final $40,000 owed. Learning that the general contractor published a certificate of substantial performance three weeks earlier, we register the lien within days — well inside the 60-day window — securing the claim against the property before any risk of losing that right.
If you have not been paid for construction work or materials, call our Toronto construction lien lawyers at 416-274-2222 immediately — these deadlines do not wait.
Frequently Asked Questions
You have 60 days to preserve the lien by registering it on title. The 60-day clock generally starts from the earlier of the date the contract is completed or substantially performed, or the date it is abandoned or terminated.
You generally lose the right to register a lien against the property. You may still have a claim for breach of contract or an unpaid account, but you lose the security and priority that a registered lien provides.
Preserving a lien means registering it on title within 60 days. Perfecting it is the second step — starting a court action and registering a certificate of action on title, which must happen within 90 days of the last date the lien could have been preserved. Both steps are required to keep the lien alive.
Yes, potentially — you may still have a breach of contract or unpaid account claim, pursued as an ordinary lawsuit. But you lose the lien's security against the property, which often gives significant leverage in construction disputes.
The Construction Act creates statutory trusts over funds received for a construction project, meaning certain payments must be held and used to pay those who did the work before being used for other purposes. A trust claim can provide an additional remedy alongside, or instead of, a lien claim.
You have several options, including disputing the validity of the lien, or "vacating" it by paying an amount into court (often the lien amount plus security for costs), which clears title while the underlying dispute is resolved separately.
Yes — the Construction Act's lien and trust provisions apply broadly across residential and commercial construction contracts in Ontario, though the specific facts of when the clock starts can vary by project.