Payment Clock Ontario

Know every construction payment deadline before it costs you.

Prompt payment, the new annual release of holdback, and Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) clearance certificates, calculated for your role on the project. Free, no sign-up.

Construction Act, as amended January 1, 2026Calendar daysAdd deadlines to your calendar
I'm the
Added to calendar entries and copied dates so you can tell projects apart. Not saved.

Your invoice

The owner is whoever hired you as general contractor: the property owner, a developer or a public body. Enter the day they received your proper invoice.
Optional. Leave blank if none was given.
Optional. Leave blank if you haven't been paid.
What makes an invoice "proper"?
  1. Contractor's name and address
  2. Invoice date and the period the work or materials were supplied
  3. The contract or subcontract it's billed under
  4. Description of what was supplied, with quantities
  5. Amount payable and payment terms
  6. Name, title, phone and mailing address of who gets paid
  7. Anything else your contract requires

Add all to calendar (.ics)

Not paid on time?

Interest is owed

Interest starts the day a payment is late. The rate is Ontario's prejudgment interest rate, or your contract's rate if it's higher (Construction Act s. 6.9).

Adjudication

A qualified adjudicator decides a payment dispute quickly, without going to court. On a subcontract, start within 90 days after your work is finished or you last supply work or materials (s. 13.5). If the other side doesn't pay the decision on time, you can stop work until they do (s. 13.19). Run by Ontario Dispute Adjudication for Construction Contracts (opens in a new tab).

Lien rights

Your lien rights end 60 days after the earliest of: your last day of work or supply, the contract ending, or a certificate of substantial performance being published (s. 31). A claim for lien must be registered before then. Payment Clock doesn't track this date.

This is general information, not legal advice. If money is overdue, talk to a construction lawyer early: some of these deadlines are short.

Coming soon

Deadline reminders by email

We're building a tracker that remembers these dates for you. Tap the button if you'd use it; that tells us what to build first. No email needed.

  • Every project and invoice in one list
  • An email two days before anything is due
  • A warning before a subcontractor's clearance certificate expires

Three deadlines Ontario contractors often miss

28 / 7 / 7

Prompt payment

The owner must pay a proper invoice within 28 days. Whoever hired you must pay you within 7 days after they are paid. The latest is day 35 for the general contractor and day 42 for subcontractors. To hold back money in a dispute, a payer must give a written notice of non-payment on time.

New in 2026
14 days

Annual release of holdback

The 10 per cent holdback is now paid out once a year, on the anniversary of the contract date. The owner must publish a notice within 14 days of the anniversary. Each payer then has 14 days to pass the holdback down.

90 days

WSIB clearance certificate

A clearance certificate is valid for up to 90 days. If a subcontractor's certificate has expired, you may have to pay their unpaid WSIB premiums, up to the value of the labour in the contract.

Questions

What if a deadline lands on a weekend or holiday?

The clock counts calendar days. Under Ontario's Legislation Act, a deadline that ends on a Sunday or holiday moves to the next day that isn't one, and the calculator moves it for you. Those holidays include Easter Monday and Remembrance Day but not the August Civic Holiday. Saturday isn't a holiday, so Saturday dates are flagged rather than moved: act by Friday to be safe.

My contract was made before 2026. When is the first annual release of holdback?

A special rule for older contracts (Construction Act s. 87.4) sets it at the second anniversary of the contract date after January 1, 2026. The calculator uses that rule. The first payment covers all the holdback kept before then. Contracts made before July 1, 2018 follow the old Construction Lien Act instead.

I'm a subcontractor. How do I know when the general contractor's invoice reached the owner?

Ask whoever hired you. A subcontractor that pays its own subcontractors has the right to get this date from the general contractor (Construction Act s. 6.6 (10)), so if another subcontractor hired you, ask them and they can find out. The date sets the whole payment chain, all the way down. Until you have it, tick "I don't know this date yet" to see the rules that apply to you. If you've already been paid, enter that date too: you then have 7 days to pay your own subcontractors.

Who is the "owner"?

The owner is whoever hired the general contractor. It can be the property owner, a developer, a landlord making improvements, or a public body such as a school board, hospital or city. Someone buying a newly built home is not the owner. If you're a subcontractor, the owner is still the party at the top of the chain, not the general contractor.

What do these words mean?
Proper invoice
An invoice with all the details the Act requires (see "What makes an invoice proper?" in the calculator). The payment clock starts when the owner receives it.
Deemed a proper invoice
If the owner doesn't object in writing within 7 days, the invoice counts as proper.
Notice of non-payment
A written notice, on the official form, saying how much won't be paid and why. Without one on time, the full amount is owed.
Holdback
The 10 per cent each payer keeps back from every payment.
Annual release of holdback
Paying out the holdback once a year, on the anniversary of the contract date.
Adjudication
A fast decision on a payment dispute by a qualified adjudicator, instead of going to court.
Lien
A legal claim against the property for unpaid work or materials. It must be registered before a short deadline.
Clearance certificate
A Workplace Safety and Insurance Board document showing a company's account is in good standing.
Is this legal advice?

No. Payment Clock calculates dates from the Construction Act and the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board's clearance certificate policy. It doesn't review your contract. Confirm anything important with a construction lawyer.