If you haven’t already heard, Ontario is in the middle of
a huge overhaul of its principal construction statute, now known as
the Construction Act (“Act”).
Much has been written about the new requirements affecting
landlords and the leasing world, such as the new holdback on
allowances and the elimination of landlords’ s.19(2)
rights.
It is important not to lose sight of unchanged provisions that
can impact landlords.
One such unchanged provision is the definition of
“owner”. Can a landlord be an “owner” under
the Act?
Section 19(5) of the Act now confirms what we always knew: a
landlord may be an “owner” if it meets the definition
under the Act. This opens up the landlord’s leasehold and
freehold interests to a construction lien for
improvements made by the tenant.
