Federal Prompt Payment For Construction Work Act Comes Into Force

The Federal Prompt Payment for Construction Work Act (the Act) came into force on December 9, 2023. The Act represents a major milestone in a process that included an industry engagement initiated in January 2018, royal assent given in June 2019 and the publication of regulations under the Act in February 2023, and which follows the enactment of similar prompt payment legislation in Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta.

Prompt payment initiatives are in various stages of implementation in other provinces; for instance, prompt payment statutes in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Manitoba have received royal assent but are not yet in force, while Québec has completed a successful prompt payment pilot project and British Columbia is currently conducting prompt payment consultations. In each of these other provinces, the Act creates the interesting dynamic of leading the application of prompt payment legislation in the context of those construction projects covered by the