Canadian provinces have enacted legislation, generally known as
Builders' Lien or Mechanics' Lien Acts that allow a claim
for a lien against real property. A contractor, doing work for a
tenant, is given an opportunity to make the landlord's interest
in the property subject to the lien in addition to the tenant's
interest. At the same time, the legislation provides protection to
landlords and owners from being unwittingly bound by liens against
their property for work commissioned by their tenants. This
protection can be found in section 12(1) of New Brunswick's
Mechanics' Lien Act, RSNB 1973, c M-6 which was
recently considered by Justice McNally of the New Brunswick Court
of Queen's Bench in Penniac Construction Limited v. Cominar
Real Estate Investment Trust et al., 2013 NBQB 232 and wherein
McNally J. followed Ontario judicial interpretations of what
constitutes "notice to landlords", which could bind their
property and make them liable to pay such a lien, under
