New Amendments to the Construction Lien Act

As a part of the Ontario Government's "Open for Business" initiative, the Ontario Legislature recently passed the Open for Business Act, 2010. This Act includes the following noteworthy changes to the Construction Lien Act:

• Amendment to the definition of "improvement;"
• Requirement that an owner publish notice of the intended registration of a condominium;
• Removal of the requirement for an Affidavit of Verification for a claim for lien to be valid; and
• deal with the enforcement of sheltered liens.

Definition of "Improvement"

In the recent Kennedy Electric decision, the court held that the supplier of a 100,000 square-foot, 500,000 ton assembly line consisting of 100 mezzanines and 165 platforms did not have lien rights, because the supply of the assembly line did not fall within the definition of an "improvement" since it was portable. In what was likely a response to this case, the definition of an "improvement" now expressly includes