Federal Prompt Payment for Construction Work Act: Deadlines & Adjudication
The Federal Prompt Payment for Construction Work Act (S.C. 2019, c. 29, s. 387) governs construction work on federal real property anywhere in Canada. It came into force on December 9, 2023 with its two regulations, and its shape is unlike any provincial regime: a single ladder of payment days counted from the day the Crown received the proper invoice, days that skip Saturdays, holidays and the end of December, no deeming rule, no undertaking to adjudicate, and no lien.
Tiercord models the Act together with the law of the province where the work is performed: provincial law can affect holidays and the holdback cap, and Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta are designated for the regime below the Crown tier. New federal projects are available for work in British Columbia, Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The legal comparisons below also retain provinces that are not currently offered for new projects.
One ladder, counted from the Crown's receipt
Every tier's payment day and notice day run from the same event: the day Her Majesty or the service provider received the contractor's proper invoice. A subcontractor's clock does not start when the subcontractor invoices; it started when the Crown received the prime invoice, and Section 9
| Tier | Pays by day | Notice of non-payment by day | Section |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Crown or service provider pays the contractor | 28 | 21 | Sections 9 |
| A paid contractor pays its subcontractors | 35 | 28 | Sections 10 |
| A paid subcontractor pays its own subcontractors | 42 | 35 | Sections 11 |
| Each deeper tier | 49, then +7 per tier | 42, then +7 per tier | Section 11 |
Days are counted under SOR/2023-269 Section 3: Saturdays, holidays under Section 35
Federal prompt-payment deadlines at a glance
The Crown tier of the Act, with the section each clock comes from. The 21-day referral window (Section 16
| Clock | Value | Statute |
|---|---|---|
Owner payment due Days from a proper invoice until the owner must pay or deliver a notice of non-payment. Federal PPCWA Section 9 | 28 days | Federal PPCWA Section 9 |
Notice of non-payment window Window to dispute an invoice. Miss it and the amount is generally payable in full. Federal PPCWA Section 9 | 21 days | Federal PPCWA Section 9 |
Deemed-proper review window This province has no deemed-proper-invoice provision. | No statutory rule | Not applicable |
Pay your subcontractors After being paid, days to pass payment down to subcontractors. | No pay-when-paid rule: each tier pays by its own day from the Crown's receipt | Not applicable |
Pay subs even if unpaid If the owner has not paid, subs must still be paid by this day when you are the contractor billing the owner, or 42 days when you are a subcontractor paying your own subcontractor, or the matter referred to adjudication. Federal PPCWA Section 10 | 35 days | Federal PPCWA Section 10 |
Undertaking to adjudicate When refusing to pass payment down, the payer must undertake to refer the dispute to adjudication within this window. | No undertaking (s. 13(c) statement instead) | Not applicable |
Adjudication referral window Time after the contract is complete to refer a dispute to adjudication. Refer later and the referral is a nullity. Federal PPCWA Section 16 | 21 days after completion | Federal PPCWA Section 16 |
Adjudicator determination Days for the adjudicator to issue a binding determination after receiving the claimant's documents. SOR/2023-271 Section 22 | 20 days | SOR/2023-271 Section 22 |
Comply with determination Days to pay an amount ordered by an adjudicator. Federal PPCWA Section 19 | 10 days | Federal PPCWA Section 19 |
What the work province changes
Holdback under the Act is contractual, capped at what the province's construction law would retain and released no later than that law's date (Section 12
Federal prompt-payment FAQ
Which projects does the federal Act apply to?
Construction work for a construction project located in Canada in respect of federal real property or a federal immovable (s. 5): contracts with Her Majesty or with a federal service provider, and every subcontract below them. There is no value threshold and no residential or professional-services carve-out. It has been in force in every provision since 2023-12-09.
What is different about the federal deadlines?
Every tier counts from the same day, the day the Crown received the proper invoice: the Crown pays by the 28th day, a paid contractor pays its subcontractors by the 35th, a paid subcontractor by the 42nd, and each deeper tier seven days later. Notices of non-payment fall seven days before each tier's own payment day. Saturdays, statutory holidays and December 24 to January 1 are not counted at all.
Is there a lien or a statutory holdback on a federal project?
No lien: the Act creates none and provincial lien statutes cannot charge federal real property. Holdback is contractual, capped at what the province's construction law would retain and released no later than that law's date (s. 12). In Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta the s. 12 cap does not bind the Crown-to-contractor tier at all.
What does it mean that Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta are designated?
SOR/2023-270 designates the three provinces whose own regimes met the federal criteria. There, the federal Act still governs the Crown-to-contractor tier (28-day payment, 21-day notice, CanDACC adjudication), but every subcontract below it is governed by the provincial Act instead, with that province's day counts, forms and holdback rules.
Who adjudicates a federal payment dispute?
Canada Dispute Adjudication for Construction Contracts (CanDACC, operated by ADR Chambers Inc.), the Adjudicator Authority designated under s. 15. Only the unpaid party may refer, no later than the 21st day after the later of receiving a certificate of completion and the expiry of the payment limit for the last proper invoice (s. 16(2)). A determination must be paid within 10 days of its receipt (s. 19(1)).
Track federal deadlines automatically
Tiercord counts every clock above from the Crown's receipt, skips the excluded days, hands the tiers below the Crown to the province where the Act does, and keeps a tamper-evident record.