Every payer on an Ontario construction job holds back 10% of every payment. Getting it back runs on strict legal clocks — and since January 1, 2026, holdback on long projects must be released every year, not just at the end. Enter your dates below and get every deadline, with the section of the Act it comes from.
Estimates based on the Ontario Construction Act as amended effective January 1, 2026. Not legal advice — confirm your dates with your lawyer or accountant.
One date is all you need to start. Add the Form 6 publication date later if you have it.
The annual-release rules apply to contracts entered into on or after July 1, 2018. For contracts signed before January 1, 2026, the anniversary that falls in 2026 is skipped — the first mandatory release is the first anniversary on or after January 1, 2027 (s. 87.4).
Every date below is the latest allowed day unless it says otherwise. Paying earlier is always fine — paying later is where interest, disputes, and adjudication start.
Enter either date — or both. If you enter both, the release clock starts on the earlier one.
Liens must be preserved before they expire. This timeline assumes no liens were preserved or perfected against the holdback — if one was, the money generally stays held until the lien is resolved.
From the day the clock starts to the day the last tier down the chain should be paid.
Before 2026, holdback on a three-year job could sit untouched for three years — a real cash-flow drag on contractors and subs. The amended Act now forces owners to release each year's accrued basic holdback annually, on a published schedule.
Every payment date in this calculator assumes no lien has been preserved or perfected. A preserved lien against the holdback holds that money in place until the lien expires, is discharged, or is resolved — the calendar alone no longer controls it.
The Notice of Annual Release of Holdback (Form 6) must be published in a construction trade publication: Daily Commercial News, Link2Build, or Ontario Construction News. The publication date — not the anniversary — is what starts the 60-day payment clock.
This calculator handles one contract at a time. The full product — now in development — watches every job you run at once, so no anniversary, Form 6 deadline, or lien expiry ever sneaks up on you or sits unclaimed.
Holdback owed to you and owed by you, per project, per draw — accrued, releasable, released, and overdue, always current.
Automatic reminders before every anniversary, publication deadline, lien expiry, and payment date — for you and for the people who owe you.
Polite, firm, Act-referenced letters generated from your ledger when a release is due — so asking for your own money takes one click, not an afternoon.
For contractors and subs tracking their own jobs and the holdback owed to them.
More active jobs, the full payment chain in both directions, and release letters for every tier.
Run holdback for every construction client from one dashboard — anniversaries and deadlines across your whole book.
A small pilot group of Ontario contractors and construction bookkeepers will test the full product first. No signup form yet — this page is the calculator, nothing more.