Ottawa Construction News staff writer
Ontario Construction News (OCN) is the first Ontario construction trade news website to provide a dedicated digital filing service for Form 6 (Notice of Annual Release of Holdback), ensuring the province’s construction industry can meet the new mandatory reporting requirements that came into force on Jan. 1.
The updated service, available immediately at ontarioconstructionnews.com/certificates, addresses the recent amendments to the Construction Act. These changes mandate that owners release holdback funds on an annual basis for multi-year projects, rather than waiting until the end of a contract—a significant shift designed to improve cash flow across the supply chain.
“The industry is adapting to a major legislative shift this year with the mandatory annual release of holdback,” said Chase, publisher of Ontario Construction News. “We have upgraded our platform specifically to handle the new Form 6 filings, ensuring that owners and contractors can comply with these annual obligations just as easily as they have always handled their Certificates of Substantial Performance.”
While the standard Form 9 (Certificate of Substantial Performance) continues to be published as usual to trigger the 60-day lien period upon project completion, the new Form 6 is required specifically for the annual release of accrued holdback funds.
“Compliance with the annual release rules is critical for keeping projects moving and ensuring trades get paid on time,” Chase added. “By digitizing the Form 6 submission process, we are simplifying what could otherwise be a complex administrative hurdle. Our system provides the immediate proof of publication required by the Act to greenlight those funds.”
Construction professionals can now access the reporting tool for both Form 6 (Annual Release) and Form 9 (CSP) directly through the OCN website.
OCN is a Canadian Owned and Operated daily digital construction newspaper and website compliant with Construction Act regulations, providing essential news, tender information, and certificate publication services to the province’s architecture, engineering, and construction community. OCN is the only provider to offer free universal search for all Form 6 (Annual Release) and Form 9 (CSP )and other notice requirements at certificatesubstantialpeformance.com.
