$500 idea · Pattern-breaking · Canada · Edition 012
Ontario set a legal minimum of $1,000 an hour for construction adjudicators.
Not a cap. A floor. Since 1 January 2026, a private adjudicator under Ontario’s Construction Act is forbidden by regulation to charge less than $1,000 an hour on any adjudication they conduct. Of each of those hours, $350 goes to the Authority, capped at $30,000 per file. The adjudicator keeps $650.
The capital is CAD $702.85 (USD $500 at 1.4057, Bank of Canada daily average, 21 October 2026 — the 22 and 23 October rates had not been posted at the time of writing) and the target is CAD $7,028.50 a month (USD $5,000), or CAD $84,342.00 a year. The claim of this edition is that Ontario’s interim adjudication regime is sold as a cheap remedy for small subcontractors, that its own numbers show the small-claim half of it is decoration, and that on 1 January 2026 the province quietly moved the money from the claimant’s side of the table to the adjudicator’s.
Here is what actually happened. Bill 216, the Building Ontario for You Act, 2024, and the Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, 2025 rewrote Part II.1 of the Construction Act. Schedule 4, s. 15 amended s. 13.9 so that parties may jointly appoint a private adjudicator of their own choosing instead of drawing one from the roster held by the Ontario Dispute Adjudication for Construction Contracts. The private adjudicator must still be trained and certified by ODACC; a roster adjudicator may not moonlight as one. Then O. Reg. 264/25, which replaces O. Reg. 306/18 entirely and came into force on 1 January 2026 under Order in Council 1523/2025, priced the new class. Section 21(b) fixes the private adjudicator’s rate at a minimum of $1,000 per hour. Section 23 sends ODACC a flat $350 of every hour billed at $1,000 or more, with the Authority’s administrative fee capped at $30,000 per adjudication.
That flat $350 is the whole trick, and almost nobody has read it against the old schedule. ODACC’s published fee schedule — approved by the Attorney General on 1 October 2024 — takes 50% of the adjudication fee when that fee is $3,000 or less and 40% when it is more. On a roster adjudicator billing the top hourly band of $850, the Authority takes $340.00 an hour and the adjudicator nets $510.00. Push the rate to $999.99 and the Authority takes $400.00 and the adjudicator nets $600.00. Cross to $1,000.00 and the rule changes: the Authority takes $350.00 and the adjudicator nets $650.00. A one-cent increase in the posted rate is worth $50.00 an hour.
The percentage rule and the flat rule are equal at exactly $875.00 an hour — 40% of $875 is $350 — so every rate between $875 and $1,000 is strictly worse for the adjudicator than the floor the regulation now imposes. Above $1,000 the Authority’s marginal take is zero: the adjudicator keeps every dollar of any further increase. And because the $30,000 cap is reached after 85.71 hours on a single file, the long adjudication pays the adjudicator $1,000 an hour at the margin, not $650.
Now the other side of the table, from the regulator’s own accounts. ODACC’s 2025 Annual Report, covering 1 August 2024 to 31 July 2025, records 324 adjudications commenced and 143 determinations. Claimants asked for $205,597,884.82; determinations required $26,610,365.85 to be paid, 12.94% of what was claimed. The median claim was $212,811.77. The median amount ordered paid was $73,658.18. One hundred and sixteen adjudications, 35.80% of them, were terminated before a determination — 43 settled, 20 went to other means, 11 died on jurisdiction, 42 for other reasons.
The fee accounts are where the non-consensus reading lives. ODACC received $1,648,439.61 in adjudication fees, kept $672,623.94 as its administrative fee and passed $975,815.67 to adjudicators. That is a realised take of 40.80%. Since the rule is 50% below $3,000 and 40% above, a take of 40.80% means only 8.04% of all fee dollars — about $132,535 — came from the fixed small-claim bands. The cheap end of the schedule, the part built for the subcontractor owed $9,000, produced one dollar in twelve.
It is priced to produce exactly that. A claimant with a $9,999 claim pays half of a flat $1,600 fee: $800, or 8.00% of the claim. Add one dollar to the claim and the fee jumps to $2,000, the claimant’s half to $1,000, and the ratio to 10.00%. One dollar of claim costs $400 of fee. The same cliff repeats at $25,000 and at $35,000. At the median claim of $212,811.77 the adjudicator bills $300 an hour and ten hours of work costs the claimant about 0.7% of the claim — eleven times cheaper, proportionally, than the small claim the regime was advertised to serve.
So the bench is where the money went. The warning sits in the same report: $975,815.67 shared out, and Table 2’s hourly-rate counts sum to 57 adjudicators. That is $17,119.57 each for the year, 2.51 determinations each, and 20.30% of this edition’s target. ODACC qualified 2 of 8 applicants that year and only 7 of the corps can adjudicate in French. The door is narrow, the regulation has just set a price floor behind it, and the average person already inside earns a fifth of what this ladder is aiming at.
The evidence
7 findingsSection 21(b): a minimum, not a maximum
O. Reg. 264/25 replaces O. Reg. 306/18 entirely and came into force on 1 January 2026 under Order in Council 1523/2025. Section 21(b) fixes the hourly rate of a private adjudicator at a minimum of $1,000; in Gowling WLG’s reading of the same provision, an adjudicator must charge “a minimum fee of $1,000 per hour or more for all adjudications they perform.”
Section 23 sets what the Authority receives. Per McMillan: “$350 of each hourly fee would be payable in administrative fees to ODACC, up to $30,000.” Gowling adds that the $350 attaches to any adjudicator billing $1,000 an hour or more, roster or private. Fasken and DLA Piper independently report the same two figures — the $1,000 floor and the $30,000 cap per adjudication. Private adjudicators are certified by ODACC on a shorter process, under a different fee structure, and are not listed on the roster. O. Reg. 264/25 · McMillan Legal Update 173 · Gowling WLG
The amendment that created a second bench
Bill 216, the Building Ontario for You Act, 2024, Schedule 4, s. 15(1) and 15(2), amended s. 13.9(2), (2.1) and (4) so that parties to a referred dispute may jointly select a private adjudicator rather than take a registry adjudicator from the Authority’s roster. The private adjudicator must be trained and certified by ODACC, and an adjudicator on the roster may not also act as a private adjudicator.
The same package, completed by the Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, 2025, widened what may be adjudicated — scope of work, requests to change the contract price, time extensions, labour and material payment bond disputes — let adjudicators rule on challenges to their own jurisdiction, let any party require consolidation, and required determinations to be published anonymously. Adjudication must now be commenced within 90 days of the contract being completed, abandoned or terminated. Bill 216, Sch. 4, s. 15 summarised · In force 1 January 2026
The old rate card, and the take at each hop
Fixed Adjudication Fees, split equally between claimant and respondent unless the adjudicator orders otherwise, plus HST. Amount claimed up to $9,999: $1,600. $10,000 to $24,999: $2,000. $25,000 to $34,999: $3,000. $35,000 to $49,999: $4,000. Above that the adjudicator bills hourly: $50,000 to $249,999 at $300; $250,000 to $499,999 at $450; $500,000 to $1,000,000 at $600; over $1,000,000 at $850.
The Authority’s cut is paid by the adjudicator, not the parties: 50% of the Adjudication Fee where that fee is $3,000 or less excluding HST, 40% where it is more. Referral Fee to ODACC: $0 under $50,000, $600 at or above. Certification Fee: $0 under $50,000, $120 at or above. On a sub-$50,000 file terminated by agreement within 15 days of appointment the parties pay half the fee; later, all of it. ODACC Schedule of Fees
What the certificate costs, and who sells it
ODACC Training Course: Ontario Dispute Adjudication for Construction Contracts, required of adjudicator applicants: $1,195 plus HST. Qualification examination fee, payable on applying for a Certificate after completing the course: $300 plus HST. Annual refresher for certified adjudicators: $225 plus HST a year. The training fees sit outside the Attorney General’s fee approval of 1 October 2024.
The course is not run by the Authority. It is delivered by the Stitt Feld Handy Group, whose Vice President Elinor Whitmore and ADR instructor Jason Stitt are named in ODACC’s own report alongside ODACC’s Managing Director, Elise Teitler. In the 2025 fiscal year 32 people took the training, which ran twice, and 53 took continuing education. Adjudicator fees · the course
324 adjudications, $205,597,884.82 claimed, $26,610,365.85 ordered
Commenced 324. Determinations rendered 143 — 122 from the year’s own commencements, 21 from earlier ones. Open at year end 57. Terminated under s. 13.14 116: settled 43, agreed to other means 20, no jurisdiction 11, other 42. Timely determinations 87 of 143, 61%. Total claimed $205,597,884.82, average $634,561.37, median $212,811.77. Total required to be paid $26,610,365.85, average $186,086.47, median $73,658.18.
Money. Adjudication Fees received $1,648,439.61; Referral Fees $119,120; Certification Fees $10,299.99; total to ODACC from adjudications $1,777,859.60. Administrative Fee retained by ODACC $672,623.94; paid to adjudicators $975,815.67 plus applicable taxes. Training fees $31,554.50, qualification examination fees $2,350, continuing education $11,066.25. 2 of 8 applicants were qualified and certified. 7 adjudicators can conduct proceedings in French; Table 2’s hourly-rate counts sum to 57. ODACC 2025 Annual Report
One dollar of claim, $400 of fee
Claimant’s share is half the Adjudication Fee. At a claim of $9,999: 1,600 ÷ 2 = $800, and 800 ÷ 9,999 = 8.00%. At $10,000: 2,000 ÷ 2 = $1,000, and 1,000 ÷ 10,000 = 10.00%. One dollar of claim adds $400 of fee and $200 to the claimant’s half, and raises the ratio by 2.00 points.
The cliff repeats. $24,999 → 4.00%, $25,000 → 6.00%; $34,999 → 4.29%, $35,000 → 5.71%; $49,999 → 4.00%. Then it inverts: at the median claim of $212,811.77 the rate is $300 an hour, so ten hours costs the claimant 1,500 ÷ 212,811.77 = 0.705% — plus the $600 referral and $120 certification fees that only apply at $50,000 and above. The $9,999 claimant pays 11.35× the proportional rate of the median one.
10.81 hours a month, against a bench earning $17,119.57 a year
Capital: 500 × 1.4057 = CAD $702.85. Target: 5,000 × 1.4057 = CAD $7,028.50 a month, CAD $84,342.00 a year, CAD $337.37 over 250 working days. Certificate: 1,195 + 300 = $1,495 before tax, $1,689.35 at 13% HST. The capital covers 702.85 ÷ 1,495 = 47.01% of it, 41.60% with tax, and is short $792.15.
Net per hour. Below the floor, 40% to ODACC: 850 × 0.60 = $510.00; 999.99 × 0.60 = $600.00. At and above it, a flat $350: 1,000 − 350 = $650.00; 1,500 − 350 = $1,150.00. The jump at the floor is $50.00. The rules are equal at 350 ÷ 0.40 = $875.00. The cap bites at 30,000 ÷ 350 = 85.71 hours on one file, after which the marginal rate is the full $1,000.
Diagram coordinates: x = 90 + r × 0.3933333, y = 320 − v × 0.2166667. Adjudicator’s line (90, 320) to (483.33, 190) then (483.33, 179.17) to (680, 70.83). Authority’s line (90, 320) to (483.33, 233.33) then flat at y = 244.17. The $875 crossing: x = 434.17. The floor: x = 483.33.
The target in hours: 7,028.50 ÷ 650 = 10.81 hours a month, 84,342 ÷ 650 = 129.76 a year. On the roster’s top band instead: 7,028.50 ÷ 510 = 13.78 a month. On its bottom band: 7,028.50 ÷ 180 = 39.05. On the $1,600 fixed band, where the adjudicator nets $800 a file: 7,028.50 ÷ 800 = 8.79 adjudications a month, 105.43 a year, which is 32.54% of every adjudication Ontario commenced.
What the schedule proves about itself: 672,623.94 ÷ 1,648,439.61 = 40.80%. Solving 0.50x + 0.40(1 − x) = 0.4080 gives x = 8.04% of fee dollars in the $3,000-and-under bands, about $132,535. Payout ratio 26,610,365.85 ÷ 205,597,884.82 = 12.94%. Termination rate 116 ÷ 324 = 35.80%; settled 43 ÷ 324 = 13.27%. The bench: 975,815.67 ÷ 57 = $17,119.57 a year each, $1,426.63 a month, 20.30% of target; 143 ÷ 57 = 2.51 determinations each; 84,342 ÷ 17,119.57 = 4.93× the average. Qualification rate 2 ÷ 8 = 25.00%; French capacity 7 ÷ 57 = 12.28%. Referral fees imply 119,120 ÷ 600 = 198.53 claims at $50,000 or more, 61.27% of the 324. BoC FXUSDCAD
The ladder
From $500 to $5,000 a month · C$702 → C$7,017CAD $702.85 against $1,195 for ODACC’s training course and $300 for the qualification examination — $1,495 before tax, $1,689.35 with HST. The capital covers 47.01% of it and is short $792.15. There is no instalment and no waiver. The gap is 2.35 billable hours at the floor, which is the whole point of the rest of the ladder.
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Accept that the capital does not reach the certificate
CAD $702.85 against $1,195 for ODACC’s training course and $300 for the qualification examination — $1,495 before tax, $1,689.35 with HST. The capital covers 47.01% of it and is short $792.15. There is no instalment and no waiver. The gap is 2.35 billable hours at the floor, which is the whole point of the rest of the ladder.
702.85 ÷ 1,495 = 47.01% · short $792.15 -
Read s. 21(b) as a floor, because that is what it says
O. Reg. 264/25 does not cap what an adjudicator may charge. It forbids a private adjudicator from charging less than $1,000 an hour, on every adjudication they conduct. A provincial regulation that sets a minimum professional fee at four figures an hour is not a thing Ontario does twice. It came into force on 1 January 2026 under OIC 1523/2025 and it replaced O. Reg. 306/18 outright.
O. Reg. 264/25 s. 21(b) · in force 2026-01-01 -
Price the Authority’s cut at each hop, not as one number
ODACC takes 50% of an adjudication fee of $3,000 or less and 40% above it — but once the posted rate reaches $1,000 an hour, s. 23 replaces the percentage with a flat $350 an hour, capped at $30,000 per file. That is three different take rules on the same work, and they do not meet smoothly.
50% ≤ $3,000 · 40% > $3,000 · flat $350 at $1,000/hr -
Find the cent that is worth fifty dollars
At $999.99 an hour the Authority takes $400.00 and you net $600.00. At $1,000.00 it takes $350.00 and you net $650.00. One cent of posted rate is worth $50.00 an hour. And the two rules are equal at $875.00, so every rate you might have chosen between $875 and $1,000 is strictly worse than the floor the regulation hands you.
999.99 × 0.60 = $600.00 → 1,000 − 350 = $650.00 -
Bill long files, because the cap is a second raise
The $30,000 administrative cap is reached at 85.71 hours on a single adjudication. Every hour after that carries no cut at all, so the marginal rate goes from $650 to the full $1,000 — a 53.85% raise that only the long, consolidated, scope-of-work disputes the 2026 amendments just made adjudicable will ever reach.
30,000 ÷ 350 = 85.71 h · then $1,000/h at the margin -
Do not build this on small claims
On the $1,600 fixed band you net $800 a file and would need 8.79 adjudications a month — 32.54% of everything Ontario commences in a year. The schedule already told you nobody is there: a realised take of 40.80% means only 8.04% of fee dollars came from the $3,000-and-under bands. The cheap end is decoration.
7,028.50 ÷ 800 = 8.79/mo = 32.54% of Canada’s largest market -
Do the arithmetic that says the door is narrow, then decide
10.81 hours a month at $650 net clears the target. The bench that already exists shared $975,815.67 across 57 people — $17,119.57 each, 2.51 determinations each, 20.30% of this target. You need 4.93 times the average adjudicator. ODACC qualified 2 of 8 applicants, and 7 of 57 work in French.
7,028.50 ÷ 650 = 10.81 h/mo · 84,342 ÷ 17,119.57 = 4.93×
Sources
11 primary documents- O. Reg. 264/25, Adjudications Under Part II.1 of the Act — in force 1 January 2026, OIC 1523/2025
- McMillan LLP, Legal Update 173 — January 2026; s. 21(b) $1,000/hr floor, $350/hr to ODACC up to $30,000
- Gowling WLG, Ontario proposes regulations to complement Construction Act amendments — September 2025
- Fasken, Proposed Regulations to the Ontario Construction Act — September 2025
- DLA Piper, Critical amendments to Ontario's Construction Act have arrived — January 2026
- McCarthy Tétrault, Ontario Construction Act changes: adjudication — Bill 216, Sch. 4, s. 15; *Construction Act* s. 13.9
- ODACC Schedule of Fees — approved by the Attorney General, 1 October 2024
- ODACC adjudicator training and certification fees — $1,195 training, $300 exam, $225 refresher
- ODACC 2025 Annual Report — fiscal year 1 August 2024 to 31 July 2025
- Stitt Feld Handy Group, ODACC Registry Adjudicator Training Course
- Bank of Canada, FXUSDCAD daily average — 21 October 2026
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