Forestry Workers Lien for Wages Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. F.28

• Jurisdiction: Ontario

Forestry Workers Lien for Wages Act

R.S.O. 1990, Chapter F.28

Consolidation Period: From November 14, 2017 to the e-Laws currency date.

Last amendment: 2017, c. 20, Sched. 11, s. 10-12.

Definitions

1 In this Act,

“labour” means cutting, skidding, felling, hauling, scaling, banking, driving, running, rafting or booming any logs or timber, and includes any work done by cooks, blacksmiths, artisans and others usually employed in connection therewith; (“travail”)

“logs or timber” means logs, cordwood, timber, cedar posts, telegraph poles, railroad ties, tan bark, pulpwood, shingle bolts, and staves, or any of them. (“billes ou bois d’oeuvre”) R.S.O. 1990, c. F.28, s. 1.

Application of Act

2 This Act applies only to the County of Haliburton and to the territorial districts. R.S.O. 1990, c. F.28, s. 2.

Lien for labour on logs or timber

3 (1) A person performing labour has a lien upon the logs or timber in connection with which the labour is performed for the amount due for such labour, and the lien has precedence over all other claims or liens thereon, except a claim or lien of the Crown for any dues or charges or that a timber slide company or any owner of a slide or boom may have thereon for tolls. R.S.O. 1990, c. F.28, s. 3 (1).

Contractors, with respect to labour or services to be performed on timber

(2) A contractor who has entered into any agreement under the terms of which the contractor personally or by others in the contractor’s employ have cut, removed, taken out or driven logs or timber, shall be deemed to be a person performing labour upon logs or timber within the meaning of this section, and such cutting, removal, taking out and driving shall be deemed to be the performance of labour within the meaning of this section. R.S.O. 1990, c. F.28, s. 3 (2).

Lien to cease unless proceeding commenced

4 The lien ceases unless the claim therefor is filed and a proceeding is commenced to enforce the claim as hereinafter provided. R.S.O. 1990, c. F.28, s. 4.

Claim of lien to be filed

5 (1) The person claiming the lien shall state the claim in writing in a claim of lien form, setting out briefly the nature of the claim, the amount claimed to be due and a description of the logs or timber upon which the lien is claimed. 2017, c. 20, Sched. 11, s. 11.

Verified by affidavit

(2) The claim shall be verified by the affidavit of the claimant or of the solicitor or agent of the claimant. 2017, c. 20, Sched. 11, s. 11.

Form

(2.1) The claim of lien and affidavit referred to in subsections (1) and (2) shall be in English or in French and shall be in a form approved by the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry and published on a website maintained by the Government of Ontario. 2017, c. 20, Sched. 11, s. 11.

Time for filing claim, contractors

(3) In the case of a contractor coming within subsection 3 (2), the claim and affidavit shall be filed on or before the 1st day of September next following the performance of the labour. R.S.O. 1990, c. F.28, s. 5 (3).

Wage-earners

(4) In other cases, if the labour was performed between the 1st day of October and the 1st day of April next thereafter, the claim shall be filed on or before the 30th day of the same month of April, but if the labour was performed on or after the 1st day of April and before the 1st day of October in any year the claim shall be filed within thirty days after the last day on which such labour or any part thereof was performed. R.S.O. 1990, c. F.28, s. 5 (4).

Section Amendments with date in force (d/m/y)

2017, c. 20, Sched. 11, s. 11 - 14/11/2017

Place for filing claim

6 (1) The claim and affidavit shall be filed in the office of the Superior Court of Justice for the area in which the labour or some part thereof was performed. R.S.O. 1990, c. F.28, s. 6 (1); 2006, c. 19, Sched. C, s. 1 (1).

Where labour performed in certain localities

(2) Where the labour was performed upon logs or timber got out to be run down or that have been run down any of the rivers or streams flowing into Georgian Bay, Lake Huron, Lake Superior, Lake of the Woods, Rainy Lake, Rainy River or Pigeon River, the claim may, at the option of the claimant, be filed in the office of the Superior Court of Justice for the area in which the labour was performed or in the office of the Superior Court of Justice for the area in which the drive terminates or reaches the waters of such bay, lake or river. R.S.O. 1990, c. F.28, s. 6 (2); 2006, c. 19, Sched. C, s. 1 (1).

Section Amendments with date in force (d/m/y)

2006, c. 19, Sched. C, s. 1 (1) - 22/06/2006

Sale not to affect lien

7 No sale or transfer of the logs or timber during the time limited for the filing of the claim and previous to the filing thereof, or after the filing thereof and during the time limited for the enforcement thereof, affects the lien, but the lien remains in force against the logs or timber in whosesoever possession the logs or timber are found. R.S.O. 1990, c. F.28, s. 7.

Enforcement of liens by action

8 (1) Any person having a lien upon logs or timber may enforce the lien by an action, where the claim does not exceed the monetary jurisdiction of the Small Claims Court, in the Small Claims Court or, where the claim exceeds the monetary jurisdiction of the Small Claims Court, in the Superior Court of Justice, and the action may be commenced to enforce the lien, if the claim is then payable, immediately after the filing of the claim, or, if credit has been given, immediately after the expiry of the period of credit, and the lien shall cease unless the action to enforce it is commenced within thirty days after the filing of the claim or after the expiry of the period of credit. R.S.O. 1990, c. F.28, s. 8 (1); 2006, c. 19, Sched. C, s. 1 (1).

Defendant

(2) In all such actions, the person liable for the payment of the claim shall be made the party defendant. R.S.O. 1990, c. F.28, s. 8 (2).

On whom originating process to be served

(3) Where the defendant is not the owner of the logs, a copy of the originating process shall be served on the owner as well as the defendant, or the person or agent in whose possession, custody or control they may be found, or the person in charge of the operations in respect of which the claim of lien arose. R.S.O. 1990, c. F.28, s. 8 (3).

Owner may be made defendant

(4) The owner may, on motion by the owner or by direction of the judge, be made a party defendant. R.S.O. 1990, c. F.28, s. 8 (4).

Section Amendments with date in force (d/m/y)

2006, c. 19, Sched. C, s. 1 (1) - 22/06/2006

Procedure

9 (1) There shall be attached to or endorsed upon the originating process a copy of the claim filed under section 6, and no pleading or notice of dispute or defence other than such as is required in a proceeding in the Small Claims Court is necessary whether the action is brought in the Superior Court of Justice or in the Small Claims Court. R.S.O. 1990, c. F.28, s. 9 (1); 2006, c. 19, Sched. C, s. 1 (1).

Where no defence filed

(2) Where no dispute or defence is filed, judgment may be signed and execution issued. R.S.O. 1990, c. F.28, s. 9 (2).

Form of originating process and practice

(3) The originating process shall be in the form, as nearly as may be, of that in use in the court in which it is issued, but the practice thereafter shall follow as nearly as may be that of the Small Claims Court. R.S.O. 1990, c. F.28, s. 9 (3).

Form of judgment

(4) The judgment shall declare that the judgment is for wages, the amount thereof and costs, and that the plaintiff has a lien therefor on the property described when such is the case. R.S.O. 1990, c. F.28, s. 9 (4).

Section Amendments with date in force (d/m/y)

2006, c. 19, Sched. C, s. 1 (1) - 22/06/2006

Procedure subsequent to execution in certain cases

10 Where an execution has been placed in the hands of a sheriff or bailiff for execution and no attachment has been issued, the enforcement of the lien shall be by sale under the execution, and the procedure relating to proof of other claims and the payment of money into court and the distribution of the money and otherwise shall, as far as practicable, be the same as is hereinafter provided upon and subsequent to an attachment. R.S.O. 1990, c. F.28, s. 10.

Procedure attachment in first instance

11 (1) Where an attachment issues in the first instance, the originating process and...