Jeffrey Long

The plaintiff subcontractor supplied lumber for the construction of the defendant's home but was not paid.

The plaintiff dealt with an individual named 'Peter' representing the contractor, which was a shell company.

The court found that the defendant homeowner was 'Peter' and the controlling mind of the contractor.

The court held that funds drawn from the defendant's personal account and represented in a bank draft constituted monies received by the contractor, creating a trust under section 8 of the Construction Act.

The defendant was found personally liable for breach of trust under section 13 of the Act and ordered to pay the outstanding invoices.

In a priority dispute following the bankruptcy of a paving company, a bond company argued that funds held by the receiver in a project account were statutory trust funds under the Construction Lien Act and therefore excluded from the bankrupt's estate under s. 67(1)(a) of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act.

The court dismissed the trust claim, finding that the funds lacked the certainty of subject matter required to constitute a true common law trust, as they were not identifiable or held separately prior to the receivership.

Consequently, the funds were to be distributed under the BIA scheme.