Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the ADF Group third quarter results conference call. At this time, all lines are in a listen-only mode, but following the presentation, we will conduct a question and answer session. If at any time during this call you require immediate assistance, please press star zero for the operator. Also note that the call is being recorded on Wednesday, December 9th, 2020. I would like to turn the conference over to Jean-François Boursier, Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to ADF's conference call covering the third quarter and nine months ended October 31st, 2020. I will update you on our results, which were disclosed earlier this morning by press release, and then update you on our operations. Please note that some of the issues discussed today may include forward-looking statements. These are documented in ADF Group's management report for the third quarter and nine months ended October 31, 2020, which were filed with SEDAR this morning.
Please also consider that although for the moment, the impact of COVID-19 on ADF's operation is still limited, the extent to which the virus can have an impact on our results will depend on future developments, which are still uncertain and cannot be predicted at this time, including new information that may emerge regarding the COVID-19 and the measures taken to contain it or address its impact, among others. Revenues for the third quarter stood at CAD 47.2 million, compared with CAD 42.1 million last year. Year-to-date, revenues at CAD 135.5 million were CAD 2.1 million higher than last year.
First, as a reminder, it is worth mentioning that revenues for the three months and nine months periods ended last year on October 31st, 2019, were impacted by the downward adjustment of CAD 7.7 million with no impact on income tax, resulting from an out-of-court settlement related to a commercial dispute in Florida. This adjustment also impacted these same periods' gross margin and net income. Gross margins for the third quarter at 15.9% was 13.5% higher than reported a year ago. Year-to-date, gross margin stood at 14.6% compared to 9.4% for the nine-month period ended October 31st, 2019. Besides the aforementioned out-of-court settlement impact, better pricing and better absorption of fixed costs explain the quarter-over-quarter margin improvement.
At the close of the three months ended October 31st, 2020, EBITDA stood at CAD 5 million, CAD 7.4 million better than for the corresponding quarter a year ago. Year-to-date, EBITDA stood at CAD 12.6 million compared to CAD 3.6 million a year ago. The increase in gross margins and the lower selling administrative expenses, the latter coming from the lower legal fees associated to last year, third quarter out-of-court settlement, explain these favorable variances.
For the quarter ended October 31st, 2020, net earnings stood at CAD 2.6 million, or CAD 0.08 per share, basic and diluted, compared with negative net earnings of CAD 4.1 million for the same period a year ago, or CAD -0.12 per share, basic and diluted. For the nine-month period ended October 31st, 2020, net earnings stood at CAD 4.8 million or CAD 0.15 per share, basic and diluted, compared to CAD -2 million for the nine months ended October 31st, 2019, CAD -0.06 per share, basic and diluted. Besides the elements mentioned before, FX fluctuation had a CAD 0.7 million unfavorable impact when comparing the nine-month periods ended October 31st, 2020 and 2019.
Although the pandemic did not significantly impact ADF's operation to date, the cumulative impact of the required COVID-19 related measures and the inefficiencies and costs related to these measures did have a somewhat negative impact on ADF's cumulative results for the nine- month period ended October 31st, 2020. Along with our improved results and following our cash management responsible approach, our working capital liquidities and balance sheet situation also improved. Working capital as of October 31st, 2020, at CAD 37.5 million, was CAD 8.2 million better than its January 31st, 2020, level. Net liquidities at CAD 18.8 million are CAD 27.9 million higher than at January 31st, 2020, and year-to-date, cash flow from operation generated CAD 27.8 million.
In light of the uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19, we are taking a cautious approach with our liquidities, and accordingly, are tailoring our CapEx program to the situation with only CAD 1 million spent during the nine months ended last October 31st. As mentioned in our first two quarterly calls, ADF, like many others, is still navigating into uncharted waters. Although the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic as of this date had a limited impact on ADF's operations. We remain abreast of economic developments and trends. Our order backlogs stood at CAD 282.5 million as at October 31st, 2020. On November 25th, 2020, we announced the award of two new contracts in the commercial building sector in the U.S., worth a total of CAD 101 million.
The scope of the largest of these contracts, in terms of value and tonnage, relates to the design and engineering of connections, fabrication, including industrial coating and the supply of steel, and the installation of the steel structure of a new building with a commercial vocation in the northwestern U.S.A. The other contract is located in the northeastern U.S.A., and consists in the supply of steel and shop drawings and the fabrication of steel structure used in the construction of a new government building. Both these contracts will be fabricated out of our Terrebonne facility. Since the beginning of this fiscal year, and in spite of the uncertain economic environment brought forward by the pandemic, and including contractual changes on existing projects, we have been able to increase our backlog by almost CAD 200 million.
Although we are still looking at some uncertain quarters, our year-to-date results, along with the new contract announcements, are comforting us in our approach and bodes well for our next fiscal year. This said, and as we have always done, we will not stop pursuing our quest for increased backlog and operational excellence. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your interest and confidence in ADF. I will now answer your questions.
Thank you, Mr. Boursier. Ladies and gentlemen, if you do have a question, please press star followed by one on your touchtone phone. You will then hear a three-tone prompt acknowledging your request. If you should decide to withdraw your question, simply press star followed by two. If you're using a speakerphone, we do ask that you please lift the handset before pressing any keys. Please go ahead and press star one now if you do have any questions. Once again, ladies and gentlemen, if you do have a question at this time, please press star followed by one on your touchtone phone. At this time, Mr. Boursier, we have no questions registered, sir.
Thank you. Again, I wish to thank you for your interest in ADF Group. Have a nice day.
Thank you, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, this does indeed conclude your conference call for today. Once again, thank you for attending. At this time, we do ask that you please disconnect your line.