Since its conception, the Tarion Warranty Corporation, a statutory home warranty program which was designated to carry out the legislative objectives of the 1976 Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act, has had a dual mandate. In addition to providing warranty protection to Ontario’s new home owners, Tarion also licenses new home builders and vendors. This dual role received significant attention in 2015 on the basis that it may create a conflict of interest, and prompted the Minister of Government and Consumer Services to appoint the Honourable Justice Douglas Cunningham Q.C. to conduct an independent review of the existing legislation.
The 2016 release of Justice Cunningham’s report led to the Ontario Liberal government’s enactment of Bill 166, The Strengthening Protection for Ontario Consumers Act, 2017. Bill 166 was to repeal the existing legation and enact two separate pieces of legislation: the New Home Construction Licensing Act, 2017 and the Protection for Owners and Purchasers of New Homes Act, 2017. However, despite receiving Royal Assent on December 14, 2017, the majority of Bill 166 was never proclaimed into force.
On February 20, 2019, the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services announced that the Progressive Conservative government of Ontario intends to revive the previous government’s efforts to transform Tarion, and will also be implementing initiatives to better protect purchasers of cancelled pre-construction condominium projects.
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