Toronto, ON, January 19, 2017: The City of Brampton, Ontario’s 4th largest municipality, joins fourteen other Ontario municipalities as the newest participant in a pilot project to help protect new home buyers from new home construction not covered under warranty. Applicants for a new home building permit in the city must now present either their Tarion Warranty Corporation registration number or a letter of confirmation to obtain a permit through Brampton Building Services.
This pilot initiative supports the Ontario Government’s 2014 Budget commitment to fight the underground economy, including the practice of illegal building. The pilot was launched in 2015 as a partnership between Tarion, the Ontario Building Officials Association and the Ontario Home Builders’ Association.
“We are happy to be partnering with Tarion on this important protection initiative for new home buyers in the City of Brampton,” said Brampton Mayor Linda Jeffrey. “This builds on our great working relationship with Tarion after we partnered with them last year to launch their resources in Punjabi, allowing them to reach more homeowners in Brampton in their native language. We look forward to working with them again in 2017.”
“Illegally built homes can result in financial loss and heartache for unsuspecting buyers that are taken advantage of,” said City of Brampton’s Chief Building Official, Rick Conard. “This new strategy gives us additional tools to enforce obligations for warranty coverage prior to issuance of a permit.”
Joe Vaccaro, CEO of the Ontario Home Builders’ Association said, “Registered home builders in Ontario are excited to work with Tarion and municipalities such as Brampton to enhance warranty protection. This pilot helps educate new home buyers of their warranty rights and the importance of working with a registered builder.”
“We are so excited to have Brampton, Canada’s second fastest growing community, join our pilot program. As a city that has so much to offer families and newcomers, it is important to ensure that they have the confidence in the largest purchase they will make in their lives – a new home,” said Siloni Waraich, Vice President of Stakeholder Engagement at Tarion.
Tracy MacCharles, Minister of Government and Consumer Services said, “I would like to commend everyone involved in this initiative for taking the lead to prevent illegal building in Ontario. Ensuring that all new homes are covered under warranty is a key element of our plan to improve protection for new home owners and continue building Ontario into a leading jurisdiction in consumer protection.”
In Ontario, anyone acting as a vendor/builder of a new home must be registered with Tarion to automatically place the home under warranty. Homeowners who wish to be exempted from the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act must apply for a letter of confirmation from Tarion.
More information is available online at www.tarion.com
About Tarion:
The Ontario Ministry of Government and Consumer Services has empowered Tarion to administer and enforce the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act and Regulations. Warranties include: protection for deposits, protection against financial loss for contract homes, compensation for delays in closing or occupancy, protection against unauthorized substitutions, one and two year warranties for certain defects in work and materials, and a seven year warranty for major structural defects.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Laurie Stephens, Senior Manager, Corporate Communications, Tarion Warranty Corporation
Laurie.stephens@tarion.com or 416-229-3863
Brampton Real Estate Board 