Approach and methodology
Approach and methodology
In order to gather information about the new home warranty program in Ontario and comparable programs in other jurisdictions, I consulted a variety of sources:
Consultations
I met with over 200 individuals from across Ontario with a range of experiences and backgrounds in dealing with Tarion. This included homeowners and industry professionals in Toronto, Mississauga, Kingston, Oshawa/Whitby, Thunder Bay, London, Niagara, Sudbury, Ottawa and Brampton.
I met with builders, building officials, architects, engineers, consumer advocacy groups, condominium boards, home inspectors, real estate agents, lawyers, as well as Tarion’s employees, Corporate Leadership Team, Consumer Advisory Council and Board of Directors.
In addition, I met individually with a number of subject matter experts, including dispute resolution experts, Tarion’s Ombudsperson, and building specialists as well as current and former Board members, several members of the Legislature, and homeowners.
The purpose of these consultations was to understand the current state of the warranty program and Tarion, and to encourage discussion and elicit ideas for improvement.
Written submissions
Between November 5, 2015 and July 8, 2016 I received 529 written submissions from 80 individuals and 15 organizations or associations through the Tarion Review email address.
I also received input through two independent surveys conducted by Canadians for Properly Built Home (126 respondents) and by the Ontario Association of Certified Home Inspectors (177 respondents).
Jurisdictional scan
A review of nine other jurisdictions was completed. The review compared Ontario’s legislative framework for its new home warranty program with comparable Canadian and international jurisdictions. The Canadian jurisdictions include British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Quebec, Saskatchewan, and Atlantic Canada, and internationally, New Jersey, California, and the United Kingdom.
The research included on-line reviews of the legislative framework and government/program administration websites, as well as follow-up phone discussions with several program administrators.
Other sources of input
I also consulted other sources of input including:
- Ms. Genevieve Chornenki’s Independent End-to-End Dispute Resolution Process Review, commissioned by Tarion in 2015,
- the Canadian Home Warranty Council Report on New Home Warranties for Canadian Consumers (2010),
- the Review of the New Home Warranty Program Business Model (Kpmg, 2001),
- the Delegated Administrative Authority Model Review (2009),
- the Ontario Ombudsman’s report Building Clarity (2008), and
- the Consumer Council’s report on Gaps in New Home Warranty Coverage across Canada (2007)