Tarion has unveiled new measures that attempt to help consumers make more educated decisions when buying a home.

These measures include the addition of new search tools on Tarion’s Ontario Builder Directory and a new detailed information sheet highlighting the potential risks of purchasing certain types of pre-construction condominiums.

“The purchase of a new home is often the most important one that many Ontarians will make,” said Tarion’s President and CEO Howard Bogach. “At Tarion, we’re doing our part to ensure that these purchases are informed by a thorough understanding of the risks, builder history, and status of a given project. The initiatives that we’re announcing today will contribute to a better informed purchasing process.”

Improved Disclosure Around Risks

New rules, effective January 1, 2020,  will require these purchase agreements to include information sheets highlighting the risks and considerations that come with buying a residential condo unit, including:

• pre-construction condominiums come with the risk that they may never be completed;
• early termination conditions that would allow a developer to cancel a project;
• information about the status of the development (e.g., formal zoning approval,relevant approval authority and date of commencement of construction);
• information about any restrictions on the developer’s land title that may prevent the project from going forward;
• a purchaser has an initial ten days under the Condominium Act, 1998, to cancel a sales agreement; and
• the expected date when a purchaser can take occupancy.

Specifically, this new information sheet applies to agreements of purchase and sale for units where the purchase agreement for the project or phase of the project is signed after January 1, 2020. Tarion points out that leasehold, common element and vacant land condominiums are excluded from this requirement.

Updates to Ontario Builder Directory

Tarion has also made updates to its Ontario Builder Directory to include information about condo projects and builder history. Beginning October 23, 2019, prospective buyers will be able to search for condo projects by name and/or location and receive important information, including the name of the vendor/builder, the project name, the status of the project and the number of units. They can also see cancelled projects and any builders who have been convicted under the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act.

To learn more about these and other consumer education and protection initiatives available from Tarion, new home buyers are encouraged to visit Tarion.com