Tarion steps in to protect consumers when builders fail to complete purchase agreements and construction contracts or fail to fulfill their mandatory warranty obligations as described in the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act. Tarion maintains a guarantee fund, which is used to pay claims to consumers. Over 1.3 million homes in Ontario have been protected under warranty by Tarion.

Tarion also protects consumers by regulating Ontario’s residential construction industry. By law, every builder or vendor of a new home built for sale in Ontario must be registered with Tarion, and every new home must be enrolled prior to construction. However, even if a builder fails to register as a builder, or fails to enrol a home with Tarion, the new home purchaser still receives warranty protection.

Builders and/or vendors pay the warranty enrolment fee to Tarion before construction.  Some builders and vendors will include the warranty enrolment fee in the purchase price of the home, while others show it as a separate item on the Statement of Adjustments.

The warranty enrolment fee is based on a scale relating to the sales price of homes and condominiums. Check the warranty enrolment fee table to find out the cost of the warranty on a home.

New homeowners in Ontario benefit from both deposit protection and warranty coverage. Deposit protection begins the moment a home buyer enters into a purchase agreement or construction contract and pays a deposit. Warranty coverage begins on the date of  possession of a home or condominium, and remains in effect until the end of the warranty period, even if the property is sold before the warranty expires.

For condominiums, warranty coverage also includes the shared areas of the building, referred to as the common elements. Coverage for common elements begins on the day the condominium corporation is registered.

The process for dealing with warranty-related issues varies depending on the home's date of possession.

• Click here for information on warranty related issues for freehold homes and condominium units with a date of possession on or after September 1, 2005
• Click here for information on warranty related issues for freehold homes and condominium units with a date of possession on or after October 1, 2003 and before September 1, 2005 
• Click here for information on warranty related issues for freehold homes and condominium units with a date of possession before October 1, 2003

A chargeable conciliation is a warranty dispute  where Tarion identifies one or more warrantable items. The exceptions to chargeability are where:

• the warrantable item(s) is(are) raised by the homeowner for the first time at the conciliation; or
• the builder was willing to repair the warrantable item(s) before the conciliation but the homeowner refused access or disagreed with the builder's proposed method or timing of repairs and Tarion supports the builder's recommendation.

Tarion monitors the performance of registered builders and vendors throughout the year as well as through a vigorous annual renewal process. Builders who fail to properly fulfill their warranty obligations by demonstrating poor after sales service may be required to post increased security, limit the volumes they build, receive training, and in extreme cases, have their registration revoked.

Tarion employs a team of former police officers whose function is to find ‘rogue’ builders and vendors who build illegally by failing to enrol new homes and register with Tarion.  The investigators partner with municipalities and building officials in Ontario to find and prosecute offenders. Under the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act, fines up to $100,000 can be imposed by Ontario Courts. In addition, convicted offenders may be imprisoned for up to one year, placed on probation and required to pay Tarion for any monies owed.