Toronto, ON, August 30, 2006 – Tarion Warranty Corporation (“Tarion”) today announced the finalists for the 2006 Tarion Awards of Excellence which recognize residential home builders for their commitment to customer service.

“Ontario’s home builders operate in one of the most competitive markets in North America,” said Tarion President and CEO Greg Gee.  “Over the last few years we have seen an increasing number of builders giving more attention to the critical role that customer service plays in the overall new home buying experience. The builders named today as Tarion Awards of Excellence finalists are to be congratulated as the true industry leaders in customer service.” 

Winners will be announced at a black tie gala event on Wednesday, September 20, 2006 at the Liberty Grand in Toronto.

As Regulator of the home building industry in Ontario, Tarion is uniquely positioned to recognize the importance and value of customer service in the home buying process. Unlike other industry awards, the Tarion Awards program evaluates builders exclusively on their customer service practices. Participants are assessed based on homeowner surveys and candidate interviews conducted independently by Decima Research Inc. of Toronto.

Builders must be invited to participate in the awards based on a favourable customer service record with Tarion over the past five years.  Participants then compete in one of four categories: Small Volume, Medium Volume, Large Volume, and High-Rise. The criteria to qualify are very strict—in 2006 only 361 of the province’s 5,600 registered builders qualified to participate. 

The following finalists will compete for the Tarion Awards of Excellence in their respective categories:

High-Rise Builder
The Daniels Corporation, Toronto, ON
Great Gulf Homes, Toronto, ON
Shane Baghai, Toronto, ON
Tridel, Toronto, ON

Large Volume Builder
Arista Homes, Vaughan, ON
Ballantry Homes, Markham, ON
Paradise Homes, Markham, ON
Tribute Communities, Toronto, ON

Medium Volume Builder
Branthaven Homes, Burlington, ON
GreGor Homes, Barrie, ON
Hayhoe Homes, St. Thomas, ON
Rinaldi Homes, St. Catharines, ON

Small Volume Builder
George Milla Construction Ltd., Guelph, ON
Krepstakies Custom Home Building, Waterloo Region, ON
Homes by Hendriks, Beamsville, ON
Menard Bros. & Associates Ltd., Cornwall, ON

Tarion Warranty Corporation is a private corporation established in 1976 to serve as the Regulator of the home building industry in Ontario. In this role, Tarion licenses all home and condominium builders pursuant to provincial legislation. This statute requires home builders to provide purchasers with warranty coverage that is guaranteed by Tarion.  The Corporation also establishes minimum time standards for after-sales service, and adjudicates issues between homeowners and builders.  
 
-30-

For more information, please contact:

Janice Wong
Senior Manager, Corporate Communications
Tarion Warranty Corporation
Phone: 416-229-3863
Email: janice.wong@tarion.com