Taking on TARION

Ontario's consumer protection organization for new homes says it has been reformed. These home buyers disagree

- CLARRIE FEINSTEIN

Marie-Josée d'Amours has been in a battle with Tarion since the summer of 2019 and doesn't see an end in sight.

She moved into a newly built townhome in Toronto in 2019 and not long after noticed a myriad of problems, the most serious being poor heating and a leaky skylight. She turned to Tarion, Ontario's consumer protection organization for newly built homes, but says it has only made things worse-dragging out the case and offering conflicting accounts of the house's issues.

"During the first two years in the home, I was a mess. The stress was keeping me awake," she said. "Taking on Tarion has been a part-time job on top of my full-time job."

In 2019, Tarion was subject of a scathing auditor general report that found the consumer agency was putting builders' interests ahead of consumers. In response, the Ontario government proposed a slate of changes to streamline the claims process for homeowners, improve the warranty coverage and change the executive leadership to "address the perception of builder dominance on the board," the government said.

Since then, Tarion says it has reformed the agency, with a main goal to rebuild consumer confidence by improving response time, transparency and the dispute resolution process. But five years after the auditor general's report, homeowners say they continue to fight with the agency to receive coverage they're entitled to.

The Star spoke to seven homeowners of newly built homes who say the process is still too complicated to navigate, can take years for claims to be investigated (some of these homeowners have been dealing with Tarion for five or more years), and that it's an uphill battle to receive any type of coverage. The emotional toll can be immense, homeowners say, as the stress and despair can take over their lives.