Ford puts developers over Ontario home buyers

TORONTO – Today's special reports by Ontario’s auditor general revealed a stunning failure by the Home Construction Regulatory Authority (HCRA) to provide home buyers with critical consumer protections, and to regulate builders. Tom Rakocevic, Ontario NDP Shadow Minister for Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement, has issued the following statement in response:

“During this housing crisis, the Ford government’s home construction regulator (HCRA) hasn’t been doing its job and the government is letting it slide, putting homebuyers at risk. The HCRA has been acting like a licensing mill, blindly handing out licenses, whether a builder has been good or bad. Buying a new home is often the biggest and most important purchase a family will ever make.

“The builder directory is still failing to give people the information they need when choosing the right homebuilder. Meanwhile, builders are having their licenses rubber stamped even in cases when they are under active investigation and facing millions in fines.

“The longer the Ford Government looks away, more and more families risk losing their entire savings, their home, and their peace of mind.

“This government must commit to fixing this broken system, and to levelling the playing field for home buyers."

BACKGROUND:

• The auditor general found that in one July 2024 case, the license renewal of an applicant under active investigation was fast-tracked. Six days after the renewal, the HCRA levied $16 million in administrative penalties for 76 contraventions of the Code of Ethics. The amount was later reduced to $6.4 million despite a promise of stiffer penalties from Premier Doug Ford. The builder held an active license as of July 2025.
• The HCRA does not consistently consider insolvency when assessing applications, among other relevant financial factors.
• The HCRA was overseeing 7,232 builders as of March 2025. It has a backlog of over 1,500 complaints, growing significantly each year, taking an average time of 419 days to close a complaint.
• This report echoes the 2019 findings on the HCRA’s predecessor, Tarion, in which the auditor general noted a lack of focus on protecting new home buyers and an apparent interest in serving the developers that controlled its board. Today’s report includes many of the same findings.