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Get My Free Estimate →Check the Ontario Builder Directory first. Under ss. 37(1) and 37(2) of the New Home Construction Licensing Act, 2017 it is unlawful to act as an unlicensed vendor or builder, and the Home Construction Regulatory Authority’s own advice is blunt: “If a builder is not licensed, do not buy from them!” The directory shows licensing status, years of activity, number of homes built, warranty history, and any conduct concerns, charges or convictions. Then check Tarion’s insolvency page — noting Tarion says it may not be complete — and have a lawyer read the disclosure statement and the statutory addendum inside the ten-day rescission window under s. 73(2) of the Condominium Act. There is no equivalent cooling-off period for new freehold homes.
You cannot assess a builder’s finances from the outside, and anyone who tells you they can is guessing. What you can do is check a set of public records that take about twenty minutes and that most buyers never look at. This page is that checklist. It names no builder and it makes no allegation about any of them.
Start with the licence, because it is a legal requirement
The New Home Construction Licensing Act, 2017 is unambiguous:
- s. 37(1): “No person shall act or hold oneself out as a vendor, offer to sell or transfer a new home… or sell or transfer a new home… unless the person is licensed as a vendor…”
- s. 37(2): “No person shall act or hold oneself out as a builder, offer to construct a new home or construct a new home unless the person is licensed as a builder…”
The regulator is the Home Construction Regulatory Authority, and it publishes the Ontario Builder Directory covering approximately 5,000 licensed builders and vendors. The HCRA’s own advice, quoted: “If a builder is not licensed, do not buy from them!”
What the Ontario Builder Directory shows you
| Field | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Licensing status | Whether they are licensed at all, and whether the licence is current, conditional or has been revoked. |
| Years of activity | A builder licensed for eighteen months is a different proposition from one licensed for twenty years. |
| Number of homes built | Volume history. A first tower is a first tower. |
| Warranty history | What has been claimed against them. |
| Regulatory actions | Conduct concerns, charges and convictions taken by the HCRA. |
The directory also lets someone buying a resale home built within the last seven years confirm the home’s remaining warranty coverage, which is worth doing on any recent build.
One limit I want to be straight about: I could not find a single authoritative published list of every field the directory carries, and I could not locate a section of the Act that expressly requires a public register. Treat the list above as what the HCRA describes the directory as including, not as an exhaustive specification.
The rest of the twenty minutes
| Check | Where | What you are looking for |
|---|---|---|
| Tarion insolvency page | tarion.com | Whether the builder or project appears. Remember Tarion says the list “may not be complete”, so absence proves nothing. |
| Tarion warranty record | Ontario Builder Directory | Claims history and how it compares to volume. |
| Project registration | Tarion | Whether the specific project is enrolled. |
| The disclosure statement | From the builder | Everything about the proposed corporation, the budget, and the projected common expenses. Your lawyer reads this within the ten-day rescission window. |
| The statutory addendum | Attached to the agreement | The early termination conditions, the critical dates, and the delayed occupancy provisions. This is where the cancellation clauses live. |
The HCRA’s own guidance to buyers is to have an experienced real estate lawyer review the agreement of purchase and sale before signing, and to examine the addendum carefully. That is the right advice and I would repeat it more strongly for a pre-construction purchase than for any other transaction I am involved in.
The ten days
Section 73(2) of the Condominium Act, 1998 gives a purchaser of a pre-construction condominium ten days to rescind, by written notice received by the declarant or its solicitor, running from the latest of receipt of the disclosure statement, the applicable condominium guide, and the executed agreement of purchase and sale. It is a right, not a favour, and it is the window in which a lawyer should be reading everything.
The HCRA notes there is no equivalent cooling-off period for new freehold homes. The ten days are a condominium right under the Condominium Act. If you are buying a freehold new build, the lawyer has to read the agreement before you sign it, because there is no window afterwards.
The New Home Construction Licensing Act does contain a section headed “Cooling-off period”. I did not verify its text or whether it is in force, so this page does not rely on it. Do not assume a freehold cooling-off right exists without checking with a lawyer.
What I will not do
I will not tell you that a named builder is at risk. Public registries are public and you can read them. Speculating about the solvency of a company that is meeting its obligations is defamatory and it is also useless — the information that would actually tell you is not public. What is public is licence status, warranty record, regulatory action, and whether a matter has reached the point of a filed insolvency proceeding. Those are facts. Use those.
Considering a pre-construction purchase?
I will run the public-records check with you before you sign anything, and I will tell you what the market data says about the segment as it stands rather than as the sales centre describes it. If the answer is that I would not buy it, I will say that too.
connect@jatindua.com · 437-987-1925 · Book a free consultation
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Condo Valuation
What’s your condo
worth today?
Three quick steps. Condos don’t price like houses — your floor, your view, and whether you own parking move the number more than anything else. This weighs all of them.
Reading recent condo sales…
Estimated market value
—
$0–$0
Most likely $0 · about $0 per square foot
What moved the number
Starting from what comparable units in your area sell for, here’s what your specifics added or subtracted.
Market context
—
—
Two units, same floor plan,
$90,000 apart.
That happens constantly in condos — one has the parking, the right exposure, or a board that keeps the reserve fund healthy. A model can’t see your status certificate. I can.
Frequently asked questions
How do I check if an Ontario builder is licensed?
Search the Ontario Builder Directory at obd.hcraontario.ca, published by the Home Construction Regulatory Authority. It covers approximately 5,000 licensed builders and vendors and shows licensing status, years of activity, homes built, warranty history and any regulatory actions.
Is it illegal to sell a new home without a licence in Ontario?
Yes. Sections 37(1) and 37(2) of the New Home Construction Licensing Act, 2017 prohibit acting or holding oneself out as a vendor or builder, or offering to sell or construct a new home, without being licensed.
Can I see whether a builder is insolvent?
Tarion publishes a Bankruptcies, Insolvencies and Receiverships page, which listed 18 builders or projects as at 30 August 2026. Tarion states explicitly that this may not be a complete list, so a builder’s absence from it does not tell you they are solvent.
How long do I have to cancel a pre-construction condo purchase?
Ten days. Section 73(2) of the Condominium Act, 1998 requires written notice of rescission to be received by the declarant or its solicitor within ten days of the latest of your receipt of the disclosure statement, the condominium guide, and the executed agreement of purchase and sale.
Is there a cooling-off period for a new freehold home?
The ten-day right is a condominium right under the Condominium Act. The HCRA notes there is no equivalent stated cooling-off period for new freehold homes. Have a lawyer read a freehold agreement before you sign it, because there may be no window afterwards.
What is the statutory addendum and why does it matter?
It is the document attached to an Ontario new home agreement of purchase and sale that sets out critical dates, delayed occupancy provisions and the early termination conditions on which a builder may cancel. Most cancellation clauses sit in the addendum rather than in the body of the agreement, which is why buyers miss them.
Related reading
- Your builder is insolvent: what happens to the deposit
- Cancelled projects: 11,653 units and what cancellation means
- Interim occupancy and the appraisal gap
Sources
Every figure on this page traces to one of these, and each was read on 30 August 2026. Primary sources only — statute, regulation, and the government or agency that administers the rule. Where I could not verify something from a primary source, the page says so instead of guessing.
- Ontario Builder Directory. Home Construction Regulatory Authority. Licensing status, years active, homes built, warranty history, and any conduct concerns, charges or convictions. Accessed 30 August 2026.
- Home Construction Regulatory Authority. The regulator for Ontario new home builders and vendors under the New Home Construction Licensing Act, 2017. Accessed 30 August 2026.
- New Home Construction Licensing Act, 2017, S.O. 2017, c. 33, Sched. 1. e-Laws. Sections 37(1) and 37(2) prohibit acting as an unlicensed vendor or builder. Accessed 30 August 2026.
- Bankruptcies, insolvencies and receiverships. Tarion. Tarion states this “may not be a complete list of current insolvency situations”. Accessed 30 August 2026.
- Condominium Act, 1998, S.O. 1998, c. 19. e-Laws. Section 73 sets the ten-day rescission right; section 80 governs interim occupancy and occupancy fees; section 81 governs money held in trust. Accessed 30 August 2026.
- Deposit protection before you close. Tarion. Freehold deposit protection to a maximum of $100,000; condominium unit deposit protection of $20,000 plus limited accrued interest. Accessed 30 August 2026.
About the author — Jatin Dua, Etobicoke real estate agent
I’m the Broker of Record at RE/MAX Quantum Realty, 799 The Queensway in Etobicoke. I write these pages the same way I work a file: read the primary source, quote it, date it, and say plainly where the source is silent or where two sources disagree. If a figure on this page has no citation beside it, that is a mistake and I want to hear about it.
I work with buyers, sellers, renters and investors across Etobicoke, Mimico, Humber Bay Shores, New Toronto, Long Branch, Alderwood and Stonegate–Queensway. connect@jatindua.com or 437-987-1925.