HCRA mandatory display rule: licensed Ontario new home builders/vendors must prominently display the HCRA license at the principal business address, on their website, and at any premises where they conduct business with the public

Claim: HCRA rules require licensed Ontario new home builders/vendors to prominently display the license at:

1. Their principal business address
2. Their website
3. Any premises where they conduct business with the public

Sources: Goldman Sloan Nash and Haber LLP analysis; hcraontario.ca. Confidence: Verified.

Why this explains the production-builder display pattern

This regulatory mandate is the reason large production builders' websites (Mattamy, Tridel, Minto, Empire, Brookfield) prominently link the HCRA license PDF and Tarion warranty references — but rarely show CHBA/OHBA/BILD logos.

HCRA display is required by law. HBA logo display is voluntary marketing. When site real estate is finite, the regulatory requirement wins.

See Two HBA display patterns across Ontario builder/renovator sites: Pattern A (small custom + renovation firms show HBA + RenoMark prominently in footer); Pattern B (large production builders rarely show HBA logos, lead with HCRA + Tarion) for the full sampling of how Ontario builders and renovators handle this.

Implication for Candid client work

For new home builder clients (HCRA-licensed):

• Treat HCRA license display as a regulatory deliverable, not a marketing decision. Link the PDF or surface the license number in the footer + on a /licensing page.
• Treat Tarion warranty enrolment similarly — surface as a separate, regulatory signal.
• THEN add the HBA logo strip alongside, never instead of.
• See Rule (Ontario new home builder sites): display HCRA license and Tarion enrolment SEPARATELY from the HBA logo strip — they are regulatory trust signals, not voluntary memberships for the codified rule.

For renovator clients (HCRA does NOT apply), the regulatory layer is thinner — RenoMark + Tarion-replacement language (The Tarion gap: Tarion warranty covers new homes by HCRA-licensed builders, NOT most renovations — RenoMark's 2-year workmanship warranty is the only standardized warranty most Ontario renovation clients will see) is what fills the gap.