Cunningham Review (2017) recommended multi-provider warranty insurance and mandatory owner-built warranty — Ontario adopted the HCRA split but kept Tarion as sole administrator

Claim: Justice J. Douglas Cunningham, Q.C. (former Associate Chief Justice of the Ontario Superior Court) was appointed in November 2015 by the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services to conduct an independent review of Tarion and the ONHWPA. Interim Progress Report July 2016; Final Report March 28, 2017, with 37 recommendations.

Key recommendations:

• Mandatory new-home warranty should continue but should be delivered through a multi-provider insurance system (like British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba).
• Builder and vendor regulation should be a separate administrative authority from the warranty body.
• Adjudication of unresolved warranty disputes should be delivered through an independent body.
• Mandatory warranty coverage should extend to owner-built homes intended for personal occupation.

Adopted:

• HCRA split (Feb 1, 2021) — see HCRA launched February 1, 2021 as Ontario's new-home builder regulator; 7,232 licensees at March 31, 2025.
• Skills-based board model.
• Executive compensation reforms.
• Ombudsperson independence.
• Formal mediation under O. Reg. 242/21.

NOT adopted:

• Multi-provider insurance model — Tarion remains the sole warranty administrator.
• Independent first-instance adjudication — Tarion still conducts conciliations itself.
• Mandatory warranty for owner-built homes — still excluded.

Per Karen Somerville's testimony to the Standing Committee on January 21, 2020: only "two or three" of the 37 Cunningham recommendations were included in Bill 166, the Strengthening Protection for Ontario Consumers Act, 2017.

Source: https://www.ontario.ca/document/final-report-review-ontario-new-home-warranties-plan-act-and-tarion-warranty-corporation

Confidence: Verified.

For Candid use: the clean way to summarize the Cunningham legacy is "Cunningham asked for two things: separate the regulator, and break the monopoly. Ontario did the first; not the second." See also Inter-provincial builder regulation: Ontario (HCRA+Tarion monopoly) vs BC (BC Housing, multi-provider warranty since 1998) vs Alberta (NHBPO, licensing 2017) vs Quebec (RBQ+GCR monopoly) for what multi-provider models look like in BC and Alberta.