Tarion Warranty on a Freehold Home vs. a Condo in Ontario: What's Different

Ontario's statutory new-home warranty scheme, administered by Tarion, applies to both freehold houses and condo units — but the coverage amounts, and how a claim actually gets made, aren't identical between the two. If you're comparing a pre-construction freehold purchase to a pre-construction condo, or you already own one type and are trying to understand your protections, the differences are worth knowing before you need them.

Same Regulator, Different Structures

Both freehold homes and condo units bought new from an Ontario builder are covered by the same statutory framework under the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act, and both builders must be licensed by the Home Construction Regulatory Authority (HCRA). Where things diverge is in the specific coverage limits and — for condos — the fact that some coverage is claimed by the individual owner and some by the condominium corporation collectively.

Coverage Amounts Side by Side

(Figures as of mid-2026 — verify the current amounts before relying on them, as coverage and protection limits can be adjusted over time.)

The gap in deposit protection amounts in particular reflects the fact that condo deposits are typically a smaller portion of the purchase price paid up front compared to freehold deposit structures — though the practical amount at risk for any individual buyer still depends on their specific agreement.

Who Files the Claim: Individual vs. Shared

This is the structural difference that matters most in practice:

• Freehold home — You, as the owner, are the sole claimant for warranty issues throughout your home. There's no shared structure to navigate.
• Condo unit — You're the claimant for defects inside your own unit, but defects in the building's shared elements (roof, structure, hallways, elevators, and similar) are claimed by the condominium corporation, not by you individually. This means a condo owner's ability to get a shared-element problem fixed depends partly on how actively their condo corporation pursues its own warranty claims.

A freehold buyer manages their entire warranty relationship directly. A condo buyer manages part of it directly (their unit) and relies on the corporation for the rest.

The Structural (Year 7) Piece, and How It Applies to Each

Both freehold and condo coverage include a longer period specifically addressing major structural defects, commonly described as Year 7 protection, on top of the earlier-year coverage. This is not blanket seven-year coverage of every possible issue — it's targeted at major structural problems specifically. For a freehold home, this applies to the house itself; for a condo, it applies to the building generally, and — consistent with the split above — a major structural issue in a condo is typically a common elements matter for the corporation to pursue, not an individual unit claim.

Practical Differences at Closing

• Freehold buyers deal with a single closing process, a single deposit protection figure, and a single, ongoing point of warranty contact (themselves) for the life of the coverage.
• Condo buyers deal with a purchase agreement that also incorporates the statutory Tarion Addendum, a pre-delivery inspection specific to their unit, and — over time — a relationship with their condo corporation's own warranty and building-turnover process for anything beyond their unit's four walls.

Neither structure is inherently better; they simply reflect the different nature of owning an entire property outright versus owning a unit within a shared building.

Frequently asked questions