On September 15th, MPP Yvan Baker introduced Ontario Bill 14, which sets out to prohibit door-to-door sales of water treatment devices in addition to water heaters, furnaces, and air conditioners.

Previously Bill 193, Bill 14 was reintroduced without change despite recommendations from a wide variety of concerned organizations. Passing the bill as is “will devastate the water treatment industry, cost jobs, and slow down the roll-out of economically and efficient equipment that is allowable in building code and is a sound solution for Ontarians,” said the Canadian Water Quality Association (CWQA)

CWQA further suggested that:

“2. We have a proposed suite of solutions including: regulating the industry rather than banning it; certifying the professionals in the industry and creating space for our industry’s professionals; or increasing the enforcement and investigations branch at the Ministry to cater managing these new areas with industry support (currently identical to the relationship we have with [Ministry of Government and Consumer Services] MGCS).

3. Our solution allows the government to remain in control (by recognizing our members and having oversight) and to announce rules and policies to manage bad sales practices while allowing responsible companies to service customers, create jobs, and help our professionals in the industry be more successful.”

The CWQA had worked through the summer with The Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Institute of Canda (HRAI), Canadian Institute of Plumbing & Heating (CIPH), Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MOECC), and Ontario College of Trades (OCOT) to make recommendations to MPP Baker and the MGCS as to how to improve then Bill 193.

Nonetheless, the CWQA stated that due to the work they have done with MPP Baker and MGCS, they believe that the bill can still be made into a more effective piece of legislation that will allow qualified retailers to sell water treatment door-to-door.

Questions for the CWQA can be directed to Kevin Wong at [email protected] or 1-866-383-7617.

MPP Yven Baker can be contacted at [email protected] or 416-234-2800.

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