Please see the attached full…

Please see the attached full submission from the Ontario Home Builders' Association.

Please accept our submission to the government’s request for feedback on a proposal to enable the use of pay-on-demand surety bonds (PODSB) which is being submitted on behalf of OHBA and its 28 local associations including but not limited to BILD, WE HBA, GO HBA, and London HBA.

To summarize, OHBA has advocated for many years for this alternative financial security tool to be made available to help home builders unlock capital for new housing projects and streamline the construction of more homes in Ontario. The OHBA submission builds off previous submissions and communications developed on this topic and provided to the government in the past, and will highlight some key areas that must be taken into greater consideration as the regulation is developed, namely: ensuring that builders who currently have LOCs to collateralize municipal obligations can easily transition to surety bonds to free up essential capital for new projects; re-consideration of the minimum credit rating required for any surety issuing bonds under the new protocol; and ensuring that the government’s municipal partners are fully educated and informed about the benefits of surety bonds and provided with proper guidance for enabling their use in a timely manner by all municipalities of the province.

We appreciate the opportunity to comment on this proposal.