Future Enhancements to the Qualification Program for Ontario’s Building Practitioners

ERO number
019-6433
Notice type
Policy
Act
Building Code Act, 1992, S.O. 1992, c. 23
Posted by
Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing
Notice stage
Proposal Updated
Proposal posted
Comment period
December 21, 2022 - February 17, 2023 (58 days) Closed
Last updated

Update Announcement

The proposal was originally published on December 21, 2022 with the comment period ending on February 3, 2033. On February 1, 2023 the comment period was extended to February 17, 2023.

This consultation was open from:

December 21, 2022
to February 17, 2023

Proposal summary

This discussion paper outlines opportunities for change and includes questions to obtain your input on potential new approaches to enhance the ministry’s Qualification Program for building practitioners.

Proposal details

This discussion paper outlines opportunities for change and includes questions to obtain your input on potential new approaches to enhance the ministry’s Qualification Program for building practitioners.

The Building Code, 2012 is a regulation under the Building Code Act, 1992, that is implemented and enforced by Ontario’s municipalities and a variety of building industry stakeholders. Over the years, Ontario’s Building Code has become an increasingly complex and sophisticated regulation. It is imperative that Building Code knowledge and how it is assessed keeps pace with these changes, to ensure that public safety in the design and construction of buildings is upheld.

Ontario’s building officials and other stakeholders in the sector have raised the need for more support from the ministry to improve its ability to understand, implement, and enforce the Building Code. Understanding this and acknowledging the low exam pass rates experienced by candidates, the ministry recently retained a consultant to help examine the Qualification Program for building practitioners (which includes building officials, designers, septic installers and Registered Code Agencies). A broad spectrum of building industry stakeholders engaged in this review process and programs in other jurisdictions were assessed to identify potential changes for Ontario’s current program model. The findings from this review suggest that changes to the program would support a fairer assessment a candidates’ knowledge, improve examination success, help maintain practitioners maintain knowledge of the Building Code, and build long-term capacity within the industry to further improve public safety.

Building on this review, we are interested in your thoughts on actions we can take on the following: operational changes within the current program framework; and design changes that could create a new framework for the Qualification Program.

Public consultation is an important part of developing legislation, regulations and policy in Ontario. By providing your feedback on this consultation paper, you can help the ministry with its next steps to enhance its Qualification Program; a program that currently includes over 7,000 building practitioners across the province.

Please refer to the attached Discussion Paper to review questions related to the six operational and design changes being proposed.

Your input will help inform future enhancements to the program that could be implemented both in the short- and longer-term.

Supporting materials

View materials in person

Some supporting materials may not be available online. If this is the case, you can request to view the materials in person.

Get in touch with the office listed below to find out if materials are available.

Building Services Transformation Branch
Address

777 Bay Street, 12th floor
Toronto, ON
M5G 2E5
Canada

Comment

Commenting is now closed.

The comment period was from December 21, 2022
to February 17, 2023

Connect with us

Contact

buildingtransformation@ontario.ca

Office
Services Transformation Branch
Address

12th Floor, 777 Bay Street
Toronto, ON
M7A 2J3
Canada

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