What licences and certifications matter when buying or selling an HVAC business in Ontario?

An HVAC company in Ontario can look like one asset, but the permissions behind its work are held in several places. Under O. Reg. 215/01, made under the Technical Standards and Safety Act, 2000, a fuel industry certificate is issued to a person and is not transferable. Skilled Trades Ontario treats refrigeration and air conditioning systems mechanic as a compulsory trade. Ontario’s ozone regulation sets a separate certification for refrigerant work. This page covers Ontario only; for the wider picture, see selling an HVAC contractor in Canada.

Fuel industry certificates belong to the individual

O. Reg. 215/01 says no person shall perform the functions of a certificate holder without first having obtained a certificate from the director. It also says a certificate is not transferable. A buyer therefore cannot take over a seller’s certificate, or a technician’s, as part of the purchase. The regulation also covers renewal: a certificate expires on the date shown on it, and a person who fails to renew before that date shall not do any work under it. An application to renew may be made within one year after expiry, but work under the expired certificate cannot resume in the meantime. A person who applies to renew before expiry, or within one year after, shall successfully complete an upgrading course by the date the director specifies. An application made one year or more after expiry is treated as a new application, with every new-application requirement. A buyer who finds a lapsed certificate should ask which of these paths the holder is on.

Gas-side work and the refrigeration trade

The same regulation describes what a gas technician may do on refrigerating or air-conditioning units. Section 20 lets a G.1 certificate holder, and section 21 a G.2 holder, install, service, remove or replace components and accessories that form part of the gas-side of a unit, but the regulation says the person shall not perform any work beyond the gas-side unless they hold a certificate of qualification or provisional certificate of qualification, not suspended, in the refrigeration and air conditioning systems mechanic trade or the residential air conditioning systems mechanic trade. For a buyer, the practical question is which technicians hold which qualification, and what work the company actually sells.

Skilled Trades Ontario and the employer’s duty

Skilled Trades Ontario states that, because the refrigeration and air conditioning systems mechanic trade is compulsory, a person must hold a Registered Training Agreement, Provisional Certificate of Qualification or Certificate of Qualification, and appear on its Public Register, to practise it legally. It adds that a Certificate of Qualification must be renewed to be valid. Section 7 of the Building Opportunities in the Skilled Trades Act, 2021 applies to the business too: no person shall employ or otherwise engage an individual to perform work or to engage in the practice of a compulsory trade unless that individual is an apprentice in that trade working under a registered training agreement that is not suspended, holds a certificate of qualification or provisional certificate of qualification in that trade that is not suspended, or a regulation exempts them. Section 9 adds that the holder of a certificate of qualification or provisional certificate shall carry proof of certification and produce it on request to an inspector or a person authorized by regulation, so ask to see current proof for each technician.

Refrigerant certification is a separate requirement

Ontario’s O. Reg. 463/10, under the Environmental Protection Act, says in section 22 that no person shall service or test refrigeration equipment that contains a refrigerant unless the person is certified under section 34 and the person or their employer owns equipment capable of collecting and capturing the refrigerant, or has a written contract giving immediate access to such equipment. Subject to subsection (3), which covers holders of an out-of-province authorizing certificate, section 34 says a person qualifies by successfully completing a course approved by the Director that, in the Director’s opinion, provides training and testing on the use and handling of ozone depleting substances, halocarbons, refrigerants and refrigeration equipment. A trade certificate and a refrigerant certification are different documents, so a buyer can ask for evidence of each.

What the TSSA says about a change of ownership

On its change-of-ownership page, which deals with transferring a licensed facility, the TSSA states that licences are not transferable and that the onus to apply for a new licence falls on the new owner. It also states that all contractors working on fuel oil equipment, such as underground tanks, must be registered with the TSSA. Which registrations or licences apply to a particular HVAC business depends on the work it does, so confirm that directly with the TSSA rather than assuming it from a job title or a past invoice. Because the TSSA places the onus on the new owner, a buyer can ask the TSSA what it needs to see, and when, so that closing does not leave the company doing regulated work without the registration or licence it needs.

Questions worth putting to the other side

• Which technicians hold a fuel industry certificate, and are their renewal dates current?
• Who holds a Certificate of Qualification, and does each appear on the Skilled Trades Ontario Public Register?
• Who has the section 34 refrigerant certification, and which of them service refrigeration equipment?
• Which TSSA registrations does the company hold, and what does the TSSA require of the new owner on a change of ownership?
• If a key certificate holder will not stay after closing, which work could the business no longer perform?