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Dear member,
OMVIC’s Annual Report for 1998
has now been approved for
submission to the Minister of
Consumer & Commercial Relations,
the Honourable Bob Runciman. The
Report highlights a number of
OMVIC’s achievements during
1998.
Compared to the year prior to
OMVIC’s creation, the number of
inspections has increased by
85%, charges are up by over
100%, convictions increased from
33 in 1996 to 223 in 1998, and
Registrar’s refusals,
revocations and terms and
conditions increased from 67 to
572. In addition, OMVIC
Committees have produced a Code
of Ethics, new Marketing
Standards, draft Standards of
Business Practice, and, for
implementation before year-end,
the first mandatory
salesperson/dealer certification
program in Canada. (More on the
course later in this Report).
In spite of our record so far,
the Board and staff of OMVIC
feel there’s a lot more we can
and should be doing to improve
consumer confidence and to
create a level playing field for
dealers. To this end, we need to
increase our revenues.
Accordingly, changes to OMVIC’s
fees will come into effect on
November 1, 1999.
In the coming year, OMVIC will
pursue the following priorities:
increase anti-curbsider
enforcement activity, improve
communication to the public
(particularly about the dangers
of doing business with
curbsiders), increase compliance
activities, implementation of a
dealer-run disciplinary process,
and tackle the deficit that
arose on the transfer of
responsibility for the Motor
Vehicle Dealers Act (MVDA) from
the Ministry to OMVIC.
For many years now, dealers have
been lobbying to improve the
level of professionalism of the
industry through educational
programs for dealers and
salespersons. OMVIC’s Education
Committee has been working
closely with the staff of the
Canadian Automotive Institute of
Georgian College in the
development of a correspondence
course for new applicants for
registration under the MVDA.
The Education Committee is
pleased to announce that the
OMVIC Certification Course –the
first mandatory certification
program in Canada- will be
implemented on November 1, 1999.
Successful completion of the
course will be required for
registration under the Motor
Vehicle Dealers Act for any new
salesperson or dealer applicant.
You can expect to hear further
details about the course over
the coming weeks.
Concurrent to the implementation
of the new course, the new
registration fees for dealers
will be implemented. The current
fees have been in place for over
five years –since January 1,
1994.
The current fee for a two-year
dealer registration or renewal
is $275. Effective November 1,
1999, this two-year dealer fee
will be increased to $500.
Currently registered dealers
with an expiry date after
October 31, 1999, are subject to
the new fee. While the
salesperson registration fee
will remain unchanged at $175
for a two-year period, an
employee transfer fee of $75
will be payable each time that a
salesperson changes employers
after November 1, 1999. Employee
transfers are currently
processed at no charge.
No one likes fee increases but
the Board has decided that
they’re necessary at this time
to finance the activities
described above and to put us on
an improved financial footing
for the years ahead.
As usual, if you have any
questions or comments, I’d be
pleased to hear from you.
Carl Compton,
Registrar,
Motor Vehicle Dealers Act
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