Windsor Man Convicted of Illegal Electrical Work Promoted Through Kijiji

July 29, 2016

A Windsor, Ontario resident convicted on 16 charges, including doing unsafe electrical work and advertising to do electrical work without an electrical contractor’s licence, has been placed on 2 years probation, is required to perform 75 hours of community service, and pay $27,085 in restitution to his victims and fines of $500.

In 2013 the Electrical Safety Authority (ESA) received information that the person, who is not licensed to conduct electrical work for hire in Ontario, was doing electrical work at multiple locations and advertising his electrical services on the online classified site Kijiji. After an investigation, ESA charged the person with 

• leaving a hazardous electrical condition (2 counts)

• not having an electrical contractor’s licence (6 counts)

• proposing to carry out services of an electrical contractor without the necessary electrical contracting licence (2 counts)

• failure to apply for an electrical inspection (6 counts)

He pleaded guilty to all charges.

“Just because someone runs an ad online saying they can do electrical work does not mean they legally can,” says Normand Breton, ESA’s Registrar and Director of Contractor Licensing. “Regardless of where you find someone offering electrical work, you must always verify that they are actually licensed as an electrical contractor in Ontario. That’s easy to do by checking ESA’s online directory of Licensed Electrical Contractors at esasafe.com.

“Not only did [the person] not have the required contractor’s licence, he also left unsafe situations behind,” adds Breton.

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