Reliance Home Comfort
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Reliance Home Comfort is a residential and commercial services company headquartered in
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
primarily focused on rental, sales and maintenance of
water heater Water heating is a heat transfer process that uses an energy source to heat water above its initial temperature. Typical domestic uses of hot water include cooking, cleaning, bathing, and space heating. In industry, hot water and water heated t ...
s, water purification, smart home and
heating, ventilation, and air conditioning Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC ) is the use of various technologies to control the temperature, humidity, and purity of the air in an enclosed space. Its goal is to provide thermal comfort and acceptable indoor air quality. H ...
systems. The company has its largest base of operations in
Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
, but also has offices in
western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West, or Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a list of regions of Canada, Canadian region that includes the four western provinces and t ...
and the United States. , it served 1.7 million customer households across Canada. Reliance is currently controlled by the family of
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
–based Chinese-Canadian businessman
Victor Li Victor Li Tzar-kuoi (born 1 August 1964) is a Hong Kong businessman, the chair of the board and group co-managing director of CK Hutchison Holdings Limited and the chairman of the board and managing director of CK Asset Holdings Limited and ...
and his father
Li Ka-shing Sir Ka-shing Li (; born 29 July 1928) is a Hong Kong billionaire business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is the senior advisor for CK Hutchison Holdings and CK Asset Holdings, after he retired from the Chairman of the Board in May ...
, through two of their holding companies, CK Asset Holdings (75%) and CK Infrastructure Holdings (25%).


History

Reliance has its origins in the storage water heater rental business formerly owned by
natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...
utility Union Gas, which served much of Ontario. Reliance's main Ontario competitor, Enercare, has a similar origin as the rental business of Toronto-area utility Consumers' Gas. (The utility operations of both Union and Consumers' are now part of
Enbridge Enbridge Inc. is a multinational pipeline transport, pipeline and energy company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Enbridge owns and operates pipelines throughout Canada and the United States, transporting crude oil, natural gas, and n ...
.) Beginning in the mid-20th century, Ontario gas providers such as Consumers' and Union would work with
home builder Home construction or residential construction is the process of constructing a house, apartment building, or similar residential building generally referred to as a 'home' when giving consideration to the people who might now or someday reside t ...
s to pre-install gas-powered water heaters, which the providers would agree to subsidize and maintain in exchange for a monthly rental charge on each homeowner's gas bill. This practice of renting water heaters, as opposed to purchasing them, became widespread in Ontario, but is not common elsewhere in Canada. Due to regulatory changes, Union Gas' unregulated water heater business was split off in 1999 as a sister company named Union Energy. Union Energy was then acquired in 2001 by Epcor for about $160 million, later also acquiring
Hydro One Hydro One Limited is an Electric power transmission, electricity transmission and distribution Electric utility, utility serving the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. Hydro One traces its history to the early 2 ...
's retail rental division Ontario Hydro Energy. The combined operation was then spun off as the UE Waterheater
Income Fund An income fund is a fund whose goal is to provide an income from investments. It is usually organized through a trust or partnership, rather than a corporation, to obtain more efficient flow through tax consequences in relation to the income tha ...
in 2003. Beginning in 2005, the company converted its retail operations to the new Reliance Home Comfort brand, as its
brand licensing Brand licensing means renting or leasing of an intangible asset. It is a process of creating and managing contracts between the owner of a brand and a company or individual who wants to use the brand in association with a product, for an agreed ...
rights from Union Gas and Hydro One were close to expiring. The fund was purchased in 2007 by Alinda Capital Partners for $1.74 billion. Around the time of the Alinda purchase in 2007, Reliance also purchased security companies Voxcom and Protectron, operating them under the "Reliance Protectron" name until selling the operations to ADT in 2014. ADT Canada was subsequently acquired by
Telus Telus may refer to: * Telus Corporation, a Canadian publicly traded holding company ** Telus Communications, a telecommunications company ** Telus Digital, a technology company ** Telus Health, a health technology provider ** Telus Mobility T ...
in 2019. Since the sale of Protectron, Reliance has refocused on home maintenance services, including expansion into western Canada. It also acquired competitor National Home Services from Just Energy in 2014. Reliance was then purchased from Alinda by the CK group in 2017 for $2.8 billion.


Products and services

In addition to water heater rentals (and sales in some areas), Reliance sells, rents, installs, and maintains furnaces and
air conditioner Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C (US) or air con (UK), is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior temperature, and in some cases, also controlling the humidity of internal air. Air c ...
s. It also offers maintenance and repair plans for heating and cooling systems, as well as for plumbing and electrical systems.


Criticism

Although not specific to Reliance, the water heater rental business model has been noted as being a poor value for many consumers. The federal
Competition Bureau The Competition Bureau () is the independent law enforcement agency in charge of regulating competition in Canada, responsible for ensuring that markets operate in a competitive manner. Headed by the Commissioner of Competition, the agency is ...
has noted that purchasing a water heater outright "can result in substantial savings over time" compared to rental. However, Reliance and other rental companies argue that because their rentals include maintenance, including replacement parts and labour, they can provide peace of mind for consumers. The Competition Bureau filed complaints against Reliance and
Direct Energy Direct Energy LP is a North American retailer of energy and energy services. The company was founded in Toronto in 1986 and now has more than four million customers in Canada and the United States. Direct Energy is a subsidiary of NRG Energy. Hi ...
(then-owner of what is now Enercare) in 2012, alleging both companies engaged in anti-competitive behaviour by providing customers limited locations and time windows if they wished to return their rentals, and charging "unwarranted" cancellation fees. Reliance defended its policies, asserting that it was intended to help protect consumers against what it called aggressive tactics by competing rental suppliers. The company settled its part of the complaint in 2014 by agreeing to make it easier for customers to cancel their rentals and paying a $5 million administrative penalty. Some homeowners have alleged that Reliance has used fallacious collections actions to attempt to extract payments for goods and services not provided.


Advertising

Reliance runs both video and radio ads. Reliance is a partner of the
Oakville SC Oakville Soccer Club is a semi-professional soccer club based in Oakville, Ontario. The senior men's and women's teams currently compete in League1 Ontario men's and women's divisions. In late 2024, Oakville SC merged with Blue Devils FC to be ...
semi-pro soccer team.


References

{{Reflist


External links


Official website
Companies based in Toronto Canadian companies established in 1999 Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning companies Service companies of Canada CK Hutchison Holdings