OMVIC issues second public warning on Andy Boston Motors in Sault Ste. Marie, signals possible jail time

OMVIC issued a second public warning on May 20, 2026 about Andy Boston Motors, formerly operating as T.A. Boston Auto Sales Ltd. at 257 Trunk Road in Sault Ste. Marie. The Registrar revoked the registration of the business and its Director, Thomas Andrew Boston, in November 2024. OMVIC charged Boston in July 2025, August 2025, and again in March 2026. The first public warning was issued on August 5, 2025, nine months after the revocation. The May 2026 follow-up exists because, in OMVIC’s own words, “Andy Boston Motors may still be operating as an unregistered motor vehicle seller” despite all of that.

OMVIC’s release goes further than its earlier unregistered-seller warnings on the site by naming the next step. The regulator writes that it is “exploring additional regulatory and legal actions aimed at bringing the illegal sales activity to an end, which could include seeking stronger penalties through the courts such as possible jail time.”

What the rule is

Selling vehicles in Ontario requires OMVIC registration. The prohibition is statutory: s. 4(1)(a) of the Motor Vehicle Dealers Act, 2002 bars acting as a motor vehicle dealer without registration, and s. 4(1)(b) bars acting as a salesperson without registration. Revocation of an existing registration runs through the s. 9 notice process: the Registrar serves a Notice of Proposal, and if no hearing is requested within 15 days the Registrar may carry out the proposed revocation under s. 9(4). That is what happened to Thomas Andrew Boston’s corporate dealership in November 2024.

Under the MVDA, trading after a registration has been revoked is the same offence as trading without ever having been registered. On conviction, s. 32(3) of the MVDA sets penalties of up to a $50,000 fine or imprisonment for not more than two years less a day, or both, for an individual; up to $250,000 for a corporation. s. 32(4) imposes a $5,000 minimum fine for a conviction under s. 4(1). Those are the figures under OMVIC’s reference to “possible jail time.”

The first jail sentence for an unlicensed seller under the MVDA was imposed in March 2025 after an OMVIC investigation. The May 2026 Boston release is the first time the regulator has flagged jail time as something it is considering for a named seller while charges are still before the courts.

What consumers lose by buying from an unregistered seller

OMVIC’s release walks through three losses, all of which turn on registration status:

• The MVDA does not apply. The statutory disclosure rules in O. Reg. 333/08 (deposit handling, all-in pricing, contract content, accident damage disclosure) bind registered dealers. An unregistered seller is outside the regime. A consumer cannot complain to OMVIC about contract terms and expect a regulatory response, because the seller is not a registrant subject to the Code of Ethics.
• The Consumer Protection Act protections that ride on MVDA registration are also unavailable. Ontario’s consumer-protection framework treats vehicle sales by registered dealers as a regulated activity. A back-lot trade is outside it.
• The Motor Vehicle Dealers Compensation Fund cannot pay out. The Fund reimburses consumers for “proven financial loss related to a vehicle purchase, lease or consignment transaction,” but only when the transaction was with an OMVIC registered dealer. A buyer who paid Andy Boston Motors after November 2024 has no recourse to the Fund regardless of what went wrong.

The 2025 Annual Report enforcement numbers confirm how often the Compensation Fund is the only available recourse for an Ontario buyer. The Fund paid out $1.5 million in 2025. The Fund’s eligibility rules sit under Part VIII of the MVDA, all of which condition recovery on the underlying transaction being with a registrant.

How to verify a dealership

OMVIC publishes a public dealer search tool that returns a registrant’s status. Consumers can confirm whether a dealership and the individual salesperson named on the bill of sale are both registered. The Andy Boston Motors warning matters because the storefront, the signage, and the inventory at 257 Trunk Road can all suggest a legitimate dealer. The registrant search is the only check that resolves the ambiguity.

A registered dealer’s certificate of registration must also be posted at each place from which the dealer is authorized to trade, where the public is likely to see it, under s. 29(1) of O. Reg. 333/08. A consumer who walks into a vehicle sales premises and cannot see a current certificate of registration should treat that absence as a signal.

Why OMVIC is escalating

Most OMVIC consumer warnings about unregistered sellers are single-event releases. The August 2025 release was the first warning about this subject. The May 2026 follow-up is the second, eight months later. The Registrar’s revocation in November 2024, the three sets of charges across July 2025, August 2025, and March 2026, and the May 2026 public warning together form a published timeline OMVIC has not previously laid out for an individual unregistered seller.

OMVIC’s signalling about possible jail time means a court order under s. 32 of the MVDA is on the table. The court’s discretion to impose imprisonment up to two years less a day is the kind of penalty the regulator says it would seek for a respondent who, on OMVIC’s allegations, lost the registration, was charged across three separate filings, and is alleged to have continued trading anyway.

What to learn

• Revocation alone does not always stop unregistered selling. A consumer who sees a Sault Ste. Marie storefront still trading under the Andy Boston Motors name after November 2024 is looking at unregistered activity, not a re-registered business.
• A buyer’s protection set (MVDA, Consumer Protection Act, Motor Vehicle Dealers Compensation Fund) only attaches to purchases from OMVIC registered dealers. A bill of sale from an unregistered seller is outside all three.
• The OMVIC registrant search is the one check that resolves whether a seller is registered. A storefront, signage, or even a previous dealership name is not enough.