Former TV contractor in Alberta vows to fight 180 charges under Fair Trading Act

Service Alberta hammered Bruce Hopkins, the former host of the defunct TV show Remodel IT, with 180 regulatory charges under the Fair Trading Act, Dec. 4.

The former host of the defunct TV show, which was produced by a Hopkins-owned media company, has vowed to fight the charges. They followed the bankruptcy of his two companies last year. In November 2014, Service Alberta received 27 complaints from clients of Hopkins, claiming total losses of some $5-million.

The charges include:

• Operating without a prepaid contractor license
• Misleading consumers
• Failing to provide refunds

Though hardly a household name among Canadian TV celebrity contractors, Hopkins’ show told of his unique life story that invited compassion. He had risen from drug addiction and homelessness, Hopkins said.  Now in recovery, he became a professional renovation contractor – one with a heart of gold.

“He was homeless. A friend gave him a job fixing up houses,” the narrator of one Season 3 Remodel IT episode says. “He got pretty good at it. He went from needing help to helping people.”

Now, Service Alberta is claiming that Hopkins helped himself to their money.

It’s not the first time he’s been in legal trouble.

Hopkins was first criminally convicted with walking away with downpayment money and assets, without providing the services, as far back as 15 years ago.

He told the Calgary Herald last year that his severe drug addiction in the 1990s was to blame for that particular episode.