Frequently asked questions

Yes, entirely. There is no account to create, no fee, and no paywall. We do not collect your project details or sell them to contractors as leads - when you contact a business found here, you contact them directly through their own phone number or website.

No. There is no paid placement on this site. Ranking is calculated from the Google star rating and review count using a published formula, and no contractor can pay to change their position, be featured, or have negative reviews hidden.

Reviews and ratings are retrieved from Google Business Profiles through the Google Places API. They are written by Google users and reproduced unedited.

The Places API returns a maximum of five reviews per business, so a contractor with hundreds of reviews will show five here. Every profile links to the full Google listing, and you should read it before deciding.

Coverage is uneven. We currently cover selected Ontario cities and the trades homeowners search for most often. A business missing from this site has not been assessed or excluded. It may simply not have been captured yet.

A business will also be absent if it has no Google Business Profile, since that is where our data originates.

Ratings, review counts, hours and contact details are refreshed periodically rather than in real time, so a profile may lag the live Google listing by some weeks. Always confirm hours and phone numbers before relying on them.

Three is the usual advice and it holds up well, for a reason that is less about price than people assume. Three quotes tell you what the job actually involves - when two contractors mention something the third did not, you have learned something about the scope.

For small repairs under a thousand dollars or so, one or two quotes is proportionate. For anything structural or five figures, three is the minimum, and they should all be quoting the same written specification or you are not comparing anything.

Plumbing, electrical work, and refrigeration and air conditioning are compulsory trades - the person doing the work must hold a Certificate of Qualification, and for electrical work the business must also hold an ECRA/ESA contractor licence. Gas work requires TSSA certification.

Most other residential trades, including roofing, general renovation, painting, flooring, landscaping and carpentry, are not licensed in Ontario. For those, insurance, WSIB coverage and a well-written contract are what protect you.

A deposit covering materials the contractor must order in advance is normal and reasonable. A deposit of a third or more of the total contract value, requested before any work begins, is not.

Payments should trail progress rather than lead it. Tie them to milestones you can see - rough-in complete, inspection passed - rather than to dates on a calendar.

Usually yes for structural changes, additions, decks above a certain height, new window or door openings, most electrical work, and secondary suites. Usually no for cosmetic work like painting, flooring or replacing a fixture in place.

Your municipal building department will answer this in a phone call. It is worth making the call yourself rather than accepting a contractor's assurance that no permit is needed.

The contractor's, in nearly all cases. If the permit is issued in your name you may be treated as the constructor under Ontario's occupational health and safety framework, which carries obligations and liability you almost certainly do not want.

A contractor who asks you to pull the permit is transferring risk to you. Ask why, and be reluctant.

It is rarely the saving it appears to be. Paying cash off the books typically means no written contract, no warranty you can enforce, no proof of payment, and no recourse if the work is defective or never finished.

It also leaves you exposed if a worker is injured on your property and there is no WSIB coverage behind the job.

Often, yes. Under Ontario's Consumer Protection Act, a direct agreement worth more than $50 that is signed away from the supplier's place of business - at your kitchen table, for example - generally must be in writing, and you typically have ten days to cancel without giving a reason.

This rule exists specifically because of high-pressure in-home sales, which are common in the window, HVAC and water treatment trades. Contractors rarely volunteer that it applies. This is general information rather than legal advice; for a specific situation, Consumer Protection Ontario is the place to start.

General liability insurance, commonly two million dollars for residential work, and WSIB coverage for anyone working on your property.

Ask for the certificate of insurance from the broker rather than a photocopy, and ask for a WSIB clearance certificate dated within the last ninety days. Both are free and quick for a legitimate contractor to produce, so reluctance is itself informative.

Listings are generated from Google Business Profiles, so the most reliable route is to make sure your Google Business Profile is complete, accurate and verified. Businesses are added as we expand coverage by city and trade.

If you operate in a city we already cover and are not listed, email us and we will look into it.

Email us with the correction and we will action it. Common fixes are the wrong trade category, outdated contact details, or a location that has closed.

Reviews and star ratings come from your Google Business Profile, so those have to be corrected with Google. Once changed there, the update reaches this site at the next refresh.

Yes. Email us and we will remove the listing. We do not require a reason and we will not try to talk you out of it.

No, to both. There is no mechanism to do either, and introducing one would defeat the purpose of the site.