The renovation industry has a low barrier to entry — anyone can call themselves a contractor. Here's what to actually check before you sign anything or hand over a deposit.
Ask for their legal business name and confirm it's registered in Ontario. A contractor who hesitates to share this is a bad sign before you've even started.
Ask for a WSIB clearance certificate. Without it, you can be held liable if a worker is injured on your property — this is checkable directly on WSIB's website with the certificate number.
Ask for proof of general liability insurance, ideally $2 million in coverage, and confirm it's current — not a policy that expired last year.
Ask specifically for references from a project like yours in the last 12 months, not a highlight reel from five years ago.
A verbal ballpark isn't a quote. You want materials, labour, and permit costs broken out separately, in writing, before work starts.
"This price is only good if you sign today." Legitimate contractors don't need to manufacture urgency to win your business.
A verbal handshake deal with no paper trail leaves you with no recourse if something goes wrong — regardless of how nice the estimate looks.
A very large deposit relative to the project size, requested before any material has been ordered, is a common pattern in contractor scams.
A contractor operating only through a personal cell number, with no business address or website, is harder to hold accountable after the fact.
"We don't need a permit for that" said about work that clearly involves plumbing, electrical, or structural changes is a sign they're cutting corners.
A bid dramatically below every other quote you've received usually means something is being skipped — materials, permits, or insurance.
We only pass your project to GTA contractors who've provided current WSIB and insurance documentation and have verifiable recent references. Tell us about your project.