“Are you licensed?” is the wrong question

Ontario Electrical Safety Code, electrical contractor licensing, notifications and inspection

Use it to Verify that your electrical contractor holds a current ECRA/ESA licence, and confirm a notification was filed for your job. If you do work yourself on your own home, you file the notification.

A homeowner may do electrical work on their own home, but the work must still be notified to the ESA and must still meet the Ontario Electrical Safety Code. Doing the work yourself does not remove the notification or the inspection.

Fuels and gas, gas technician certification (G1/G2/G3), registered contractors

Use it to Ask for the technician's TSSA certificate and the company's contractor registration before any gas appliance, gas line, or venting work.

This is not a homeowner-DIY area. Unlike electrical, there is no self-work path for gas: a homeowner cannot lawfully do their own gas work regardless of skill.

Asbestos and designated substances on construction projects, worker safety

Use it to In an older home, expect a contractor to raise a designated substance survey before demolition work. A contractor who asks for one is following the regulation, not padding the quote.

Locating buried utilities before excavation

Use it to Request a free locate before digging deck footings, fence posts, a new garden bed, or anything else that breaks ground. Submit the request ahead of your dig date — locates are not instant.

This applies to homeowners doing their own digging, not only to contractors. It is free.

Licensing of new home builders and vendors; the Ontario Builder Directory

Use it to Before signing with a builder on a new build or a custom home, search the Ontario Builder Directory to confirm the licence.

This covers new home construction, not ordinary renovation. A renovator working on your existing house is generally not HCRA-licensed, and that is not a red flag.

Workplace injury coverage in construction; clearance certificates

Use it to Ask for a WSIB clearance certificate before work starts, particularly where a crew will be on site.

Read the absence of coverage carefully. Ontario exempts independent operators who do exclusively home renovation work, directly for the person living in the home, with no employees. A lawful sole proprietor may have no clearance certificate. Treat it as a question to ask, not a verdict.

Consumer contracts, direct agreements, estimates, cancellation rights

Use it to Understand your contract rights before you sign, and file a complaint if a business breaks them.

Ontario passed a Consumer Protection Act, 2023, but as of this card's review date the 2002 Act is still the one Ontario's own homeowner guidance cites. General AI answers frequently cite the 2023 Act as though it governs. It does not yet.

Statutory holdback, construction liens

Use it to Understand why a holdback is retained from the final payment, and why an unpaid subcontractor can lien a home whose owner already paid the general contractor in full.

Paying your general contractor in full does not by itself protect you from a subcontractor's lien. The holdback is the mechanism that does.