How to Hire a Contractor in the GTA Without Getting Burned

Almost every protection a GTA homeowner has is written down, and almost none of it works on a handshake. Ontario's Consumer Protection Act, 2002 makes a consumer agreement not binding on you unless it was made the way the Act requires, gives you 10 days to cancel a contract signed in your home, and stops a contractor billing more than 10 per cent over an estimate that forms part of the contract. The Construction Act makes you hold back 10 per cent of every payment, and liable for it whether you kept it or not. Toronto fines an unlicensed renovator up to $100,000.

Which consumer law is in force in 2026

Much online advice quotes an Act that has not started. Ontario passed a replacement, the Consumer Protection Act, 2023, as Schedule 1 to Bill 142, which received Royal Assent on 6 December 2023. Section 120 of that Schedule says it "comes into force on a day to be named by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor." I could find no proclamation, and the e-Laws consolidation of the Consumer Protection Act, 2002, current from 11 December 2025, still opens with the note that it "is repealed on a day to be named by proclamation." So the 2002 Act is what binds your contractor today. If the new Act is proclaimed mid-project, both deadlines below survive: section 50 keeps the 10-day cancellation right, section 51 the one-year right where a contract was not properly made or delivered.

Ontario's e-Laws pages do not load without JavaScript, so every section quoted here was read from the King's Printer's own Word versions of the statutes, not from a summary.

Four checks you can actually verify

The business exists. Anyone can search the Ontario Business Registry free for basic information, and a filed profile report costs $8. A business you cannot find under the name on its quote is a problem before you reach price.

The HST number is real. A business exceeding $30,000 in taxable revenue over four consecutive calendar quarters stops being a small supplier and must register for the GST/HST, so a renovator charging you HST has a number you can check in the CRA's registry. On cash deals Consumer Protection Ontario is blunt: avoid them, and if you do pay cash get a detailed signed receipt.

The City licence. Toronto licenses trades, not just storefronts. Under Municipal Code Chapter 545, § 545-2A(52), anyone in the business of altering, repairing or renovating buildings needs a licence unless their principal business is construction. The City's list includes Building Renovator, Drain Contractor, Driveway Paving Contractor, Heating Contractor, Insulation Installer and Plumbing Contractor. Section 545-437 requires "Toronto Licence No." and the number on both sides of the renovator's vehicles in letters at least 10 centimetres high, and on every bill and advertisement. It should be on your quote too. Section 545-8.5 sets the fine for contravening the chapter at up to $100,000, plus up to $10,000 for each day it continues.

WSIB coverage, with a caveat almost nobody prints. WSIB says construction work without a valid clearance number is an offence by both the contractor and whoever hired them, carrying a maximum fine under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act of $25,000 for an individual and $500,000 for a corporation, rising to $750,000 on two or more convictions in one proceeding (s. 158). WSIB's own summary page still says $100,000; the string does not appear anywhere in the Act. It also says: "If a contractor or subcontractor is hired to do home repairs or renovations by a home's resident, occupant or a member of their family, then a clearance certificate is not required." A self-employed renovator working directly for you may be exempt from coverage entirely under WSIB's home renovation exemption. So "no clearance" is not automatically a red flag. But WSIB's own examples show where it stops: a renovator with two employees is exempt personally yet must still report their earnings, and the electrician and plumber he hires are not exempt and must give him a clearance. Ask anyway: clearances are free and valid up to 90 days.

What a contract must contain before it binds you

Section 93(1) of the 2002 Act is the sentence to remember: "A consumer agreement is not binding on the consumer unless the agreement is made in accordance with this Act and the regulations." A court can still order you bound where that would be inequitable, but the default runs your way.

Which rules apply turns on where you signed. A contract concluded in person somewhere other than the contractor's place of business is a direct agreement, and O. Reg. 17/05 sets the threshold at $50; one signed at their office is usually a future performance agreement. Both must be in writing and delivered to you.

For a direct agreement, section 35 of O. Reg. 17/05 requires the contract to be signed by both of you and to set out fifteen items, among them the names of whoever solicited, negotiated and concluded the deal, the date and place of signing, a fair and accurate description of the work, the total payable, the terms of payment, an itemised price list including taxes, and the dates for commencement and completion. It must also carry a statement headed "Your Rights under the Consumer Protection Act, 2002" in at least 10 point type, its heading in 12 point bold, on the first page, telling you that you may cancel "at any time during the period that ends ten (10) days after the day you receive a written copy of the agreement."

Miss those requirements and section 43(2) lets you cancel a direct agreement within one year; section 23 gives the same year on a future performance agreement. Section 7(1) makes it waiver-proof (the Act's rights "apply despite any agreement or waiver to the contrary"), and section 7(2) voids an arbitration clause insofar as it stops you suing in the Superior Court of Justice.

Toronto adds a layer: under § 545-442 a licensed building renovator must sign a written contract on the City's prescribed form before starting work, and no extra work may be done unless a further contract on the same form is signed first. On request they must give you an itemised bill within 24 hours.

Deposits and the 10 per cent estimate rule

Ontario sets no statutory cap on a deposit. It recommends one: Consumer Protection Ontario tells homeowners to keep down payments "to a minimum (we recommend no more than 10%)" and never pay the full price before the work is done. It gives contractors the same figure in its business guide.

The estimate rule is harder-edged. Section 10(1): "If a consumer agreement includes an estimate, the supplier shall not charge the consumer an amount that exceeds the estimate by more than 10 per cent." Section 10(2) supplies the remedy most people miss: if they exceed it, "the consumer may require that the supplier provide the goods or services at the estimated price." Section 116 makes breaching subsection 10(1) an offence: on conviction an individual faces up to $50,000 and two years less a day, a corporation up to $250,000.

Two conditions attach: the estimate only bites if it is part of the contract, which is why Ontario's guidance tells homeowners to insist it is attached, and the cap does not apply to additional or different work you asked for, which is why every change needs a signed change order with its own price.

Cancelling, and what it costs you

You need no reason. Section 92 lets you give notice "in any way" showing you intend to cancel, and a written notice is deemed given when sent. Send it in a form you can prove, to the address in the agreement. O. Reg. 17/05 section 79(1) then requires a refund of every payment within 15 days.

Letting work begin early costs you: if the contractor started during the cooling-off period you can still cancel, but you are "responsible for reasonable compensation for work and materials that the contractor has provided". Even then, O. Reg. 17/05 s. 35(2) owes that only if you solicited the work and asked them to start within those ten days, and never for goods that can be returned or repossessed." Hence a start date after day 10. One rule beats the cooling-off period outright: furnaces, air conditioners, water heaters, water treatment devices and duct cleaning cannot be sold at your door unless you initiated the transaction, and a contract from unsolicited door-to-door marketing is void.

Holdback and liens: the part that cuts both ways

The Construction Act defines "holdback" as "the 10 per cent of the value of the services or materials supplied under a contract or subcontract required to be withheld from payment," and section 22(1) requires each payer, you included, to retain it until any lien against it has expired or been satisfied.

Section 23(1) is the sting: an owner "is personally liable for holdbacks that the owner is required to retain." Required, not retained. Pay a general contractor in full and, if they never pay the tiler, the tiler can lien your title and you can be liable for the 10 per cent you should have kept. A second time.

Liens run on a clock. Under section 31 a lien expires at the end of the 60-day period following the earlier of publication of a certificate or declaration of substantial performance and the date the contract is completed, abandoned or terminated. A preserved lien then dies unless it is perfected (an action started and a certificate of action registered on title) before the end of the 90-day period following the last day it could have been preserved. Section 39 lets a lien claimant require you in writing to hand over the contract price and a state of accounts within a reasonable time, not more than 21 days.

Prompt payment binds you too. Section 6.4 requires an owner to pay a proper invoice no later than 28 days after receiving it unless, within 14 days, you give a notice of non-payment in the prescribed form specifying the amount withheld and the reasons. Silence is not a dispute.

When it goes wrong: who to complain to, in order

Write to the business first: the ministry's complaint process expects a letter or email naming the business and how your rights were violated. Then file with the Consumer Protection Branch: free, with contact back within 15 business days. It can mediate, order compliance, investigate, and publish the business on the Consumer Beware List, where entries stay 21 to 27 months.

Licensing complaints about a Toronto renovator go to Municipal Licensing and Standards through 311, electrical work to the Electrical Safety Authority. For the money, Small Claims Court handles up to $50,000, raised from $35,000 on 1 October 2025; most claims must be filed within two years, and the defendant has 20 days to file a defence.

An infrequent claimant files fewer than 10 claims a year at that court location; fee waivers exist.