Ask for a WSIB Clearance Certificate and 4 Other Papers

A WSIB clearance certificate is a free number from the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board. It shows a contractor is registered and up to date with its payments. The WSIB says you don't need one when you hire someone for repairs or renovations on the home you live in. Ask for it anyway. It's a free check on whether a business pays to cover its workers. It's also the first of five papers worth getting before you pay. The others are a certificate of insurance, a city licence (6 of 25 GTA municipalities issue one), an HST number and, for some trades, a provincial licence.

What a WSIB clearance tells you

The WSIB describes a clearance as a number that shows a business "is registered and up-to-date with us, including keeping current with premium payment and reporting". Premiums are what a business pays the WSIB to insure its workers against workplace injury.

Three facts from the WSIB's clearance questions page matter.

• It's free. The WSIB provides clearances "at no charge".
• It expires. A clearance is valid for up to 90 days, and most expire on the 20th of February, May, August and November.
• A business that's behind can't get one. The search marks it "ineligible", which means its account isn't up to date.

How to check a clearance yourself

Use the WSIB's quick access clearances search. You need no account and no log-in. Search by business name, which the WSIB says works best. You can also use the phone number, address, city, postal code or the business number the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) gave it, or type in the clearance number the contractor gives you.

The name should match the name on your quote, and the dates should be current. On a job that runs past them, check again after the renewal date.

Homeowners usually don't need one

The WSIB's own answer is one sentence: "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".

The Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 has similar exemptions, worded more narrowly. Section 141.2 says whoever hires a contractor for construction work must get a certificate before work starts. Subsection 141.2 (10) says that rule doesn't apply to what the Act calls "exempt home renovation work". Section 141.1 makes the hirer answer for a contractor's unpaid WSIB premiums, and subsection 141.1 (8) lifts that for the same work. The WSIB's construction clearance policy and general clearance policy both say they don't apply to householders hiring for that kind of work.

Subsection 12.2 (10) defines exempt home renovation work with two conditions. The work is done "by an independent operator, a sole proprietor, a partner in a partnership or an executive officer of a corporation". In plain words, that's a self-employed contractor, or a firm's partners or officers. And it's done on "an existing private residence that is occupied or to be occupied by the person who directly retains" them, or by a family member. The WSIB's one-line answer leaves out the first condition. The WSIB's own example bears that out: the owner of a handyman business with two employees is exempt himself, but the employees must be covered. So if a company's staff will do the work, a clearance before work starts settles the question either way.

The WSIB's coverage policy says a residence includes a house, condo unit, apartment unit or cottage, plus garages, sheds, fences and pools on the same property that aren't used for business. "Directly retained" means you hire them, their estimates and invoices are in their name to you, and you pay them yourself. In one of the WSIB's own examples, the exemption applies when a tenant hires and pays a tiler who works alone, only on home renovations, for the unit she rents.

When you do need one

A rental property you own, with tenants in it, isn't a residence you or your family occupy, so the exemption's wording doesn't reach it. The WSIB's examples also say a clearance is required when a condo's property manager hires the contractor.

Outside the exemption, WSIB policy says starting construction work without a clearance is an offence for both you and the contractor. You also commit an offence if you fail to get a new one when it expires mid-job, or fail to keep a copy for three years. You may also be liable for the contractor's WSIB debts, up to the value of the labour part of your contract. A valid clearance removes that liability for the period it covers.

Section 158 of the Act sets a maximum penalty for an individual of a $25,000 fine, six months in jail, or both, and a $500,000 fine for a company. A company convicted of two or more counts of the same offence in the same proceeding faces up to $750,000 for each. The WSIB's own FAQ still gives $100,000, the company maximum the Act replaced in 2015.

Why ask for one anyway

The exemption covers the contractor, too. The WSIB says an owner who does only home renovations, hired by the people living there, does "not have to be covered by us and [is] not entitled to any benefits". So if that owner falls off your roof, the WSIB pays them nothing unless they bought its optional coverage. Ask whether they have it.

A home renovation business with employees must still register them and pay for their coverage. So a contractor who brings a crew but can't show a clearance may not be registered, or may be behind on its payments. The exemption also ends the moment the business starts work on a job that isn't home renovation, such as a commercial contract. And if your contractor hires a plumber or electrician, those subtrades aren't exempt, so your contractor must get their clearances.

The home insurer belairdirect warns that if you hire workers who aren't insured, "you could be held responsible if they are injured on your property". That's an insurer's warning, not a WSIB rule.

The five papers to ask for, and how to check each

The last four rows are the fifth paper. Which one you need depends on the trade.

Certificate of insurance: what it shows and how to check it

A clearance says nothing about damage to your home or your neighbour's. That's what liability insurance covers, and the proof is a certificate of insurance. belairdirect tells Ontario homeowners to ask for proof of "public liability and property damage insurance".

The broker BrokerLink says a standard certificate lists the business, the policy number and its dates. It also lists the type and limits of coverage, the insurer and the broker who issued it. It's "simply proof that coverage exists", not the policy. BrokerLink also warns that "there have been cases where contractors submitted fake ones".

So call the insurer or broker named on the certificate and ask if the policy is active. Check that the business name matches your quote and that the dates cover your job. Being named the "certificate holder" only means you're told about the coverage and can't file a claim. BrokerLink says an "additional insured" is covered and can file one.

Five of the six GTA renovator licences require at least $2 million in liability cover: Mississauga, Brampton, Vaughan, Oakville and Halton Hills. Toronto's is the exception: it asks renovators for a signed health and safety form, not proof of insurance. So a Toronto licence alone doesn't prove a firm is insured.

Call your own insurer, too. TD Insurance warns that "your coverage may be limited during renovations".

Your city's licence: 6 of 25 GTA municipalities issue one

We checked all 25 GTA cities and towns against one question. Does the town require a licence for a contractor who renovates or repairs a house? Six do. Seventeen of the 19 "no" rows come from the town's own licensing by-law or fee schedule, read on September 28, 2026. King and Clarington rest on each town's statement that it doesn't license businesses in general.

Brampton, Vaughan and Oakville post their lists online. In Mississauga and Halton Hills (whose Specialty Trade Contractor licence covers general renovation), ask the licensing office.

Toronto's Municipal Code requires "Toronto Licence No." and the number on both sides of a renovator's vehicles and on its bills and ads. The renovator must also sign a written contract with you on the City's own form before starting, and give you an itemized bill within 24 hours if you ask. Vaughan requires a written contract before a licensee takes any payment. Brampton's renovators must prove to the City that all their workers are covered under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act.

Some towns license single trades instead. Markham licenses driveway paving companies, and Clarington licenses plumbers and drain layers. Vaughan says electricians and plumbers need no city licence, because the province licenses them.

If Toronto's lookup is down, use its open data

Toronto's Business Licence Lookup showed a "technical difficulties" page when we tried it on September 28, 2026. The same records sit in the City's open data, refreshed daily. Download the file, open it in a spreadsheet and search the company name. Toronto renovator licence numbers start with T85.

Under section 545-441 of the Municipal Code, a renovator can only do the kinds of work its licence is endorsed for, unless it employs someone who is. Those endorsements, such as shingling or drywall, sit in the conditions column. And 667 of the 1,450 renovator licences with no cancellation date carry this condition: "ALL WORK TO BE SUB-CONTRACTED TO LICENSED RENOVATORS/CONTR." If yours has it, ask who will actually do the work, and check that business too.

The HST number

The CRA says a business must put its GST/HST number on receipts, invoices and contracts when it supplies taxable goods or services of $100 or more. Check it in the CRA's free GST/HST Registry. You need the first nine digits, the business name and the date on the invoice or contract. If the name finds nothing, the CRA says to ask the business for the exact name it gave the CRA.

A missing number isn't proof of anything on its own. A small supplier, one that doesn't pass $30,000 in taxable sales in one calendar quarter or over four quarters in a row, doesn't have to register.

Trade licences for electrical, gas, plumbing and new homes

Electrical. The Electrical Safety Authority (ESA) says only a licensed electrical contractor "can be hired to do electrical work in your home". Check the 7-digit ECRA/ESA licence number from its truck, card or estimate in ESA's Find a Contractor tool. A general contractor isn't licensed for electrical work, so ask who they're hiring. ESA calls it a red flag if a contractor asks you to file the ESA notification in your own name. When the work is done, ask for ESA's Certificate of Acceptance.

Gas, oil and propane. The TSSA says registered fuels contractors "are the only businesses that are legally authorized to do fuels related work in Ontario". Its lookup searches by company name or authorization number and is updated at the start of each month.

Plumbing, air conditioning and sheet metal. These, like electrician, are among Ontario's 23 compulsory trades. A worker must hold a valid Certificate of Qualification, a provisional certificate or a Registered Training Agreement (an apprenticeship), with a few exceptions. A worker with a Quebec certificate, for one, can work here but won't show up on the register. Search them by name on the Skilled Trades Ontario Public Register. Roofing and carpentry aren't compulsory trades, so a roofer missing from the register proves nothing.

New homes only. The HCRA says it "does not licence or regulate contractors or tradespeople". Its Ontario Builder Directory matters only if you're buying a new home or hiring someone to build one.