- Electricians with an ESA licence confirmed on the register
- 73.6% (1,478 of 2,007)
- HVAC contractors with a TSSA registration confirmed on the register
- 36.9% (499 of 1,351)
- New-home builders with an HCRA licence confirmed on the register
- 28.1% (232 of 826)
- New-home builders identified (ProScore estimate)
- 826
What counts as confirmed
A licence is counted when ProScore took it from the regulator's register, not from the contractor's own word, and the register, as last read, did not show it as no longer in force. A licence the register does not currently confirm is counted the same way as one ProScore has no record of.
So the rest of each trade is “not confirmed on the register”. It mixes businesses with no licence number on file and licences the register does not currently confirm, and it is not a count of businesses working without a licence.
| Regulator | Counted over | Confirmed | Out of | Rate | Latest register read |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ESA | Electricians | 1,478 | 2,007 | 73.6% | October 4, 2026 |
| TSSA | Heating & cooling (HVAC) | 499 | 1,351 | 36.9% | October 13, 2026 |
| HCRA | New-home builders | 232 | 826 | 28.1% | October 2, 2026 |
“Latest register read” is the newest pull of each register; some individual licences were last read earlier.
HCRA and new-home builders
The Home Construction Regulatory Authority licenses businesses that build or sell new homes. A renovator is not licensed by HCRA the way a builder is (see HCRA's guidance on finding a renovator), so the HCRA rate is over new-home builders only, never over all contractors.
The 826 new-home builders are ProScore's own estimate. A business counts as one when it is on the HCRA register, when its name says it builds new homes, or when Google lists a general contractor or renovator as a home builder. Anyone on the HCRA register is counted as a builder, so a renovator who also holds an HCRA licence is included.
| Listed trade | New-home builders | HCRA licence confirmed |
|---|---|---|
| General contractors | 489 | 159 |
| Kitchen renovators | 256 | 42 |
| Bathroom renovators | 67 | 19 |
| Landscapers | 9 | 8 |
Not shown: roofers and drywallers, each with fewer than 5 builders, too few to publish without pointing at a single business.
How to check a licence yourself
Ask for the licence or registration number and look it up on the regulator's own register. The Electrical Safety Authority explains how to check an electrical contractor’s licence, and TSSA keeps a searchable list of registered fuels contractors.
Questions
What share of Ontario electricians hold an ESA licence?
73.6% (1,478 of 2,007) of the electricians ProScore lists hold an ESA licence confirmed on the Electrical Safety Authority's register, as of October 29, 2026. The rest are not confirmed on the register, which is not a count of businesses working without one. It includes businesses whose licence number ProScore does not have.
What share of Ontario HVAC contractors are registered with TSSA?
36.9% (499 of 1,351) of the heating and cooling contractors ProScore lists hold a TSSA fuels registration confirmed on the register, as of October 29, 2026. The rest are not confirmed on the register, which is not a count of businesses working without one. Not every heating and cooling business does fuels work.
Does every renovator need an HCRA licence?
No. HCRA licenses businesses that build or sell new homes, so a renovator is not expected to hold one. That is why the HCRA figure, 28.1% (232 of 826), is over new-home builders only. The rest are not confirmed on the register, which is not a count of businesses working without one. The 826 builders are ProScore's own estimate, from the HCRA register, business names and Google's business category.
Why is there no figure for pest control and tree services?
ProScore has no register to check these against, so it publishes no rate rather than substitute what businesses say about themselves.
How do I check a contractor’s licence myself?
Ask for the licence or registration number and look it up on the regulator’s own register. The Electrical Safety Authority and TSSA each offer a way to check on their websites.
About this data
The population is every contractor ProScore lists publicly: 16,370 home-service businesses in Ontario across 11 trades, counted on October 29, 2026. Listings that are retired, no longer operating or still being checked are not included. No figure on this page names or identifies a business. The database changes daily, so a later count will differ slightly; cite the date.
When each input was collected: Google data for 15,596 of the 16,370 listings (13,069 of them with a Google rating) comes from a one-time import made between February 10, 2026 and March 6, 2026 and has not been refreshed since; 723 listings were refreshed from Google between July 4, 2026 and October 29, 2026. Licence statuses come from the regulators' registers; the latest pulls were October 4, 2026 (ESA), October 13, 2026 (TSSA) and October 2, 2026 (HCRA), and some licences were last read earlier. WSIB matches use WSIB's 2025 public business list.
Trust scores are ProScore's own assessment (the ProScore Trust Index), not a regulator's finding. A listing without enough evidence to score is shown as not yet rated, which is not a low score.
This is a data update, not a new edition of the annual report, The ProScore Ontario Contractor Trust Index 2026 (August 12, 2026). That report used the data and the scoring rules of its own date, so its figures are not directly comparable with these.
Free to cite with attribution to ProScore. For a specific cut, the underlying queries or comment, contact press@proscore.ca.