How to Hire a Handyman in Toronto and the GTA: Questions to Ask, Insurance, WSIB and Red Flags

Most bad handyman experiences don’t start with bad workmanship. They start with a phone call that ended in “sure, we can do all that,” no paperwork, and nobody checking who was coming through the door. By the time a TV comes off the wall or a patched ceiling stains again, the questions that would have filtered out that hire are much harder to ask.

This is the process we’d walk a friend through when hiring a handyman in Ontario. If you’re still deciding whether your job is handyman work at all, start with handyman or contractor: who to call.

The hiring checklist at a glance

• Write every job down, with photos and measurements
• Split the list into handyman work and work that needs a licensed trade or a permit
• Ask two or three businesses for written, itemized quotes
• Send your questions by email, so the answers arrive in writing
• Get a certificate of liability insurance, not a verbal “we’re covered”
• Check the WSIB clearance, or ask how the business is covered if it’s exempt
• Look up any licence number yourself: ESA for electrical, TSSA for gas
• Call references and search Ontario’s Consumer Beware List
• Agree scope, price, schedule and payment terms in writing
• Keep any deposit small and walk through the work before the final payment

Step 1: Prepare the job before you call anyone

A handyman can only quote what they can see. The more you put on paper, the less the quote depends on guesswork. For each item, note:

• What and where: “second-floor bathroom door rubs at the top corner and won’t latch” beats “fix door”
• Photos: a close-up plus a wide shot showing the room, ceiling height and access; for a sticking door, a short video
• Measurements: window widths for blinds, TV screen size, the rough size of a wall hole, the height of a foyer or stairwell
• History: when a crack or stain appeared and whether it has grown — a water stain is a symptom first and a patch second
• Materials: whether you’re supplying the fixture, hardware or paint, with the product name
• Building rules: in a condo, what management requires for elevator bookings, work hours and contractor paperwork

Put the list in priority order so everyone knows what comes first. Our guide to what a handyman can do covers the jobs that usually end up on these lists.

Step 2: Know which jobs a handyman can legally take on

Ontario has no general provincial licence for handyman work, but several kinds of work are regulated, and the rules follow the work rather than the job title. Sort your list against this table before you hire anyone:

The electrical row is the one most often misunderstood. ESA says Licensed Electrical Contractors are the only businesses, with certain exemptions, legally allowed to do electrical work in your home, including when a general contractor subcontracts it. A business that isn’t an LEC and offers to “just swap” a fixture or add an outlet is telling you how it treats the rules.

Permits are your concern too. Ontario’s guidance says getting the building permits a renovation needs is the homeowner’s responsibility, and if your contractor is getting them, the contract should say so. Requirements differ by municipality, so ask your local building department when in doubt.

A good handyman sorts your list this way unprompted. When an item needs an electrician, we bring in a licensed electrical contractor and handle the drywall patching and painting afterwards.

Step 3: Questions to ask a handyman before you book

Send these by email. The answers become your paper trail, and how a business answers them is information in itself.

• Will the quote list each job, with what’s included and what isn’t?
• Is the price fixed or hourly? If a job turns out bigger, will the change be agreed in writing before you do it?
• Can you email your certificate of liability insurance and your WSIB clearance, or explain your coverage?
• Who will be in my home: your own crew or subcontractors?
• Which items on my list need a licensed trade or a permit, and how do you handle them?
• Who buys the materials, which products, and will I get the receipts?
• What does your workmanship guarantee cover, in writing?

The fifth question is the most revealing. A handyman who says yes to a new circuit, a gas fireplace and a possibly load-bearing wall has already answered it.

Step 4: Check handyman insurance and WSIB yourself

Liability insurance

Ask for a certificate of insurance and check three things: the business name matches your quote, the policy dates cover your job, and it’s a liability policy for the business rather than only a vehicle policy. If anything looks off, call the insurer or broker named on it. In a condo, management may want the certificate on file before the service elevator can be booked, so ask early.

WSIB clearance certificates

A WSIB clearance is a number the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board issues to show that a business is registered and up to date with it. You can look one up through WSIB’s quick-access clearance service without an account. Clearances are valid for up to 90 days, so check the date.

Two facts make this more nuanced than “no clearance, no hire.” WSIB says a clearance certificate is not required when a contractor is hired by a home’s resident, occupant or a family member to do repairs or renovations. And an independent operator hired and paid directly by homeowners can be exempt from coverage for themselves, though they must still cover any employees. A solo handyman may legitimately have no clearance to show.

So ask “how are you, and anyone you bring, covered?” A crew should come with a clearance; a solo operator should be able to explain their exemption. Your own position if someone is hurt on your property depends on the circumstances, so if the answer isn’t clear, ask your home insurer first.

Step 5: Verify licences, references and complaints

• Electrical: get the ECRA/ESA licence number, which appears on a licensed contractor’s estimates, business cards and vehicles, and look it up on ESA’s contractor search. ESA also flags a contractor who asks you to file the electrical notification in your own name.
• Gas: get the TSSA registration number and the technician’s name, and confirm the registration on TSSA’s lookup tool.
• References: Ontario’s guidance is to get at least three and call them, even when a friend recommended the business.
• Complaints: search the business name and the owner’s name on Ontario’s Consumer Beware List.

Step 6: How to compare handyman quotes

Two quotes are only comparable when they describe the same work, so compare the scope first and the total last. Here’s a quote line that protects you next to one that doesn’t:

Then check whether each quote is flat-rate or hourly, since the two put the risk of a slow job on different people; our guide to handyman costs in Toronto explains both. Treat a quote far below the others with care: usually something has been left out of the scope. And keep the estimate in writing, because Ontario’s consumer protection rules limit how far the final price can rise above it unless you’ve agreed to new work or a new price.

Step 7: Written agreements, deposits and your rights in Ontario

Under Ontario’s Consumer Protection Act, all but the very smallest home renovation and repair contracts must be in writing. For a handyman visit, that can be a short document or a detailed email, but it should cover the business’s legal name and contact details, each job as quoted, the total price and payment terms, start and finish dates, who handles any permits, and clean-up.

On deposits, the province recommends keeping down payments to a minimum and never paying the full amount before the work is done. A handyman deposit, if there is one, should reflect a real up-front cost such as special-order materials.

If you sign a contract in your home, Ontario gives you a cooling-off period: you can cancel for any reason within 10 days of receiving a written copy of the agreement. Send the cancellation by email or registered mail so you have a record. If work started during that period, you may still owe reasonable compensation for work and materials provided.

In some situations, such as a missing written contract or a false or misleading statement, the rules allow cancellation for up to a year. How they apply depends on how and where the agreement was made, and Ontario has been updating its consumer protection law, so check the current rules on ontario.ca rather than relying on any summary, including this one. And avoid cash deals; if you do pay cash, get a detailed, signed receipt.

Handyman near me? Red flags to walk away from

An online listing tells you who’s free tomorrow, not who you’re hiring. Walk away from:

• Cash only, or a cash discount with no receipt
• No written quote, or a single number with no description of the work
• Pressure: a price that expires tonight, or a large deposit before a date is booked
• Door-to-door offers — “we’re working on your street and have material left over”
• “We don’t need a permit” for work that changes wiring, gas, plumbing or structure
• A request to take out a permit or file an electrical notification in your name
• No insurance certificate, and no clear answer about WSIB or who is coming
• A yes to every item on a list that plainly includes licensed work

None of these mean the person can’t do good work. They mean that if a leak, a failed mount or a fall happens, you’ll have little to fall back on.

What good looks like

At FixitPlus, every job is quoted flat-rate, in writing, with each item listed, and the price is agreed before work starts. We’re licensed and insured, covered by WSIB, and back our work with a workmanship guarantee. Alan, our project manager, is the single point of contact from the first quote to the final walkthrough, and anything that needs a licensed trade is flagged on the quote rather than discovered on the day.

Most of our handyman services start as a mixed list: a whole to-do list in one visit, a TV mounted with the cables hidden, some patching and paint. The questions above apply whether you’re hiring for a Mississauga split-level, a Vaughan new build, an Etobicoke bungalow or a North York condo, and we’re happy to answer every one. Send your list and a few photos through our contact page for a free, no-obligation estimate.

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