Check these. On us, or on anybody.
Most of what follows takes ten minutes and almost nobody does it. If a builder makes any of it difficult, that is your answer.
Anyone building or selling a new home in Ontario has to hold a licence from the HCRA, and it is illegal to build or sell one without it. The Ontario Builder Directory is public, free, and takes a minute to search. It shows licence status, how long they have been building, how many homes they have built, and any charges, convictions or conduct concerns against them. If a builder is not in there, do not buy from them.
New homes in Ontario carry a warranty — one year on everything, two years on major systems, seven years on structure — plus deposit protection and compensation if closing is delayed. The builder provides it and Tarion backstops it. Ask for confirmation the home is enrolled before you sign.
This is the part most people do not know. The HCRA licence and the Tarion warranty apply to new homes only. Ontario has no provincial licence for renovation contractors at all. For renovation work, RenoMark is the closest thing — a Canadian Home Builders' Association code of conduct that requires $2M in liability insurance, a written contract, and a minimum two-year written warranty on the work.
Not a logo on a website — a current certificate. They expire every 90 days, which is exactly why a badge means nothing. If you hire a contractor directly and they are not covered, you can end up liable for their WSIB obligations yourself.
A certificate of general liability, in the contractor's name, current. Ask before the quote, not after.
In Ontario any contract over $50 has to be written. It has to carry the scope, the total cost, the payment schedule, the start and finish dates, and the warranty terms. Deposits should not exceed 10%. And if an estimate is written into the contract, the final bill cannot exceed it by more than 10% unless you approved the change in writing. If you sign at your own home, you have ten days to cancel.
The answer should be the builder, as a matter of course. Anyone suggesting the work can be done without one is offering you a house you cannot insure, cannot easily sell, and may be ordered to take apart.
One finished, one halfway. The finished one tells you what they can deliver. The one that is still open tells you how they work — whether the site is tidy, whether the trades know what they are doing, whether anyone from the company is actually there.
Ask about a specific house on their website. Then ask three questions: what went well, what went badly, and what did the builder do about it. The third answer is the one that matters.