Municipal licensing
Some cities licence contractors under one heading, some price every trade separately, and some do not licence them at all. None of them are the whole story, because the province licenses several trades whatever your city does.
Running the same contracting business costs $149 a year in Kitchener and $657 in Oakville. That is roughly 4 times more for an identical business, and the gap is almost entirely a licensing decision rather than a cost of doing business.
| Municipality | What the by-law calls it | First year | Each year after |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kitchener | Contractors licence | $149 | $90 |
| London | Contractor Business licence | $178 | Not published |
| Brampton | Building Renovator licence | $221 | $221 |
| Barrie | General Contractor licence | $287.54 | $287.54 |
| Markham | Contractor licence | $300.50 | $300.50 |
| Mississauga | Building Renovator licence | $334.69 | $220.04 |
| Hamilton | Building Repair Contractor licence | $459 | $367 |
| Toronto | Building Renovator licence | $574.77 | $293.14 |
| Oakville | Building Renovator licence | $657 | $657 |
Every figure is traced to the municipality below, with the by-law it came from and the date it was checked.
Because they are not licensing the same thing. Kitchener issues one contractor licence at $149.00 and renews it for $90.00. Oakville licenses by trade and prices each separately, so a building renovator pays $657.00, a pool installation contractor $655.00 and a lawn maintenance contractor $234.00, and a firm doing two of those needs two licences. Barrie charges its universal $287.54 whether you are a general contractor, an insulation contractor or a paving contractor. The work is identical in all three. What the city thinks it is regulating is not.
Read the municipal fee as a floor rather than a total, because for several trades the city is not the body that decides whether you may work. An electrical contractor is licensed by the Electrical Safety Authority. Gas, propane and fuels work runs through the Technical Standards and Safety Authority. A compulsory trade needs a Certificate of Qualification from Skilled Trades Ontario. None of that appears in any city fee schedule on this page, all of it is required before the work is lawful, and in some trades it costs more than the municipal licence does.
Contractor Business in London, Contractors in Kitchener, General Contractor in Barrie alongside separate lines for building renovators, insulation and paving, and in Oakville a list by trade running from building renovator through pool installation to lawn maintenance and landscaping. There is no common word, and in several cities which licence you need depends on the trade name the by-law happens to use rather than on what you actually do.
No. Every municipality here accepts a sole proprietorship registration. None of them require you to incorporate.
Municipal contractor licensing is mostly about insurance and competence rather than company structure. Where a municipality asks anything about the business it is the same business name registration or incorporation documents it asks of every other licensee, and a sole proprietorship registration satisfies it.
The decision that actually matters for a trade is not municipal at all. If you are in a compulsory trade you need the provincial certificate whether you trade as a sole proprietor or a corporation, and it attaches to the person doing the work rather than to the business selling it. Incorporating changes your liability and what general contractors and insurers expect of a subcontractor. It does not change whether you are qualified.
If you want the comparison without the sales pitch, our sole proprietorship versus incorporation guide lays out both sides.
Each entry below shows what the municipality charges, what it calls the licence, what it will not tell you, and where the figures came from.
Greater Toronto Area
Building Renovator licence. One of only two municipalities here that test an applicant, alongside Toronto, and much the cheaper of the two at $334.69 against $574.77. Mississauga licenses trades individually, with separate instruments for building renovation, drain laying, driveway paving, heating and plumbing, and requires a photo of the licensee as well as a written test.
| Written testHST included. Required, because the licence is not issued without it. | $79.48 |
| Building renovator licence, newRenewal is $220.04, and the test is not repeated. | $255.21 |
| First year total | $334.69 |
Proof of registration: Articles of incorporation or a corporate profile report, marked in as many words as not required for sole proprietorships, plus a certificate of insurance showing at least $2 million liability with the City named as an additional insured.
What this municipality does not publish
Source: Business Licensing By-law 0001-2026. Checked 2026-09-16. View the source
Peel Region / Greater Toronto Area
Building Renovator licence. Brampton draws a line most cities do not. Its by-law defines a Building Renovator as someone altering, repairing or renovating buildings, structures, roofs and chimneys, and then expressly excludes a building contractor whose principal business is constructing them. So the renovator licence is not the builder licence, and which side of that line you fall on decides whether this is the right application at all.
| Building renovator licenceExpires 30 April whatever the issue date. | $221 |
| First year total | $221 |
Proof of registration: A business name registration and articles of incorporation, with the business name registration required where the business operates under a name different from the corporation unless it is a franchise.
What this municipality does not publish
Source: Business Licensing By-law 184-2023. Checked 2026-09-16. View the source
Golden Horseshoe
Building Repair Contractor licence. Hamilton is the only municipality here that licenses individual trades at two tiers. Building repair, drain repair, plumbing, HVAC, and sprinkler and fire protection installation each have a Contractor licence and a Master licence, so the by-law distinguishes the firm from the qualified person inside it in a way no other city on this page does. It also runs a separate Renovation Licence, priced very differently again.
| Processing fee$81.42 plus $10.58 HST. | $92 |
| Licence feeNo HST applied to this line. | $341 |
| Photo fee$23.01 plus $2.99 HST. | $26 |
| First year total | $459 |
What this municipality does not publish
Source: By-law 07-170. Effective 2026-01-20. Checked 2026-09-16. View the source
Greater Toronto Area
Building Renovator licence. Toronto is one of only two municipalities here that make you pass a test, Mississauga being the other. A Building Renovator licence requires a trade examination covering business acumen, by-law knowledge and technical knowledge, and the licence is not issued until it is passed. Most cities on this page will license a contractor who has demonstrated nothing beyond the ability to pay. The licence is also required of any business that merely advertises renovation services, not only those performing the work.
| Application feeNon refundable, due when the application is submitted rather than when it succeeds. | $234.62 |
| Licence feeDue on approval. Renewal is $293.14. | $260.50 |
| Building renovator trade examinationIncludes GST. Mandatory, because the licence cannot be obtained without passing it. | $79.65 |
| First year total | $574.77 |
What this municipality does not publish
Source: Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 545, Licensing. Checked 2026-09-16. View the source
Waterloo Region
Contractors licence. One licence for the whole trade, the cheapest here by a distance, and the renewal is cheaper still at $90.00. Kitchener files contractors under temporary and mobile businesses rather than permanent ones, alongside food trucks and street vendors, which is not where most people would look for it.
| Contractors licence, new | $149 |
| Contractors licence, renewalA late renewal is $137.00. | $90 |
| First year total | $149 |
What this municipality does not publish
The municipality does not cite a by-law number on this page. Checked 2026-09-15. View the source
Southwestern Ontario
Contractor Business licence. London runs a single Contractor Business licence at $178.00 and does not split it by trade. As with every other London licence, the rules are in one by-law and the price is in another, so reading the licensing page alone tells you nothing about the cost.
| Contractor business licence | $178 |
| First year total | $178 |
Proof of registration: Business Licensing By-law L.-131-16, s. 6.1(b) asks for articles of incorporation or a corporation profile report no more than fifteen days old only where the applicant is a corporation. A sole proprietor supplies names and addresses.
What this municipality does not publish
Source: Fees and Charges By-law A-62, Schedule 1 (2026); Business Licensing By-law L.-131-16. Effective 2026-01-01. Checked 2026-09-15. View the source
Simcoe County / Central Ontario
General Contractor licence. Barrie lists general contractors, building renovators, insulation contractors and paving contractors as four separate businesses and charges every one of them the same $287.54 it charges a food truck, a kennel and a tattoo parlour. The trade name on the licence changes the form you fill in and nothing about the price.
| General contractor licence, new or renewalBuilding renovator, insulation contractor and paving or resurfacing contractor are each also $287.54. | $287.54 |
| First year total | $287.54 |
What this municipality does not publish
Source: General Business Licensing By-law 2006-266; 2026 User Fees, Schedule B. Effective 2026-01-01. Checked 2026-09-15. View the source
York Region / Greater Toronto Area
Contractor licence. One contractor licence at $300.50, which is the same figure Markham charges a barber shop, an aesthetics shop and a tow compound. It expires on 31 March whatever the issue date, a third renewal month again from the 30 April it uses for taxis and the 31 January it uses for salons.
| Contractor licenceExpires 31 March. A late charge of $57.00 applies after that. | $300.50 |
| First year total | $300.50 |
What this municipality does not publish
Source: By-law 2012-137, Licensing, Permit and Service Fees (consolidated to 1 January 2025). Effective 2025-01-01. Checked 2026-09-15. View the source
Halton Region
Building Renovator licence. The most expensive by a wide margin and the only one that multiplies. Oakville licenses by trade rather than under the word contractor, so a building renovator is $657.00, a pool installation contractor $655.00, landscaping and property maintenance $657.00 and lawn maintenance alone $234.00. A firm that renovates and landscapes needs two licences at $657.00 each, and the schedule does not net them.
| Building renovator licencePool installation contractor $655.00, landscaping and property maintenance $657.00, lawn maintenance contractor $234.00, arborist consulting company $417.00, landscape and tree company $678.00. | $657 |
| First year total | $657 |
What this municipality does not publish
Source: Business Licensing By-law; municipal enforcement licensing rates schedule. Effective 2026-01-01. Checked 2026-09-15. View the source
Treat it as a shortlist, not a quote. Oakville's schedule rises around three and a half per cent every January and Barrie's rises by at least the Toronto area Consumer Price Index each year, so both are built to move rather than to hold.
Follow the source link for your municipality before you budget, and note the date each figure was checked. We publish what the by-law says and what it does not say, and we do not fill a gap with an estimate. If a number here disagrees with your city, the city is right and we want to know about it.
Does a municipal contractor licence let me do electrical work?
No. Electrical contracting in Ontario is licensed by the Electrical Safety Authority, and that is a provincial requirement no municipal licence replaces or satisfies. The same pattern applies to gas, propane and fuels work through the Technical Standards and Safety Authority. A city licence is permission to run a business in that city. It is not permission to do the trade.
Why does Oakville cost more than four times what Kitchener does?
Because Oakville licenses by trade and Kitchener licenses contractors once. Oakville charges $657.00 for a building renovator, $655.00 for a pool installation contractor and $234.00 for lawn maintenance, so a firm that renovates and landscapes can face two licences at $657.00 each. Kitchener charges $149.00 to become a contractor and $90.00 to stay one, which is the cheapest route to licensed trade work found here.
Do I need to incorporate to get a contractor licence?
No municipality here requires it. Where a city asks about the business at all it wants the same business name registration or incorporation documents it asks of any other applicant, and a sole proprietorship registration satisfies that. Incorporating a trade is usually a decision about personal liability, and about what general contractors and insurers expect before they will take you on as a subcontractor, rather than a licensing requirement.
My city is not on this list. Does that mean I need no licence?
No. It means we have not yet read that municipality's schedule from its own source, and we would rather publish nothing than publish a guess. It is also worth remembering that even where a city issues no contractor licence, the provincial requirements still apply in full, so an unlicensed city is not an unregulated trade.
How current are these figures?
Every figure was read from the municipality's own published source and carries the date it was checked, most recently 2026-09-16. Ontario fee schedules reset in January, so treat anything here as a starting point for your own confirmation rather than a final quote, and follow the source link before you budget.
Before you apply
Every municipality on this page wants proof your business is registered, and most want it dated within the last year. It is the step people leave until last and the one that costs them a season.
See your options