Zulma Atlas lists 6,607 home trade businesses across 39 towns in 13 Ontario markets, from Niagara to Durham Region. General contractors are the biggest group, at 1,625. Atlas found a website for 61% of them, and the rest list a phone number and little else. The Electrical Safety Authority says an electrical contractor's licence number must be on its website, but we found it on only about 1 in 3 electricians' sites.
At a glance
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Home trade businesses on Atlas | 6,607 |
| Trades counted | 16 |
| Towns | 39, in 13 markets |
| Businesses per 10,000 people, all markets | 8.5 |
| Atlas found a website | 61% |
| Atlas shows a logo or picture from their own website | 53% |
| Atlas found an email or a contact form | 38% |
| Electricians whose website shows an ESA licence number | 32% (110 of 342 sites read) |
iSource: Zulma Atlas, 1 November 2026; Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
How many businesses, by trade
Show as a table
| Trade | Businesses |
|---|---|
| General contracting | 1,625 |
| Lawn care | 810 |
| Heating and cooling (HVAC) | 792 |
| Electrical | 664 |
| Plumbing | 622 |
| Cleaning | 608 |
| Painting | 353 |
| Locksmiths | 298 |
| Pest control | 202 |
| Moving | 158 |
| Pool service | 142 |
| Appliance repair | 138 |
| Home inspection | 85 |
| Eavestroughs | 66 |
| Junk removal | 23 |
| Snow removal | 21 |
Each business is counted once, under its main trade. Lawn care is the second biggest trade, ahead of heating and cooling, which fits a region of detached homes with yards. Snow removal looks small because many lawn care businesses plow in winter and are counted under lawn care.
iSource: Zulma Atlas, 1 November 2026.
How many businesses, by market
Show as a table
| Market | Businesses | People (2021) | Per 10,000 people |
|---|---|---|---|
| York Region | 1,728 | 1,173,103 | 14.7 |
| Niagara | 681 | 477,941 | 14.2 |
| Oakville | 254 | 213,759 | 11.9 |
| Burlington | 206 | 186,948 | 11.0 |
| Mississauga | 770 | 717,961 | 10.7 |
| Hamilton | 493 | 569,353 | 8.7 |
| Halton Hills | 51 | 62,951 | 8.1 |
| Durham Region | 509 | 696,867 | 7.3 |
| Caledon | 53 | 76,581 | 6.9 |
| Milton | 84 | 132,979 | 6.3 |
| Brampton | 340 | 656,480 | 5.2 |
| Toronto, with Etobicoke | 1,438 | 2,794,356 | 5.1 |
York Region and Niagara have the most home trade businesses for their size, about 14 for every 10,000 people. Toronto and Brampton have the fewest on Atlas, about 5. That doesn't mean Toronto is short of trades: a business based in York Region or Mississauga often works across the city line, and Atlas counts each business where it is based.
Etobicoke is its own market on Atlas but part of the City of Toronto in the census, so the two are counted together here. Niagara is its 12 towns, York Region its 9 and Durham Region its 8.
iSources: Zulma Atlas, 1 November 2026; Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population.
Who has a website
Show as a table
| Trade | Atlas found a website |
|---|---|
| Pool service | 73% |
| Pest control | 67% |
| General contracting | 66% |
| Heating and cooling (HVAC) | 66% |
| Appliance repair | 66% |
| Lawn care | 63% |
| Cleaning | 61% |
| Home inspection | 60% |
| Electrical | 54% |
| Moving | 54% |
| Plumbing | 50% |
| Painting | 50% |
| Locksmiths | 45% |
Half of the plumbers and painters on Atlas, and more than half of the locksmiths, have no website we could find. Many good businesses run on word of mouth and a phone number. Still, it means that for about 4 in 10 businesses, you can't check their work, their licence or their address online before you call, so ask for those on the phone.
Niagara has the highest share with a website, 76%. York Region has the lowest, 53%.
iSource: Zulma Atlas, 1 November 2026. Trades with fewer than 80 businesses are left out of this table.
Electricians and their licence number
An electrical contractor in Ontario must hold a licence from the Electrical Safety Authority (ESA). The ESA says the licence number "must also be on your website", as well as on contracts, invoices, ads and the business's vehicles.
We read the websites of the 360 electricians on Atlas that list one: the home page and up to two About or Contact pages each. We reached 342 of them.
| What we found | Websites |
|---|---|
| Showed an ESA licence number | 110 |
| Mentioned the ESA, without a number we could read | 53 |
| Mentioned neither | 179 |
| Total websites read | 342 |
So about 1 in 3 showed the number we looked for. Treat that as a minimum: a number shown in a picture, or only on another page, would not have been found, and some businesses filed under electrical on Atlas are alarm, lighting or supply companies. Whatever the website shows, you can look up any electrical contractor by name or licence number on the ESA's own site before you hire. Our electrician hiring guide shows how.
iSources: Electrical Safety Authority, "Requirements to Display Your Licence"; Zulma's read of 342 electricians' websites, 1 November 2026.
How we counted
- What's counted: businesses listed on Zulma Atlas on 1 November 2026 under one of 16 home trades. Real estate, finance, insurance, legal, car and short-term rental businesses are left out. Atlas finds businesses from open data and published city licence lists, and each business's own website is its record.
- Where: each business is counted once, in the town where it is based, under its main trade.
- What it isn't: a census of every trade business in Ontario. Atlas keeps finding businesses, so a low figure for a town can mean Atlas has more to find there.
- People: each market's population is the 2021 Census count for its towns.
- The website figures are what Atlas found. A business may have a website Atlas hasn't found yet.
Use Zulma for this
- ProjectsStart a project
Start a project to describe the job and ask up to three businesses you pick for a quote.
- Zulma AtlasFind a business in your town
Find a business in your town on Zulma Atlas, in any of the 16 trades.
Questions people ask
How many home trade businesses are there in Ontario?
Zulma Atlas lists 6,607 home trade businesses across 39 towns in 13 Ontario markets, from Niagara to Durham Region, as of 1 November 2026. That is about 8.5 for every 10,000 people. It counts the businesses Atlas has found, not every one in the province.
Which home trade has the most businesses?
General contracting, with 1,625 businesses on Atlas, followed by lawn care (810), heating and cooling (792), electrical (664) and plumbing (622).
Which Ontario market has the most trades per person?
York Region, with about 14.7 home trade businesses on Atlas for every 10,000 people, followed by Niagara at 14.2.
Do most tradespeople have a website?
About 6 in 10 do. Atlas found a website for 61% of home trade businesses, from 73% of pool services down to 45% of locksmiths.
Does an Ontario electrician have to show their licence number?
Yes. The Electrical Safety Authority says an electrical contractor's licence number must be on its website, contracts, invoices, ads and business vehicles. We found it on about 1 in 3 electricians' websites, so check it on the ESA's site before you hire.
