905Trades
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Partners

The contractors behind 905 Trades

The businesses being brought into the network, what each one does, and the standard every one of them has confirmed they meet before a single lead is sent. Each partner page sets out exactly what that business told us, on what date, and what 905 Trades did and did not check itself.

The standard every partner meets

No exceptions, and it is published here so you can hold us to it.

  • WSIBA clearance certificate, or a documented exemption, confirming with the board that their account is in good standing and premiums are paid.
  • InsuranceCurrent liability insurance, confirmed by the business before the first lead, not after.
  • HSTRegistered, so the invoice you get is a real invoice from a real business.
  • Google rating4.5 stars or better across real reviews.
  • Seen in personThe operator has to have watched the work, on a real job, not just read about it.

There is no trade licence on that list because Ontario does not require one for these trades. Here is what the provincial regulator actually says, including why a flooring certificate cannot be looked up even when the installer holds one.

Deepsteam.ca

Hamilton

Truck-mounted carpet and upholstery steam cleaning, a Hamilton family business since the 1960s.

Carpet and upholstery cleaning

About Deepsteam.ca →

One partner per trade, on purpose

905 Trades does not hand you a list of three flooring installers and leave you to sort out who calls back. One business per trade, per area, gets every lead for it. In exchange, that response has to be fast: a call or an email within one business day of the request landing is a condition of staying on this site, not a courtesy. If a partner misses that twice on the same lead, the trade gets reopened to someone else.

That exclusivity is also why the vetting standard above matters more here than on a site that lists ten options and lets you pick. There is no second name to fall back on if the first one is wrong, so the first name has to be right.

Who "the operator" is

905 Trades is run by Trevor Stuckless, founder of Blue Crane Works Inc. in Hamilton, which builds software and websites for Canadian contractors and is the company behind Hamilton Home Costs, the cost guide this site quotes. Every business here is one he went looking for, not one that applied through a form, and he is the person who answers hello@905trades.ca when a request goes sideways. A network built on personal vouching should say whose name is on the vouching, so: that is the name.

What happens when a partner slips

The one-business-day response is the thing most likely to go wrong on a busy week. If a request goes unanswered, email us with the reference number and we chase it the same day. Miss it twice on the same lead and the trade is reopened to another business in that area. If a partner's insurance lapses, their WSIB clearance goes stale, or their rating drops below the standard, leads stop until it is fixed. None of that is dramatic. It is just what a published standard means if it is real.

We do not supervise the work itself. Vetting happens before the first lead; what happens on your specific job is between you and the contractor on their own contract. That line is deliberate, and it is repeated in the terms so nobody is surprised by it later.

How a trade gets added

Four things have to be true before a new trade appears here: there is a specific business the operator knows and would send his own family to, homeowners in the 905 actually search for that work, it does not overlap an existing partner's exclusive area, and the business has confirmed it meets the standard above and signed a written referral agreement. A trade is never added because the page would be good for search. That is the fastest way to end up recommending somebody you have not met.

What 905 Trades checks, and what it does not

Worth saying plainly, because most directories leave it vague. Each partner has told us they carry WSIB coverage and liability insurance, and we take them at their word, because the operator picked them by name and has worked in this world long enough to know who is real. What we do not do is collect certificates and keep them on file. Nobody here has audited a policy or pulled a clearance number.

So treat our word as what it is: one person's judgment about companies he chose, backed by his own reputation, not a paperwork audit. Before work starts, ask your contractor to show you a certificate of liability insurance and a WSIB clearance certificate. It takes a minute, every real contractor expects to be asked, and it protects you in a way a badge on a website cannot.

The trades most likely to come next are the ones that sit inside jobs our partners already do: painting, electrical and plumbing, which every kitchen, bathroom and basement needs, and post-renovation cleaning. Roofing, windows and HVAC come after those. If you run one of those businesses in the 905, read how joining works.

Start here

Request a vetted contractor

Two minutes. One contractor calls. No fee to you, ever.

905 Trades is paid by the contractors it introduces, out of what the job bills. You hire the contractor directly, on their quote and their contract, and the rate published here is the rate you pay.

Prefer email? hello@905trades.ca