How to Check an Electrician's ESA Licence
In Ontario, only a Licensed Electrical Contractor can be hired to do electrical work in your home. Every one has a seven-digit ECRA/ESA licence number, and anyone can look it up on ESA's public Contractor Locator Tool. This page shows how, with our own licence as the example.
Who Can Do Electrical Work in Ontario
The Electrical Safety Authority (ESA) licenses the businesses that may do electrical work for hire in Ontario. A Licensed Electrical Contractor is the only kind of business you can hire for electrical work in your home. The electricians who do the work are employed by a licensed contractor: a certified electrician or a master electrician cannot be hired directly.
To hold the licence, a business must have a master electrician on staff, carry public liability and property damage insurance, and be registered with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board where that applies. Every licensed contractor has a seven-digit ECRA/ESA licence number. It appears on the contractor's vehicles, business cards and estimates, and ESA's advice is to ask to see it before you hire anyone for electrical work in your home.
How to Check a Licence
Ask for the number
Ask the contractor for their ECRA/ESA licence number before you agree to any work. It should be on the estimate, along with the ESA fee for the permit.
Look it up
Open ESA's Contractor Locator Tool and search by contractor name, or by location to list the licensed businesses near you.
Read the record
A record shows the business name, the licence number, the licence status, the address and the types of work the licence covers. The status you want to see is Valid.
Ask for the paperwork
The contractor files the notification of work, the permit, with ESA before starting. Once ESA has reviewed and passed the work, ask for the Certificate of Acceptance and keep it.
Our Licence Record
Our ECRA/ESA licence number is 7018179. It is the number on the ESA badge across this site.
Our record on the ESA locator shows that number, the licence status and the types of work the licence covers.
Open our record on the ESA locator
A record shows whether a business holds a licence and what kinds of work it covers. It says nothing about the quality of the work, and a listing on the locator is not a rating or an endorsement by ESA.
The name on a record is the licence holder's registered business name, which can differ from the name a company trades under, so check the address and the website on the record as well as the name.
Signs of an Unlicensed Contractor
ESA publishes a list of warning signs for homeowners, including these.
- • No ECRA/ESA licence number on the work vehicle or the estimate, or none shown when you ask for it.
- • You are asked to take out the ESA notification of work in your own name.
- • You are told ESA does not need to be involved and no notification is needed.
- • A discount for paying cash, cash as the only payment accepted, or no receipt.
- • You are asked to buy all the supplies.
- • The business also offers drywall, flooring, plumbing or other home maintenance, or arrives in a van labelled with a different name.
- • You are told to say you did the work yourself if anyone asks.
- • The company's name cannot be found on ESA's locator.
If an unlicensed contractor is hurt on the job, the homeowner may be responsible, and a home insurance claim traced to unlicensed work may be denied.
The Permit and the Certificate of Acceptance
The Ontario Electrical Safety Code requires almost all electrical work to be reported to ESA by filing a notification of work, also called a permit, before the work starts. Whoever does the work files it. When you hire a licensed contractor, they file it for you, and ESA calls it a red flag if a contractor asks you to file in your name.
The notification creates a permanent record of the work and starts ESA's review. If the work does not meet the Code, the inspector issues a defect notice listing the corrections.
Once the work has been reviewed and passed, ESA issues a Certificate of Acceptance to the person who filed the notification. It proves the work meets the Code, and it is the document an insurer or a home buyer may ask for. If you cannot get the certificate from your contractor, you can request it from ESA with its Access to Information form.
On our jobs the ESA permit and inspection are part of the quoted price, and the paperwork is yours to keep.
This page follows ESA's published guidance on hiring a Licensed Electrical Contractor.
Questions About Licences and Permits
No. A certified electrician and a master electrician are employed by a Licensed Electrical Contractor and cannot be hired directly. The business you hire must hold the ECRA/ESA licence.
ESA says the number appears on a licensed contractor's vehicles, business cards and estimates, and it lists an estimate with no ECRA/ESA licence number or ESA fees as a sign of an unlicensed contractor. If it is missing, ask for it.
No. Whoever does the work must file the notification of work, so a licensed contractor files it for you. Being asked to file it in your own name is a red flag.
The document ESA issues once it has reviewed and passed the work. It proves the work meets the Ontario Electrical Safety Code, and insurers and home buyers may ask for it, so keep it with your records.
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