BuildData
Canadian Contractor Profiles
136,000 contractor profiles aggregated from building permits and business licences across Canada. Permit history, licence status, trade type, and location in one queryable API.
Contractor permit activity spans 17 cities including Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver, Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Brampton. Licence data (status, trade type, location) extends to 27 cities. Profiles merge both sources under a single normalized contractor name — so a contractor licensed in Calgary who pulled permits in Red Deer appears as one profile.
Permit activity cities:
What a contractor profile includes
Who uses contractor profile data
Contractor vetting
Verify a contractor holds an active licence and has a real permit track record before hiring. Cross-reference the name across cities to spot discrepancies.
B2B sales and lead generation
Build targeted lists of active contractors by trade type and city. Filter by permit volume to find high-activity targets. Identify newly licensed contractors as early-stage leads.
Insurance and underwriting
Assess contractor risk by permit history and licence status. Flag unlicensed contractors on active projects. Verify declared trade type against actual permit categories.
Competitive intelligence
Track permit activity by contractor across cities. Identify the most active contractors in a market. Measure permit value share by firm over time.
API examples
# Licensed contractors active in Toronto
# Returns: name, trade types, permit count, value, licence status
# Full profile: municipalities, permit count & value, licence status, recent permits
# name_normalized is the stable key across all queries
# { "total_contractors": 136018, "licensed_contractors": 37575,
# "total_permits": 869419, "total_permit_value": 158033484969 }
Same API key as business licences, building inspections, and building permits. One schema, one key.
Sample data
Top contractors by permit count. Live from the BuildData database.
| Contractor | Cities | Trade | Permits | Total value | Last permit |
|---|
Frequently asked questions
How do I look up a contractor's permit history in Canada?
Use the /contractor/{name_normalized} endpoint. Pass the contractor's normalized name (lowercase, spaces intact) and the API returns their full profile: all building permits, total construction value, permit date range, and active cities.
How do I verify a contractor is licensed?
Each profile includes is_licensed (boolean) and licence_status (Active or Inactive), aggregated from municipal business licence records across 27 cities. A contractor with is_licensed: true holds at least one active licence in the covered cities.
Which Canadian cities are covered?
Permit data covers 17 cities: Toronto, Ottawa, Brampton, Kitchener, Cambridge, Calgary, Grande Prairie, Red Deer, Laval, Winnipeg, Vancouver, Maple Ridge, Langley Township, New Westminster, North Vancouver, Lake Country, and Saugeen Shores. Licence data adds a further 10 cities. See full coverage.
What data is in a contractor profile?
Name, operating cities, trade types (electrical, plumbing, construction_trade, etc.), active licence status, total permit count, total declared construction value, first and last permit dates, and business address with geocoordinates where available.
How often is the data updated?
Contractor profiles are rebuilt daily from the underlying permit and licence records. New permits and licence changes are reflected within 24 hours.
Start with 25 free requests per day
No credit card required. Full API access via RapidAPI. OpenAPI spec and docs included.
Get a free API keyPart of the BuildData Canadian construction data platform. Also available: business licences, building inspections, development permits, see all coverage.