How to Choose a Painting Contractor in the GTA
Twelve questions that reveal whether a painter knows what they are doing, and the four red flags worth walking away from.
Before hiring a painting contractor in Ontario, verify three things in writing: a certificate of general liability insurance naming you or your building, a current WSIB clearance certificate, and a written finish specification stating how many coats go on which surfaces and which surfaces get primed. Ask for references from jobs completed two to three years ago rather than last month, recent work only proves the paint went on, not that it stayed on. Walk away from anyone requiring more than a 30% deposit, offering a discount for cash with no invoice, or unable to explain why one wall needs primer and another does not.
Verify these three documents before anything else
This part is not about judgment or taste. It is a compliance check, it takes ten minutes, and skipping it is how homeowners end up personally liable for an injury on their property.
- General liability insurance. Ask for the certificate, not a verbal assurance, and check that the policy is current and matches the business you are hiring.
- WSIB clearance certificate. In Ontario this confirms the contractor is up to date on workplace insurance. Without it, if someone is injured on your property, the exposure can land on you. Clearance certificates can be verified directly through WSIB.
- A written scope. Not a number on a page. A document naming the surfaces, the number of coats on each, which get primed, what sheen goes where, and what is explicitly excluded.
The twelve questions
- How many coats, on which surfaces? The answer should be surface-specific, not a blanket "two coats everywhere".
- Which surfaces get primed, and why those? This is the single best competence test. Someone who knows painting will explain that bare filler, stains, knots, drastic colour changes and bare drywall need primer and that a sound same-colour wall does not.
- Are ceilings and trim included or extra? This one question explains most of the gap between a low quote and a high one.
- Is my trim oil-based, and how will you check? On a pre-2005 GTA home the answer should be an alcohol swab test, done at the walkthrough. "We will just paint over it" is a peeling job waiting to happen.
- Who is actually on the crew, employees or subcontractors? Neither answer is wrong. Hesitation is.
- Will the same crew be here for the whole job? Continuity matters more than people expect on a multi-day interior.
- What paint, what product line, and what sheen? "Premium paint" means nothing. A named product line in a named sheen means something.
- What happens if you find damage behind the furniture? A good answer describes a process, stop, document, price it, get your approval. A bad answer is silence, and then a change order.
- How do you protect floors and adjacent rooms? Listen for containment at doorways, not just drop sheets.
- How are touch-ups or concerns handled after the final walkthrough? The answer should be written into the agreement.
- What is the payment schedule? A deposit of 10% to 30%, progress payments on longer jobs, and a final payment after your walkthrough is normal.
- Can I speak to two clients from two or three years ago? Recent references only prove the paint went on. Older ones prove it stayed on.
Four red flags worth walking away from
- A deposit above 30%, or a demand for the full amount up front. Materials do not require your entire budget in advance, and a contractor who needs it is financing the last job with your money.
- A discount for cash with no invoice. You have no proof of the contract, and it removes recourse you would otherwise have.
- Pressure to sign today, or a price that expires this afternoon. Legitimate quotes hold for a reasonable window because they are based on measurement rather than urgency.
- A quote given over the phone or from photos alone, for a whole-home job. Nobody can see plaster condition, trim history or ceiling texture in a photo. A number produced without a walkthrough is a hook, and the real price arrives later.
How to read three quotes that are far apart
When quotes differ by 40% or more, they are almost never pricing the same work. Before assuming the cheapest is a bargain, find the scope difference, it is nearly always in one of five places.
- Coat count. One full coat versus two is roughly a 35% labour difference and it is invisible on the day.
- Ceilings. Frequently excluded from a low quote without being stated clearly.
- Trim. Often excluded, or included as one coat where the others quoted two.
- Prep depth. Filling visible holes versus a genuine fill-sand-prime pass across every wall.
- Product grade. Contractor flat versus a premium washable finish is a real cost difference and a real durability difference.
What a good walkthrough looks like
The walkthrough tells you more about a contractor than the quote does. Watch what they actually do while they are in your house.
A serious estimator measures rooms rather than eyeballing them, runs a hand over the walls to feel repair history, checks the trim with a swab if the house predates the mid-2000s, looks at the ceiling texture and asks the age of the building, opens a closet to check the substrate where nobody has patched it, and asks how you use each room before recommending a sheen.
Someone who walks through in four minutes and emails a number that evening has not gathered enough information to be accurate. The quote will be either padded to cover the unknowns, or low with change orders waiting.
General ranges only get you so far. A 45-minute walkthrough gives you a written finish specification and a fixed number, free, and with nothing to sign.