Roofing Contractors in Ontario: How to Hire One, Read the Quote, Sign the Contract and Check the Work

RoofingHiring & Quotes

Roofing Contractors in Ontario: Finding One, Reading the Quote, Signing the Contract, and Checking the Work

The paperwork that separates a roofing company from a truck with a ladder, and what to do with the quotes once you have them.

I have been building in Ontario for a long time and I still do not have a roofer I would send my mother to without checking. Some I have used do not have a website. The good ones are booked, the bad ones are available tomorrow, and the quotes from both look the same at the kitchen table. These pages are how to tell them apart on paper, before anyone is on your roof.

Review my quotes, $99 How to hire a roofer Quote checklist

The numbers

3quotes, on the same written scope
10%deposit, at most, before material lands
10 dayscooling-off on a contract signed at your door
$2Mliability insurance, certificate in your hand

The guides

How to hire a roofer

The ten questions, the paperwork that proves the answers, and the reference call most people skip.

Roofing scams in Ontario

The door knock, the storm chaser, the free inspection, the deposit that vanishes, and what to say to each.

Roofing quote checklist

Eighteen things that must be on the paper, and how to put three quotes on one page so they compare.

Roofing contract checklist

Fourteen clauses for a two-day job that costs twenty thousand dollars.

Installation inspection checklist

What to look at on tear-off morning, from the ground, and before the last payment.

Roofing warranties explained

Manufacturer vs. workmanship, what lifetime and prorated mean, and the exclusions that void most claims.

Storm damage and insurance

What is usually covered, what is not, depreciation by roof age, and the order to do things in.

The short version

  1. WSIB clearance certificate and a liability certificate naming you, both dated this month, before the ladder goes up. Without WSIB, a roofer who falls off your roof is your problem. The paperwork.
  2. Everything on the quote, or it is not in the job. Tear-off, disposal, ice and water to where, underlayment type, flashing new at every penetration, decking unit price, vents, start and finish dates. Eighteen lines.
  3. Small deposit, progress on delivery, balance on inspection. Not the balance on the last day before you have been up a ladder with the inspection checklist.
  4. Two warranties, read the second one. The manufacturer covers defective shingles, which almost never happens. The roofer covers leaks, which does. The roofer’s warranty is worth exactly what the roofer is. Warranties.
  5. Nobody at the door, nobody after a storm with out-of-province plates, nobody who wants the insurance cheque. The scams and what to do after a storm instead.

Have a quote in hand? Let a builder read it first

For $99, I read your roofing quotes and your roof photos and send back a written note: what is missing from the scope, where the price is out of line with October 2026 Ontario rates, what to ask the roofer before you sign, and whether the roof should come off at all this year. Two business days. How the roofing quote review works.

Roofing quote review, $99 Check it yourself first

Related on this site

  • Find a builder: for a roof that is part of an addition or a bigger renovation.
  • Contact: for anything the review does not cover.