How do you check an ESA licence for an Ontario electrician?

What the licence covers

It licenses the contracting business, not the individual doing the work. Holding one requires the business to designate a Master Electrician, carry at least two million dollars in liability insurance, and stay in good standing. A certified electrician without a contractor licence may be perfectly skilled, and is still not permitted to take on electrical work for hire.

The notification is the other half

Most electrical work in Ontario requires a notification filed with the authority before the work starts, or within 48 hours of starting where filing first is not practicable. Once ESA accepts the work, it issues a Certificate of Acceptance. That certificate is what a home insurer or a buyer's lawyer asks for later. Work done without it can surface years afterwards, during a sale or a claim.

For the contractor's own website

ESA's guidance says the licence number must be on the contractor's website, and the regulation says it has to be displayed prominently. Put it in text on every page, next to the phone number or contact details, rather than inside an image. That gives a homeowner something to verify, which ESA tells them to do before hiring. Sites that hide it invite the question they least want asked.