For contractors · Montréal · Canada · CAD

Join AskBaily in Montréal: The Anti-HomeStars Contractor Platform

Montréal general contractors are drowning in lead-platform fees. On HomeStars, TrustedPros, RBQ Quebec, you pay attempts — subscriptions of C$40–C$300 per month, lead-unlock fees of C$5–C$80 each, and a 4-to-5-firm shortlist that guarantees four losers for every winner. AskBaily flips that. We charge a closed-job take-rate of 8–15% of contract revenue and nothing else: no listing fees, no lead-unlock fees, no losing-bid spend, no monthly subscription. The first time you see an invoice from us is after a homeowner has signed a contract with you. Every partner is verified against Régie du bâtiment du Québec (RBQ) so the homeowner sees your real credentials and the brief carries the consent path before you ever quote.

The Montréal math: 8–15% take-rate vs the lead-fee model

HomeStars and the wider HomeStars / TrustedPros cohort run a shared-lead economic model: every brief gets sold to multiple firms, each pays for the chance to bid, and only one wins. That is a tax on attempts, not on outcomes. AskBaily charges only on wins. Three worked examples on real Montréalproject sizes:

Small job

HomeStars: HomeStars Québec listing C$400/yr + per-lead conversion fees on a French-localised shortlist

AskBaily: 8–15% de la valeur du contrat fermé, aucun frais à l'avance

Investissement marketing fixe annulé

Mid-size renovation

HomeStars: C$70,000 plex rénovation Plateau — HomeStars 4-firmes shortlist, ~C$250 en frais de soumissions perdantes

AskBaily: 12% de C$70,000 = C$8,400 seulement sur le contrat signé

Le modèle pay-on-win remplace le coût des perdantes

Premium / luxury job

HomeStars: C$400,000 maison historique Westmount — HomeStars premium ~C$250/mois + frais

AskBaily: 10% de C$400,000 = C$40,000 sur contrat signé seulement

C$3K/an d'abonnement fixe disparaît

How Montréal regulatory credibility is verified

The single biggest reason Montréal homeowners distrust shared-lead platforms is that any pro can pay to appear, regardless of their actual licensure status. AskBaily flips that: every partner is verified against the Régie du bâtiment du Québec (RBQ) registry on intake, and re-verified every 90 days. The authoritative reference is RBQ contractor licence under the Loi sur le bâtiment, Code de construction du Québec (NBC + Ch. I), CCQ residential collective agreement, plus CMEQ (electrical) / CMMTQ (plumbing) master-trade. When your registration lapses, you drop off the match queue automatically — there is no manual gate to slip through. Permits and consent paths are pulled live from the Ville de Montréal — Permis et autorisations portal so the homeowner brief carries the real consent timeline, not a guess. You quote against the actual permit pathway, never against unknowns. Liability and warranty cover are also verified at intake — region-appropriate insurance certificates are checked for active dates and adequate coverage limits before the first lead is routed.

Why Montréal homeowners prefer AskBaily over HomeStars

On HomeStars, a homeowner submits a brief, then three to five firms bombard them within hours — phone calls, emails, push notifications. The homeowner becomes a triage problem for themselves. AskBaily replaces fan-out with a single match: Baily, our AI scoping agent, talks to the homeowner first to extract the real scope, budget range, timeline, and consent path. We then match exactly one verified contractor to the brief. One conversation, one contractor, one quote. Homeowners get back their evenings; you get a brief that has already been pre-scoped for cost-range and consent path before you ever read it.

The other moat is that AskBaily's homeowner side is a real product — not a directory. Homeowners can resume scoping conversations from the day before, share photos, attach floor plans, and see transparent take-rate pricing on their side too. They feel that they're using a product, not running a gauntlet of pros. That quality of front-end experience converts faster, which is why our match-to-signed-contract rate sits roughly 3× higher than the HomeStars shortlist economics.

How onboarding works in Canada

Step one: submit your Régie du bâtiment du Québec (RBQ) registration number and a current insurance certificate. We verify the registration against the public register and the insurer against your active cover dates. Step two: upload three to five recent project photos with brief descriptions of scope and timeline — this is what the homeowner sees on your match card. Step three: a 20-minute video call with our partnerships team to walk through how the matching cadence works, what the invoicing looks like, and how the homeowner-facing experience renders. Step four: your first match. From signed-up to first-match is typically 48 hours.

There is no setup fee, no monthly subscription, no listing fee, no badge fee, no premium-tier tier — there is only the closed-job take-rate. The first AskBaily invoice you ever see is after a homeowner signs a contract with you. We take the take-rate from the homeowner's payment when contract milestones release. You see your net payout before the matching engine even shows you the brief.

Apply now: Montréal contractor onboarding

48-hour review · No setup fee · No monthly subscription · No losing-bid charges. AskBaily verifies your Régie du bâtiment du Québec (RBQ) status, runs an insurance check, and slots you onto the Montréal match queue with no fixed cost. The first invoice arrives only after a homeowner signs.

Start your application →

Frequently asked questions — Montréal

La licence RBQ est-elle obligatoire pour AskBaily Montréal?
Oui — une licence RBQ active de la sous-catégorie applicable (1.1.1 Constructeur-propriétaire, 1.1.2 Entrepreneur en habitation, 1.2 Entrepreneur général de bâtiment) est requise. AskBaily vérifie le numéro de licence dans le registre RBQ à l'intake et tous les 90 jours.
Comment fonctionne le plan de garantie de la GCR pour les travaux acheminés via AskBaily?
La Garantie de Construction Résidentielle (GCR) est obligatoire pour les bâtiments neufs résidentiels. AskBaily marque sur le brief si le projet est neuf (donc GCR) ou rénovation (CCQ + Code civil) afin que la garantie soit proprement adressée.
Comment AskBaily gère les zones patrimoniales (Vieux-Montréal, Plateau-Mont-Royal)?
Les arrondissements avec règlement PIIA (Plan d'implantation et d'intégration architecturale) — Plateau, Mile End, Vieux-Montréal, Westmount, Outremont — ont des consultations patrimoniales obligatoires. Le brief signale le statut PIIA pour que le calendrier de consentement soit visible avant la soumission.
Y a-t-il une couverture sur la Rive-Nord et la Rive-Sud, ou seulement Montréal?
Tout le Grand Montréal — Île de Montréal, Laval, Longueuil, Brossard, Saint-Bruno, Repentigny, Terrebonne. Les MRC plus éloignées (Vaudreuil, Saint-Hyacinthe) sont sur la feuille de route 2026.
Comment fonctionnent la TPS (5%) + TVQ (9.975%) avec le pourcentage AskBaily?
Les taxes restent entre vous et le client. Le pourcentage AskBaily est calculé sur la valeur hors-taxes du contrat. Notre facture vous est émise avec TPS+TVQ (14.975%) et est récupérable dans votre déclaration trimestrielle Revenu Québec.

Also see: Why pros choose AskBaily · All international recruitment regions · AskBaily vs HomeStars · Canada market report

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