Quebec contractor context — le marché et ses frictions
Quebec is the only Canadian province with truly mandatory contractor licensing for almost all construction work. The Régie du bâtiment du Québec (RBQ) issues licences in categorized classes — general (construction generale) plus a matrix of specialized subclasses covering foundations, framing, envelope, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, etc. The Garantie de construction résidentielle (GCR) program provides mandatory new-home warranty coverage, broadly equivalent to Ontario's Tarion. The province also has distinct language rules — the Charter of the French Language (Loi 101) applies to business communication, and homeowners often prefer French-language intake.
For a CA$220K major renovation in Plateau Mont-Royal, Outremont, or Westmount, or a new-build in Laval's South Shore or Quebec City's Sainte-Foy, the RBQ class is load-bearing. A licensee with the wrong subclass can't legally bid certain scopes. National lead platforms route homeowners to contractors without verifying subclass fit, which means contractors pay for leads they can't legally close.
AskBaily handles French-language homeowner intake, verifies RBQ licence class at match time against the scope, and surfaces GCR warranty status for new-home scopes.
What HomeStars, Houzz, and Soumission Rénovation charge Quebec contractors
Per HomeStars' publicly disclosed pricing, Quebec entrepreneurs pay CA$49–CA$299/month for base tiers. Houzz's For Pros page lists CA$99–CA$399/month. Soumission Rénovation — the Quebec-specific lead platform — charges CA$30–CA$80 per shared lead with each lead typically routed to three to five contractors. All three figures are archived in AskBaily's competitor-fees dataset under CC-BY attribution.
None of these platforms re-verify RBQ licence status or GCR enrolment at match time. RBQ publishes a public licensee lookup and GCR publishes a builder directory, both of which AskBaily queries on every match.
The hidden cost: unconverted leads at Quebec close rates
Montreal and Quebec City close rates on subscription-lead platforms typically run 4–7% on renovations over CA$50K. At a CA$249/month HomeStars subscription plus CA$200/month in Soumission Rénovation shared-lead buys, that's roughly CA$5,400 annually. Twelve closed jobs means CA$450 per acquired customer. Scale that across multi-year subscriptions and you're pricing competitor overhead into every quote you send.
The structural problem is identical: you pay for attempts, not wins. Quebec adds one unique layer — if your licence class doesn't match the scope, you literally cannot legally close, but the lead platforms bill you anyway.
What AskBaily charges Quebec entrepreneurs
AskBaily charges nothing to receive a match in Quebec. We earn only when you close. The take-rate is tiered 8–15% of closed-job revenue plus a 1.5% Trust and Safety reserve. Pricing is public at askbaily.com/pricing.
For Quebec specifically, AskBaily verifies:
- RBQ licence class — pulled at match time from the RBQ public lookup. Scopes are routed only to licensees whose subclass covers the work.
- GCR warranty enrolment — confirmed for every new-home scope.
- CCQ (Commission de la construction du Québec) compliance — for scopes involving CCQ-jurisdiction trades, we verify the licensee's CCQ account status.
- CNESST clearance letter — Quebec's workplace safety board requires clearance; we re-verify at match.
- Municipal permit history — cross-referenced against Montreal, Laval, Longueuil, Quebec City, Sherbrooke, Gatineau, and Trois-Rivières permit portals where public data exists.
How to migrate: 5-step playbook
- Pull your RBQ licence detail from the public lookup, plus your GCR enrolment letter (if you build new homes) and your CNESST clearance.
- Pause — don't cancel — your HomeStars, Houzz, and Soumission Rénovation accounts. Let them lapse at renewal. Review history stays on those platforms.
- Apply at askbaily.com/for-pros/apply?source=recruit-intl-qc-ca. The form accepts French or English. We ask for your RBQ number, GCR number (if applicable), CNESST clearance, and two recent closed-project addresses.
- Complete the 10-minute onboarding call. Available in French or English. We scope you to the project types you want — Plateau duplex renovations, Westmount heritage work, Laval suburban new-builds, Eastern Townships country-home projects, etc.
- Set your first match zone. Quebec pros typically start with a 30-kilometre radius and expand by metro.
Quebec-specific regulatory fit
- Montreal PIIA (plan d'implantation et d'intégration architecturale) — many Montreal boroughs (Plateau, Outremont, Westmount, Sud-Ouest, Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve) apply PIIA review to any exterior change. Baily flags PIIA status from address and surfaces review-timeline realism in the intake.
- Building Code of Quebec (Chapter I.1) — mechanical-ventilation, airtightness, and Novoclimat energy standards apply. Baily surfaces code-tier requirements.
- Bill 16 (renovation in co-ownership / condo) — Quebec's condo law requires syndicate approval for scope touching common elements; Baily surfaces condo-vs-fee-simple status in intake.
- Heritage properties — Quebec's Cultural Heritage Act (Loi sur le patrimoine culturel) protects categorized and citable properties across Montreal and Quebec City. Baily flags heritage status.
- French-language intake — homeowners can request French or English intake; AskBaily routes accordingly and the scope document is delivered in the homeowner's preferred language. Contractor-facing communication follows the entrepreneur's preference.
- Winter work-window realism — Quebec exterior work is effectively impossible December through March. Baily surfaces seasonal realism so timelines reflect actual conditions.
Local competitor posture vs AskBaily
HomeStars Canada is the national subscription-lead platform; presence in Quebec is meaningful but less dominant than in Ontario.
Soumission Rénovation is the most Quebec-specific lead platform. Shared-lead, pay-per-contact. Low close rates because each lead goes to 3–5 entrepreneurs.
Houzz Canada skews design-lead. Higher-budget homeowners, lower velocity.
Reno-Assistance and similar local directories play at the margins.
AskBaily's differentiator in Quebec is French-language intake, match-time RBQ class verification, and closed-job take-rate pricing.
Apply to AskBaily as a Quebec entrepreneur
If you hold an RBQ licence — general or specialized — and you're paying HomeStars, Houzz, or Soumission Rénovation and your close rate isn't above 8%, closed-job pricing will almost certainly be cheaper. We welcome RBQ licensees across all classes, including owner-builders (entrepreneurs autoconstructeurs) where scope fit allows.
Apply now → askbaily.com/for-pros/apply?source=recruit-intl-qc-ca
Aucun engagement, aucun contrat à résilier, aucun frais d'installation.
Frequently asked questions
En quoi AskBaily diffère-t-elle de HomeStars ou Soumission Rénovation? HomeStars facture un abonnement mensuel; Soumission Rénovation facture par lead partagé envoyé à 3–5 entrepreneurs. AskBaily n'envoie chaque portée qu'à un seul entrepreneur à la fois avec une fenêtre d'acceptation de 24 heures, et nous sommes payés seulement lorsque vous fermez un vrai projet.
Dois-je annuler mon RBQ pour changer de plateforme? Non. Votre licence RBQ vous appartient et n'a aucun rapport avec une plateforme de leads. Rien ne change sur votre licence lorsque vous quittez HomeStars ou Soumission Rénovation.
Ma sous-classe RBQ ne couvre pas tout — comment AskBaily route-t-elle? Nous vérifions votre sous-classe à chaque correspondance et ne routons que les portées que votre licence permet légalement. Vous ne recevrez pas de portée que vous ne pouvez pas fermer.
Comment fonctionne le taux de 8–15% en CAD? Projets sous CA$30K: 8–10%. CA$30K–CA$250K: 10–12%. Nouveaux bâtiments et rénovations complètes supérieures à CA$250K: 12–15%. Le taux est divulgué avant acceptation.
L'intake en français est-il vraiment soutenu? Oui. Les homeowners peuvent choisir français ou anglais. L'ensemble du document de portée arrive dans la langue choisie. La communication avec vous suit votre préférence.
Dans quelles régions du Québec AskBaily est-elle active? Montréal (île et couronnes nord-sud), Laval, Longueuil, Ville de Québec, Gatineau, Sherbrooke, Trois-Rivières. Les demandes extérieures sont examinées manuellement dans les 72 heures.
Que se passe-t-il si le homeowner ne ferme pas avec moi? Rien. Vous ne devez rien sur les portées non fermées. Le taux ne s'applique qu'aux revenus fermés que vous percevez réellement.
Quebec-specific bid friction: issues AskBaily solves for you
Quebec entrepreneurs face a regulatory stack that no other Canadian province matches in depth. RBQ subclass fit, GCR warranty enrolment, CCQ jurisdiction overlap, PIIA review in Montreal, heritage-property consent, and the Charter of the French Language all stack across virtually every major renovation. National platforms flatten this into a web form and route homeowners based on subscription tier, not regulatory fit. AskBaily captures the full Quebec context in intake.
CCQ jurisdiction overlap with RBQ. Certain Quebec trades (masonry, painting, plumbing, electrical) fall under CCQ collective-agreement jurisdiction while also requiring RBQ licensing. Builders with staff work under CCQ wage and benefit schedules; self-employed solo operators may not. Baily surfaces CCQ-jurisdiction implications in intake so scope pricing reflects accurate labour-cost structure.
Montreal borough-specific PIIA review. Plateau Mont-Royal, Outremont, Westmount, Sud-Ouest, Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie, and several other boroughs apply PIIA (plan d'implantation et d'intégration architecturale) review to exterior changes. Each borough's PIIA criteria differ. Baily captures borough-specific PIIA context.
Winter work-window realism. Quebec exterior work effectively ceases December through March. Concrete pouring, envelope work, roofing, and window installation all shut down in deep winter. Baily surfaces seasonal realism so timelines match actual Quebec construction calendars.
Heritage Act (Loi sur le patrimoine culturel) protected properties. Quebec's Cultural Heritage Act protects classified and citable properties across Montreal, Quebec City, Trois-Rivières, and dozens of smaller heritage towns. Baily flags heritage status from address.
Condo law + syndicate approval under the Civil Code. Quebec condo (copropriété divise) renovations require syndicate approval for structural, plumbing, electrical, and common-element impacts. The 2023 amendments to the Civil Code tightened syndicate-approval requirements. Baily surfaces condo-vs-fee-simple status and syndicate-approval realism in scope.
French-language intake — a competitive differentiator. Homeowners choose French or English at intake; the scope document is delivered in the preferred language. Contractor-facing communication follows the entrepreneur's preference. National platforms offer at most bilingual-UI translation; AskBaily's intake is genuinely French-native when requested.
Bill 25 + privacy compliance. Quebec's Law 25 (formerly Bill 64) tightens personal-information handling for every business operating in the province. AskBaily's data pipeline is Bill 25-compliant and the onboarding flow surfaces relevant consent language in French.
Garantie de construction résidentielle (GCR) claim history. Builders with unresolved GCR claims see conditional routing on new-build scopes. AskBaily's onboarding review considers GCR claim history as part of the initial check.
Municipal permits + Régie du bâtiment coordination. Many Quebec renovations require both municipal permits and RBQ-regulated trade compliance. Baily surfaces both in intake so scope timelines reflect actual dual-approval realism.
The net effect: Quebec scopes on AskBaily arrive with RBQ-subclass fit, PIIA borough context, seasonal realism, heritage status, and French-language support baked in. Generic platforms can't match this because they don't model Quebec's distinctive regulatory depth.