Trades & Contractors · 6 min read · Last updated
When a Toronto basement floods, the phone rings at a drain contractor's office. The City licenses that business: a Drain Contractor repairs, constructs, installs and cleans drainage works — weeping tile beds and septic tank systems included — and needs a licence to do it. This guide covers the category, the paperwork and the application.
The City of Toronto lists this under its “Trade” category: “A Drain Contractor repairs, constructs, installs and/or cleans drainage works including weeping tile beds and septic tank systems.”
Who needs this licence?
The Drain Contractor licence covers businesses whose work is drainage: repairing, constructing, installing or cleaning drainage works, including weeping tile beds and septic tank systems. Waterproofing companies excavating foundations, drain-cleaning outfits with flush trucks and camera rigs, and contractors replacing collapsed clay drains all sit in this category.
Do not confuse it with the Drain Layer licence, which attaches to the person who physically does drain laying and related work. The contractor licence is about the business that contracts the drainage work — a firm will often hold its contractor licence while the people in the trench hold drain layer credentials. And as always with Toronto trades, the licence never stands in for the stand-alone drain permits the work itself can require.
What documents do you need?
- Two pieces of government-issued identification, at least one with a photo
- Corporate documents or business name registration for the operating entity
- Qualifications or trade-experience evidence, per the City's checklist for the category
- A police reference check where the City requests one
Toronto publishes a supporting-documents checklist for each licence category — matching it item for item before you file is what keeps a drain application from stalling.
Zoning and premises requirements
This is a field trade: the licence has no premises attached, because the work happens in trenches and basements across the city. A home-based office is fine as long as it stays within home-occupation rules — and note that storing excavation equipment or materials at a residential property is usually where those rules run out. Site approvals belong to each individual job.
Inspections and approvals
Licence-side enforcement is complaint-driven through Municipal Licensing & Standards; there is no premises to inspect. The inspections that shape your working week come from the permit side: drain repairs and replacements frequently need their own stand-alone drain permits, and that permitted work is inspected before trenches close. Passing those inspections is part of the trade — the licence is what lets you be there at all.
How much does it cost?
Budget for two City charges: an application fee when you first apply and an annual fee at each renewal. Both are set in the City's licensing fee schedule, confirmed during the application, and paid to the City directly.
How to apply
File with Municipal Licensing & Standards under Chapter 545 — online through the City's Business Licence & Permit portal, live since January 2026, or in person. Have identification, business registration, qualifications evidence and any requested police check ready as one package.
Drain contractors pull more City permits than almost any trade, which is exactly the workload Permits2Go organizes: the licence package and the per-job drain permit applications, one workspace.
Renewals and staying compliant
Renewal is annual. Calendar it for the slow season, keep corporate and contact information current with the City, and if the business adds services — say, septic installation on top of drain cleaning — confirm the licence class still matches what you actually do.
Quick quiz: test what you learned
Three questions, all answered in this guide. Click an answer to check it.
1. What work does a Toronto Drain Contractor licence cover?
The category is defined around drainage works — weeping tile beds and septic tank systems are named in the City's own description.
2. How does the Drain Contractor licence differ from the Drain Layer licence?
Business versus person is the split — a firm often holds the contractor licence while its field crew hold drain layer credentials.
3. Does the Drain Contractor licence authorize a specific drain replacement job?
Licences and permits run on separate tracks: the licence qualifies the business, the permit authorizes the work.
Skip the paperwork
Tell Permits2Go about your business and it assembles the licence application for you — document checklists, e-signatures and a guided workspace for Toronto, with more cities on the way.
This guide is general information, not legal or professional advice. Licensing requirements, by-laws and fees change and vary by municipality — always confirm the current rules with the City before you apply.