Home inspector licensing in Canada, province by province

At a glance

British Columbia: licence required

Consumer Protection BC licenses home inspectors, and anyone who carries out home inspections in the province needs a licence. Its requirements include:

• At least 150 hours of education through an approved home inspector program.
• A pass on one of the recognized home inspector exams.
• 50 hours of home inspections with an approved trainer, plus a recommendation letter from an approved evaluator based on an inspection you carried out with them.
• Professional liability (errors and omissions) and general liability insurance of at least $1 million each, covering common BC issues such as water ingress.
• Business registration, a municipal business licence and a criminal record check.

Consumer Protection BC says an application can take up to four weeks to process.

Alberta: licence required

Alberta licenses home inspection businesses and the inspectors who work for them, under the Home Inspection Business Regulation. A business applying for a licence provides a criminal record or police information check, a security, proof of errors and omissions insurance, a copy of its standard contract and the licence fee.

The regulation sets the insurance floor at $1,000,000 per claim and $2,000,000 in total per year, and a business cannot keep operating if that coverage lapses. Individual inspectors qualify through approved education or a recognized designation, and Alberta's licensing page lists what currently counts.

Quebec: RBQ certificate, mandatory from October 2027

Since October 1, 2024, the Régie du bâtiment du Québec (RBQ) has issued certificates to residential building inspectors who inspect homes for a real estate transaction. On October 1, 2027, the certificate becomes mandatory for every inspector who wants to practise in Quebec.

Certification rests on qualifications and on financial guarantees that protect the client, and the RBQ's page lists the current requirements. Inspections are carried out to BNQ 3009-500, Quebec's standard for inspecting residential buildings.

Ontario: no licence yet

Ontario passed the Home Inspection Act, 2017, which would create mandatory licensing for home inspectors and inspection companies. It only takes effect once it is proclaimed into force, and as of October 2026 it had not been, so there is no provincial licence to hold today.

In the meantime many Ontario inspectors belong to a voluntary association, such as the Ontario Association of Home Inspectors (OAHI), CAHPI or InterNACHI. The Act's status line on CanLII or Ontario e-Laws changes when it is proclaimed.

Everywhere else

We could not find a provincial home inspector licence in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador or the territories. Many inspectors there hold a voluntary designation, such as through CAHPI or InterNACHI, and carry errors and omissions insurance.

Municipal business licences and general consumer protection law still apply wherever you work.

What this means for your reports

Wherever you work, a client should be able to see who inspected the home and which standard the report follows. AfterInspect puts your licence or certificate number and contact details on every page of the report, and lets you pick the standard for each inspection: BNQ 3009-500 for a Quebec job, ASTTBC for British Columbia, and InterNACHI, CAHPI or ASHI anywhere else.

More on AfterInspect for Canadian inspectors

Sources

• Consumer Protection BC: home inspections
• Government of Alberta: home inspection business licence
• Régie du bâtiment du Québec: pre-purchase inspection
• Home Inspection Act, 2017 (Ontario), on CanLII