Guides
Plain answers about Ontario subcontractor paperwork, kept current and sourced to the WSIB.
Everything below is the paperwork side of this job, not the legal side. Which document proves what. How long each one lasts. And what happens when one quietly expires.
The expiry calendar, and a reminder
The dates, a calendar file for Outlook, and one email three weeks before each cliff.
What a WSIB clearance certificate is
What it proves, how long it lasts, and what it deliberately says nothing about.
WSIB clearance expiry dates
Why most of them land on 20 February, 20 May, 20 August and 20 November.
What you owe when a subcontractor owes the WSIB
Section 141, the labour portion of the contract, and what a clearance waives.
Clearance and certificate of insurance
Two documents, two issuers, two different risks, confused constantly.
Reading a certificate of insurance
The four facts worth checking on an ACORD 25, and what a certificate is not.
Onboarding a subcontractor in Ontario
The paperwork to collect before they set foot on site, and what to diarize.
Or stop doing it by hand
TradeClear checks every trade's WSIB standing with the board each night. It keeps the page the province sent back as proof. It reads the expiry date off the insurance certificate they upload from their phone. And it emails you the morning either one lapses. Fourteen days free. We take a card up front; cancel before day fifteen and pay nothing.
Written by the team behind TradeClear. TradeClear tracks WSIB clearances and insurance certificates for Ontario general contractors. It keeps records; it does not give legal advice. This page is general information about how the paperwork works. What you owe under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act and under your own contracts is a question for your lawyer and your broker.