Contractor, landscaper or designer: who builds GTA pools?

Mostly pool contractors, with a landscape minority and a small mixed group. Of the 197 companies in Pool Builders, Google labels 156 "Swimming pool contractor". Another 19 carry a landscape label: 10 "Landscaper", 7 "Landscape designer" and 2 "Landscape architect". The other 22 are spread over 10 labels, led by 7 "Swimming pool" and 5 "Swimming pool supply store".

Google's guidelines for Business Profiles ask owners to "Select categories that complete the statement: 'This business IS a' rather than 'this business HAS a'". So a label names a firm's main trade. It does not list everything the firm does.

The site sorts companies into its 8 categories on its own terms, and one company can sit in several. Its category file describes Pool Builders as the "design and construction of new inground swimming pools". Of the 197, 81 sit in Pool Builders alone, 66 also sit in Pool Maintenance and 41 also sit in Pool Renovation.

They point at the pool itself and its upkeep. The index holds crawled website text for 130 of the 156 contractors. In that text, 69 mention liners, 52 mention pool opening or closing, 51 mention fibreglass and 36 mention gunite, shotcrete or concrete pools. Gunite and shotcrete are sprayed concrete. A mention means the word appears in text the index read in August 2026. It is not a promise of the service.

Upkeep is a large part of the picture. Of the 156 contractors, 58 also sit in the Pool Maintenance category. Review themes point the same way. These are tags the index reads off the reviews stored on each record, and each count is companies, not reviews. The new-pool-build theme is tagged on 66 contractors, and landscaping-and-decking on 23.

Contractors still reach past the pool edge. Among the 156, 66 use the word landscape or landscaping on their websites, 49 mention decks or patios and 19 mention interlock or pavers. So a contractor may well quote the yard too, but its text leans to the water.

Their records point at the ground around the pool. All 19 landscape-labelled records hold a website and crawled text, and every one mentions landscaping. Of the 19, 16 mention interlock or pavers and 16 mention decks or patios. None mentions pool liners or pool opening and closing, the upkeep words that fill the contractors' text.

Reviews tell a matching story. The landscaping-and-decking theme is tagged on 17 of the 19, against 23 of the 156 contractors. The new-pool-build theme sits on 7 of the 19. That suggests a handful of landscape firms show review evidence of building the pool itself, while the rest of the group's evidence is about the yard. Only 5 of the 19 sit in any category besides Pool Builders.

Their websites also name different trade groups. Of the 19, 5 mention Landscape Ontario, which describes itself on its own site as a horticultural trades association with "more than 3,000 professional members". None mentions the Pool & Hot Tub Council of Canada (PHTCC). That council says its members include "builders and contractors, retailers, service providers, manufacturers and distributors of swimming pools, hot tubs and water feature products". Among the contractors, 5 sites mention the PHTCC and 3 mention Landscape Ontario (8 records, 6 of them one company's listings). No membership list was checked.

No, and a Google label cannot tell you which one you have. The Ontario Association of Landscape Architects (OALA) says its Act, which came into force in 1984, regulates the title "Landscape Architect" in Ontario. Only Full Members may use it. A firm may use the title in its name only where it employs a Full Member to supervise its landscape architecture work.

In Pool Builders, 2 records carry Google's "Landscape architect" label and 7 carry "Landscape designer". The index did not check any of them against the OALA's membership. The OALA runs public "Find a Landscape Architect" and "Find a Firm" search tools for that check. If a firm says a landscape architect will design your yard, those tools let you confirm it.

They are pool businesses whose Google label, read plainly, names the thing rather than a trade. The site's category file maps 2 Google labels into Pool Builders, "Swimming pool contractor" and "Swimming pool", so all 7 land in the category. Read one by one, the records show a mixed group:

• Of these, 2 are pool and spa stores whose websites also list construction or installation. Their reviews carry the new-pool-build theme.
• One website describes cleaning, openings, closings and leak detection.
• One website describes liner replacement, vinyl-over-stairs installs and safety covers.
• Of these, 3 have no working website on record. Their names suggest a heater service, a distributor and a pool firm, and review themes for the first include heater work.

So only 2 of the 7 show review evidence of new builds. The others may still build pools, but their reviews do not show it. That is no judgement on any of them. It means the plain "Swimming pool" label tells a homeowner little about what kind of pool work a firm does. The other 15 include 5 supply stores, 2 hot tub stores, 2 construction companies and a demolition contractor whose website offers pool removal.

Reviews credit both trades with design work, and few firms of either kind mention permits. The design-and-3d-plans review theme appears on 31 companies across the index. Of those, 26 sit in Pool Builders: 17 contractors, 7 landscape-labelled firms and 2 others. Permits are mentioned in the website text of 31 Pool Builders records, 25 of them contractors. The handles-the-permits theme sits on 12 companies in the category.

In Toronto, one drawing joins the two trades. The City's pool fence permit FAQ, last updated 24 March 2021, lists what the site plan must show. It includes the pool's size, location and setbacks, where the pool equipment sits, and the "Percentage of hard versus soft landscaping". It also asks for proposed cabanas, decks or sheds, and notes that accessory buildings and structures need "separate building permit applications".

That means the pool firm and the landscape firm feed the same plan. Ask at the start which one will prepare it and apply. The order of steps is covered in the guide to the pool enclosure permit in Toronto.

Electrical work, whichever firm leads the job. The Electrical Safety Authority (ESA) says Licensed Electrical Contractors (LECs) are "the only businesses in Ontario legally authorized to do electrical work in your home". The same page notes that "General Contractors are not licensed to do electrical work" and tells homeowners to make sure a general contractor hires an LEC.

The records say little about this. ESA appears in the website text of 2 of the 443 records, and 1 of them sits in Pool Builders. Action Home Services, a GTA builder, lists "Electrical Hook-up & Lighting" as its own line in an inground build on its 2026 cost page. The ESA also says "Whoever is doing the electrical work must be the one to file a notification of work with ESA". Ask your lead firm who that will be.

Start from the part of the yard that drives the job. If the pool is the project, the contractor records are where shell and upkeep words cluster. If the pool is one piece of a new yard, the landscape-labelled firms are where interlock, decks and landscaping cluster. Few of them show review evidence of building the pool itself.

The Action Home Services cost page splits a full build into lines. They cover excavation, the shell, plumbing and filtration, electrical and lighting, permits and drawings, and extras such as a heater. Use that split to ask any firm four questions:

• Which parts will your own crew build, and which go to another company?
• Who prepares the site plan and applies for the permit?
• Which Licensed Electrical Contractor will wire the pool, and who files with ESA?
• Who looks after the pool once it is running?

Prices for a full build, and for several of its parts, are in the inground pool cost guide. Checking one firm you have chosen is covered in how to check a GTA pool builder before you sign. To compare the mix yourself, browse the Pool Builders category. The site's request form sends a request to one company listed in your area.