For Markham & Richmond Hill businesses
A badge worth having is one you can fail.
Most directories hand out a checkmark with the invoice. We do it the other way round: paying buys the review, and the badge arrives only after we confirm your address, your registration, your phone and your ownership. That is what makes it worth something to the customer deciding whether to call you.
1,043
Businesses listed
1
Verified so far
14
Plazas covered
101
Editorial articles
The badge program
Four checks, run by a person, once a year
Every badge is served live from our servers, so it reflects your status today — not the day it was issued. If a verification lapses, the badge changes on every site displaying it within the hour. Nothing to take down, nothing to chase.
The address is real, and it is here
We match your address against a licence, lease, utility bill or insurance certificate, and confirm it falls inside Markham or Richmond Hill. A mailbox in another city does not pass.
The business is registered
We check your Ontario business registration or municipal licence against the name on your listing.
Someone answers the phone
We call the number a customer would call. If it rings out across several attempts, verification does not pass — a number nobody answers is exactly what the badge exists to filter out.
A real owner controls the listing
The listing is claimed by someone who can prove they run the business, and the details are complete enough to be useful.
If a check cannot pass, you have 30 days to resolve it. Most cases are a wrong phone number or a document we could not read, and they are fixed the same day. If it genuinely cannot be resolved, we refund the plan less a $5 processing fee — the part our payment processor keeps whether or not the charge is refunded. Your listing stays live either way; only the badge is withheld.
Plans
Start free. Pay when you want the badge.
Three plans, and the difference between them is honest: Free proves you control the listing, Verified proves the business, Premium adds visibility on top of a badge you still have to earn.
Free
Be findable. Own your entry.
Claimed badge — we confirm you control the business before your listing becomes yours.
What we check
- ·A working email at your business domain, or a document if you use Gmail
- ·A Markham or Richmond Hill address
- Your listing, editable by you
- Name, address, phone, hours, website, socials
- Up to 3 photos
- Browse, category and map placement
- Claimed badge for your own website
Verified
Prove you are real, licensed and reachable.
Billed annually
Verified badge — granted after four checks, re-run every year.
What we check
- ·Address confirmed against a licence, lease, utility bill or insurance certificate
- ·Ontario business registration checked
- ·We call your number and reach the business
- ·Listing claimed and complete
- Everything in Free, plus:
- Verified badge on your listing and your website
- Priority above unverified listings in category results
- Lead capture form — enquiries land in your dashboard
- Up to 10 photos
- Annual re-verification at no extra cost
Included free for Virtual Office customers of our partner markhamoffice.com
Start VerifiedPremium
Verified, and in front of people.
$31/month, billed annually
Verified badge — the same four checks. Placement is what you add on top.
What we check
- ·The four Verified checks — placement never substitutes for them
- Everything in Verified, plus:
- Top of your category page
- Homepage featured rotation
- Up to 3 running promotions — deals, specials, events
- Call and click tracking
- Unlimited photos and a video embed
- Considered for editorial roundups on merit
All prices in CAD. Cancel anytime from your dashboard — no contracts, no notice period. Multi-location operators, talk to us.
How it works
From listed to verified
Claim or submit
Search for your business. If we already list you, claim it. If not, add it in about a minute.
Prove it is yours
Claim from an email at your business domain and you are approved automatically. Any other address, and a person reviews it.
Send one document
On a paid plan, your dashboard asks for a licence, lease, utility bill or insurance certificate. One is enough.
We run the checks
Usually within one or two business days. You are emailed either way — including what to fix if something did not pass.
Why here
Two cities, covered properly
We only cover Markham and Richmond Hill
Listings outside the two cities are turned down, every time. A directory that accepts everyone is a directory where being listed proves nothing.
Built to be found
Every listing is server-rendered with structured data, which is what Google's local results and AI assistants read. You are a page, not a row in a database nobody can see.
The badge travels
Put it on your own website, your invoices, your storefront. It links back to your listing, where a customer can see exactly what we checked and when.
Questions
Does paying get me the Verified badge?
No. Paying buys the review. The badge is granted only when all four checks pass, and it is withheld if one of them does not — that is the whole point. If a check cannot be resolved within 30 days, we refund the plan less the $5 our payment processor keeps.
Is the free listing really free?
Yes, with no time limit and no card. The free plan carries the Claimed badge, which says we confirmed you control this business — less than Verified, but more than nothing, and it is honest about which it is.
What happens if I stop paying?
Your listing stays live and stays yours. The Verified badge lapses, because the badge asserts an annual re-check and there is nothing funding one. Nothing is deleted, and you can pick it back up later.
What if my business has no website?
That is common and it is fine. Without a website domain to match your email against, we ask for a document instead — the same one the Verified plan uses. Plenty of good businesses run on a phone number and a storefront.
What is the difference between Verified and Premium?
The badge is identical, and so are the checks. Premium adds placement: top of your category, the homepage rotation, running promotions, and call and click tracking. Placement is something you buy. The badge is not.
Do you write paid editorial?
Sponsored content is clearly labelled as sponsored. Our roundups and best-of guides stay merit-based — a Premium plan puts you in front of more people, but it does not buy a recommendation.
Are you connected to the City of Markham?
No. MarkhamBusiness.com is an independent business, not affiliated with the City of Markham or with markham.ca and markhambusiness.ca. We are a private directory supporting local businesses across Markham and Richmond Hill.
Start with the free listing.
Claim it, fill it in, and see whether the traffic is worth more to you. Verified is there when you want customers to know you have been checked.