What 2,095 Canadian metal shop websites leave out
shop websites show no ISO or CWB certification
Before an engineer or a buyer sends a drawing to a new shop, they check a few things. We read the websites of 2,095 metal shops in 23 Canadian cities to see how many answer them. Most don't.
The short version
Four things buyers check, and how often shop websites skip them
- 74%show no ISO or CWB certification
- 54%name none of their equipment
- 49%don't say when they started
- 96%don't say how many people work there
Only 24 of 2,095 show all four.
Shares of the 2,095 shops in our records. The spot check suggests each is a few points high.
What a buyer checks
The spec sheet most shop websites leave blank
An engineer comparing three shops wants the same few answers. Here is a sample shop, the way most shop websites read today.
Sample Metal Works
Sample shop, not a real company
- Services
Fabrication, welding, laser cuttingOn nearly every siteEvery site lists these. They don't set a shop apart. - Phone
613 555 0142On nearly every siteAlmost every site has one. - Certification
CWB W47.1 · ISO 9001Missing on about 7 in 10Under CSA S16, welding structural steel needs CWB. - Equipment
4 kW fiber laser · 220 t press brake · 5 axis millMissing on about halfTells an engineer if the part fits your machines. - Year started
Since 1989Missing on almost half3 in 4 shops that give a year started in 2001 or earlier. - Team size
34 peopleMissing on more than 9 in 10Tells a buyer how big an order you can take. - Small jobs
One-offs and prototypes welcomeMissing on more than halfThe first question for a one-off part.
01
About 7 in 10 shops show no certification
Every shop, by the certifications its website shows
- 74%None of these 1,547
- 12%ISO only (9001, AS9100 or 13485) 254
- 11%CWB only 240
- 3%Both ISO and CWB 54
Only 548 of the 2,095 shops (26%) say on their website that they hold ISO 9001, AS9100, ISO 13485 or a CWB welding certification, as far as we could find. Our spot check found we miss about 1 in 9, often a certification shown only as a logo. So the real share with none is likely between 2 in 3 and 3 in 4.
Many of these shops may well be certified. But for a buyer who needs a certified shop, a site that doesn't say so looks the same as a shop that isn't.
Show each certification's share as a list
| ISO 9001 | 14% |
|---|---|
| CWB W47.1 | 14% |
| CWB W47.2 | 2% |
| AS9100 | 2% |
| None of these | 74% |
03
About half don't name any equipment
We found no machine named on 1,121 shop websites (54%). Our spot check suggests the real share is a little lower, close to half. Machine shops do better, but 1 in 3 still names none.
For an engineer, the equipment list answers the first questions. Will the part fit? Can they hold the tolerance? Can they cut that thickness?
- Railings and stairs shops (412)Railings and stairs shops (412)71%
- Structural steel shops (408)Structural steel shops (408)63%
- All shops (2,095)All shops (2,095)54%
- All welding shops (1,027)All welding shops (1,027)48%
- Sheet metal, cutting and bending (842)Sheet metal, cutting and bending (842)38%
- Machine shops (838)Machine shops (838)33%
04
More than 9 in 10 don't say how big they are
96%
of shop websites don't say how many people work there
Only 92 shops give a number of employees. Someone placing a 5,000 part order wants to know if the shop has 4 people or 40.
The rest, more than 9 in 10, leave them guessing, or calling.
05
Almost half don't say how long they've been in business
Shops that give a year, by the decade they started Middle year: 1989
1,016 shops (49%) give no year they started. Even allowing for a few we missed, that's more than 4 in 10, and a lot of quiet experience.
Of the shops that do give a year, 3 in 4 started in 2001 or earlier, and the middle year is 1989. Twenty-five years in business is easy proof, and it takes one line on the About page.
06
“Do you take one-off jobs?”
More than half don't say if they take small jobs
62% of shop websites don't say whether they take one-off parts, prototypes or small orders. Allow for the ones we missed and it's still more than half. 38% say they do, and just 12 shops say they don't.
It's the first thing an engineer with one prototype, or a homeowner with a broken gate, needs to know.
- 62%Doesn't say
- 38%Says yes
- 0.6%Says no
07
Fewer than 2 in 100 show all four basics
We looked at four things buyers check: a certification, an equipment list, the year founded and the team size. In our records, just 24 of 2,095 shops show all four.
A few more may slip past our reader, but not many. Most shops show one of the four, or none.
- Shows all four: 24
- Misses at least one: 2,071
Show how many shops show 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4 basics
| 0 / 4 | 528 |
|---|---|
| 1 / 4 | 739 |
| 2 / 4 | 554 |
| 3 / 4 | 250 |
| 4 / 4 | 24 |
City by city
23 cities, one story
Every city in the guide, with the number of listed shops we read. Cities with 40 shops or more have a page of their own: pick one on the map or in the table. Smaller cities are small samples, so read their numbers with care.
Every city, in numbers
| Edmonton | 266 | 74% | 49% | 51% | 63% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto | 189 | 73% | 50% | 50% | 61% |
| Montreal | 170 | 84% | 55% | 48% | 60% |
| Mississauga | 158 | 73% | 56% | 54% | 73% |
| Calgary | 150 | 68% | 48% | 45% | 51% |
| Ottawa | 112 | 76% | 56% | 60% | 48% |
| Longueuil | 108 | 76% | 58% | 57% | 59% |
| London | 108 | 71% | 60% | 50% | 69% |
| Winnipeg | 107 | 66% | 54% | 49% | 61% |
| Quebec City | 97 | 74% | 59% | 44% | 60% |
| Brampton | 82 | 70% | 50% | 56% | 65% |
| Surrey | 69 | 78% | 61% | 42% | 61% |
| Cambridge | 67 | 66% | 39% | 36% | 76% |
| Hamilton | 65 | 75% | 60% | 48% | 72% |
| Kitchener | 63 | 60% | 41% | 33% | 71% |
| Terrebonne | 52 | 81% | 58% | 40% | 50% |
| Lévis | 44 | 73% | 71% | 48% | 71% |
| Langley small sample | 39 | 72% | 46% | 44% | 69% |
| Laval small sample | 37 | 84% | 60% | 51% | 60% |
| Delta small sample | 32 | 78% | 34% | 34% | 56% |
| Burnaby small sample | 28 | 82% | 61% | 36% | 46% |
| Vancouver small sample | 26 | 85% | 73% | 58% | 31% |
| Richmond small sample | 26 | 77% | 58% | 39% | 77% |
| All 23 cities | 2,095 | 74% | 54% | 49% | 62% |
Each city is Metal Shop Guide's area for it, which can include nearby towns. Percentages are of the city's listed shops with a website, as in our records. The spot check suggests each is a few points high.
If the website doesn't say it, a buyer comparing three shops can't tell them apart
For shop owners
What buyers look for, and what to put on your site
For shop owners. Most of this fits on one or two pages.
- 01
Certifications, by name and standard
CWB W47.1 Division 2, ISO 9001:2015, AS9100D. Link the certificate.
- 02
Your equipment, with sizes
Make, model and the numbers that matter: bed size, tonnage, travel, axes, the thickest plate you cut.
- 03
How long you've been at it, and how many you are
The year you started and roughly how many people work there.
- 04
The jobs you take
One-offs, prototypes, short runs or production only. If there's a minimum, say so.
- 05
Materials and sizes
What you cut, form and weld, and the biggest part you can handle.
- 06
How to send a drawing
The file types you take (PDF, DXF, STEP) and an email that reaches the person who quotes.
- CertificationNot on the site
- EquipmentNot on the site
- Year and teamNot on the site
- Jobs we takeNot on the site
- MaterialsNot on the site
- DrawingsNot on the site
- CertificationCWB W47.1 · ISO 9001:2015
- Equipment4 kW fiber laser · 220 t press brake
- Year and teamSince 1989 · 34 people
- Jobs we takeOne-offs to 5,000 parts
- MaterialsSteel, stainless, aluminum to 25 mm
- DrawingsSend PDF, DXF or STEP files
We design websites for metal shops and manufacturers
Sites that answer these questions up front, in English and French.
How we did it
Method, sources and limits
- 1Source
- Metal Shop Guide (metalshopguide.com), a free guide to metal shops in 23 Canadian cities. Figured Media runs it.
- 2Shops counted
- 2,095 listed shops with a website of their own, as of October 28, 2026. We left out 665 shops the guide could not confirm are still open, and 13 listed shops with no website.
- 3How the records were made
- Each shop's facts come from its own website. Software read up to 16 pages per site in October 2026, then an AI reader filled in each profile and kept the page and the exact words behind every fact. Certifications are the shops' own claims. We did not check them with ISO registrars or the CWB.
- 4What “not shown” means
- We didn't find it on the pages we read. A certification shown only in an image or a PDF can be missed, and a shop may say it somewhere else, like a brochure or LinkedIn. The spot check below measures how often that happens.
- 5Certifications counted
- ISO 9001, AS9100, ISO 13485, CWB W47.1 and W47.2. Controlled Goods registration is left out, because the guide also takes it from the federal registrant list, not only from shop websites.
- 6Spot check
- On October 28, 2026, a second reader (an AI model working without our records) read 40 shops picked at random: the home page and up to 3 more pages each. 39 sites could be read. Where the two disagreed, we opened the page each one cited. Our records were right for certifications in 36 of 39 shops, equipment in 37, the year founded in 37, team size in 38 and small jobs in 36. Every miss went the same way: the site showed something our records didn't have, like a CWB logo or a line on a page the software skipped. So the “not shown” shares are a few points high, and the headings above are worded with that in mind. We only publish findings that held up in at least 9 of 10 checked shops.
- 7Limits
- This is about what websites show, not about the work shops do. Cities are the guide's areas and can include nearby towns. Small cities have few shops. Websites change.
- 8Use the numbers
- Use any number with a link to this page and a credit to Metal Shop Guide.
Cite this study: Figured Media, “What 2,095 Canadian metal shop websites leave out”, October 2026, with data from Metal Shop Guide. https://figuredmedia.com/research/metal-shops-online-2026/
Writing about this? We can send any chart as an image, with its source line. Email admin@figuredmedia.com for the charts.
Photo credits
- Welding sparks, at the top: Glenn Hansen's photo on Unsplash, edited (cropped)
- Lathe, behind the quote: Sven Daniel's photo on Unsplash, edited (cropped)
Both photos are used under the Unsplash License. Map outline: Natural Earth, public domain.