How Cambridge's metal shops show up online
39%
We read the websites of 67 metal shops in Cambridge, part of our study of 2,095 shops in 23 Canadian cities. Here is what they show buyers, and how Cambridge compares.
What buyers in Cambridge see
Cambridge shop sites say more about themselves than most. 61% name their equipment and 64% say when they started, both among the best of the 23 cities. These are long established shops, many of them machine shops: 86% of those that give a year started in 2001 or earlier, the highest share, and 55% offer machining. The gap is small work. 76% don't say whether they take a small or one-off job, the second highest share.
The basics
Four basics, and how Cambridge compares
- 66%show no ISO or CWB certificationAll 23 cities: 74% · 8 points lower · tied 2nd lowest of 23 cities
- 39%name none of their equipmentAll 23 cities: 54% · 15 points lower · 2nd lowest of 23 cities
- 96%don't say how many people work thereAll 23 cities: 96% · the same · tied 10th lowest of 23 cities
- 36%don't say when they startedAll 23 cities: 49% · 13 points lower · tied 3rd lowest of 23 cities
Only 3 of 67 Cambridge shops say how many people work there.
The shop map
Every one of Cambridge's 67 shops, one dot each
Pick what the colours show.
Shows a certification: 23Shows none: 44
Names its equipment: 41Names none: 26
Gives its team size: 3Doesn't say: 64
Each dot is a listed shop with a website, moved a little (about 250 m) so no single shop can be picked out. The darker outline is Cambridge. The others are its neighbouring municipalities.
What a buyer checks
A shop's spec sheet, the way most Cambridge sites read it
A made-up Cambridge shop. A line is struck through when most of the city's 67 sites leave it out.
Sample Fabricating, Cambridge
Sample shop, not a real company
- Services
Fabrication, welding, laser cuttingOn nearly every site - Phone
555 010 0142Shown on 65 of 67 - Certification
CWB W47.1 · ISO 9001Missing on 44 of 67 - Equipment
4 kW fiber laser · 220 t press brake · 5 axis millShown on 41 of 67 - Year started
Since 1989Shown on 43 of 67 - Team size
34 peopleMissing on 64 of 67 - Small jobs
One-offs welcomeMissing on 51 of 67
The oldest Cambridge shop that gives a year started in 1921.
How it compares
Where Cambridge sits among the 23 cities
Each dot is one of the 23 cities. The dark line is all 23 cities together. Each row runs from the lowest city to the highest.
Show no ISO or CWB certification
60%85%
Name none of their equipment
34%73%
Don't say how many people work there
89%100%
Don't say when they started
33%60%
Don't say whether they take small jobs
31%77%
Close to home
Cambridge and its neighbours
Kitchener 20 km · Hamilton 50 km · Mississauga 60 km
| Measure | Cambridge67 shops | Kitchener63 shops | Hamilton65 shops | Mississauga158 shops |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No certification | 66% | 60% | 75% | 73% |
| No equipment | 39% | 41% | 60% | 56% |
| No team size | 96% | 92% | 99% | 96% |
| No year founded | 36% | 33% | 48% | 54% |
How long they have been at it
43 Cambridge shops say when they started
- Middle year
- 1991
- tied 10th youngest of 23 cities
- Started in 2001 or earlier
- 86% Highest of 23
- the highest of 23 cities
- Oldest year given
- 1921
The other 24 give no year. Plum: started in 2001 or earlier. Teal: since 2002.
What they show and what they do
Certifications and trades in Cambridge
Certifications on their websites
| Group | Cambridge | All 23 cities | Rank of 23 |
|---|---|---|---|
| None of these | 66% | 74% | tied 21st |
| ISO only | 18% | 12% | 5th |
| CWB only | 9% | 12% | 15th |
| Both ISO and CWB | 8% | 3% | Tied highest |
ISO here means ISO 9001, AS9100 or ISO 13485. CWB means CWB W47.1 or W47.2. Rank 1 is the city with the biggest share.
The work they offer
| Work | Cambridge | All 23 cities | Rank of 23 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Metal fabrication | 55% | 69% | tied 21st |
| Machining | 55% | 40% | 2nd |
| Welding | 39% | 49% | 20th |
| Sheet metal, cutting and bending | 33% | 40% | 20th |
| Structural steel | 12% | 20% | tied 21st |
| Railings and stairs | 6% | 20% | tied 21st |
Shares of all the city's shops. A shop can do several kinds of work. Rank 1 is the city with the biggest share.
If the site doesn't say it takes one-off parts, the buyer calls someone else
Industry in Cambridge
A few numbers on industry in Cambridge
- 1,400+automotive, aerospace and food companies in Waterloo RegionSource: Waterloo EDC, manufacturing
- $30/hrmedian machinist pay, Kitchener, Waterloo and Barrie regionSource: Job Bank, Government of Canada
- $27.66/hrmedian welder pay, Kitchener, Waterloo and Barrie regionSource: Job Bank, Government of Canada
From the city's page on Metal Shop Guide, each with its source.
For shop owners
In Cambridge, add these three things first
In the order of the city's own gaps: what most sites here leave out first.
- 0196%of sites here don't show it
How many you are
Roughly how many people work there.
- 0276%of sites here don't show it
The jobs you take
One-offs, prototypes, short runs or production only. If there's a minimum, say so.
- 0366%of sites here don't show it
Your certifications, by name and standard
CWB W47.1 Division 2, ISO 9001:2015, AS9100D. Link the certificate.
Source
Where these numbers come from
For Cambridge, Metal Shop Guide covers Cambridge and Ayr and lists 67 shops. All of them have a website of their own, and we read them, as of October 28, 2026. “Not shown” means we didn't find it on the pages we read. A blind check of 40 shops suggests each share is a few points high.
One shop is 1% of the Cambridge total, so small gaps can be chance.
Cite this page: Figured Media, “How Cambridge's metal shops show up online”, October 2026, with data from Metal Shop Guide. https://figuredmedia.com/research/metal-shops-online-2026/cambridge/
Photo credits
- Cambridge, at the top: Photo by Maksim Sokolov (maxergon.com), CC BY-SA 4.0, edited (cropped)
- Shop floor, behind the quote: Photo by Cemrecan Yurtman, Unsplash License, edited (cropped)
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Shop map: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census boundary files, Open Government Licence, Canada. Country map: Natural Earth, public domain.