In brief
As of October 1, 2026, of the 750 sector × profession slots Payotte tracks in Canada (150 sectors, 5 professions), 692 have a published verified expert — 92%; 58 remain vacant. Coverage ranges from 99% for real-estate brokers to 79% for certified appraisers, who alone account for 32 of the 58 vacant slots. Source: Payotte Barometer, October 1, 2026 edition — open data (CC BY 4.0).
A. The gaps, profession by profession
Real-estate brokers are almost everywhere: 148 of 150 sectors filled (99%). Notaries and lawyers follow (98%), then mortgage brokers (94%) and home inspectors (92%). Certified appraisers fall well behind: 118 of 150 sectors, or 79% — 32 vacant seats, more than the other four professions combined.
| Profession | Sectors tracked | Filled | Coverage | Gaps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Real-estate broker | 150 | 148 | 99% | 2 |
| Mortgage broker | 150 | 141 | 94% | 9 |
| Home inspector | 150 | 138 | 92% | 12 |
| Notary / lawyer | 150 | 147 | 98% | 3 |
| Certified appraiser | 150 | 118 | 79% | 32 |
Why appraisers? The data doesn't prove it, but it shows where to look. To fill a slot, a professional must reach 50/100 on a grid where Google reviews weigh 35 points. Appraisers are the profession that collects the fewest: 21 median reviews, against 210.5 for home inspectors, and a median of 21/35 on that pillar, the lowest of the five professions. They work mostly for lenders, lawyers and courts, who don't leave reviews. A lead, not a proof.
B. Where the gaps are: provinces and cities
Only one province is fully covered: Nova Scotia. In absolute terms, Quebec has the most vacant slots (19 of 190), ahead of Ontario (13) and British Columbia (10). In proportion, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island come last (80%), but each has a single tracked sector: one gap is enough to pull them down.
| Province | Sectors | Slots | Filled | Coverage | Gaps | Median score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nova Scotia | 4 | 20 | 20 | 100% | 0 | 76/100 |
| Ontario | 49 | 245 | 232 | 95% | 13 | 79/100 |
| Manitoba | 6 | 30 | 28 | 93% | 2 | 77/100 |
| New Brunswick | 3 | 15 | 14 | 93% | 1 | 77/100 |
| Alberta | 21 | 105 | 97 | 92% | 8 | 83/100 |
| British Columbia | 22 | 110 | 100 | 91% | 10 | 78/100 |
| Quebec | 38 | 190 | 171 | 90% | 19 | 74/100 |
| Saskatchewan | 5 | 25 | 22 | 88% | 3 | 74/100 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 1 | 5 | 4 | 80% | 1 | 59/100 |
| Prince Edward Island | 1 | 5 | 4 | 80% | 1 | 67/100 |
At city level, two major metros have the most gaps: Calgary and Ottawa, 6 each. In Calgary, all 6 vacant seats are certified-appraiser seats; in Ottawa, they span 4 professions. Surrey follows with 5. On Quebec's North Shore and in the Gaspé, Baie-Comeau, Sept-Îles and Gaspé have neither a verified mortgage broker nor a verified home inspector: 3 of 5 slots filled. By contrast, among cities tracked across at least four sectors, Toronto, Edmonton, Mississauga, Brampton, Hamilton, Quebec City and Halifax are 100% covered.
| City | Province | Slots | Filled | Coverage | Missing professions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ottawa | Ontario | 30 | 24 | 80% | Home inspector, Real-estate broker, Mortgage broker, Certified appraiser |
| Calgary | Alberta | 40 | 34 | 85% | Certified appraiser |
| Surrey | British Columbia | 30 | 25 | 83% | Real-estate broker, Mortgage broker, Certified appraiser |
| Gaspé | Quebec | 5 | 3 | 60% | Mortgage broker, Home inspector |
| Baie-Comeau | Quebec | 5 | 3 | 60% | Mortgage broker, Home inspector |
| Sept-Îles | Quebec | 5 | 3 | 60% | Mortgage broker, Home inspector |
| Oshawa | Ontario | 5 | 3 | 60% | Home inspector, Certified appraiser |
| Terrebonne | Quebec | 5 | 3 | 60% | Home inspector, Certified appraiser |
| Repentigny | Quebec | 5 | 3 | 60% | Notary / lawyer, Certified appraiser |
| Granby | Quebec | 5 | 3 | 60% | Notary / lawyer, Certified appraiser |
| Winnipeg | Manitoba | 30 | 28 | 93% | Mortgage broker, Home inspector |
C. The portrait, for context
Among the 692 verified experts Payotte selects (one per sector × profession), the median professional has 18 years of experience, a 78/100 score and 114.5 Google reviews. 489 profiles reach the green tier (≥ 70/100) and 83 were confirmed by the professional themselves. The median score by province ranges from Alberta (83/100) to Newfoundland and Labrador (59/100) — but Newfoundland and Labrador has only 4 profiles: a median over so few cases should be read with care.
| Profession | Experts | Median score | Median Google reviews | Median experience |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Real-estate broker | 148 | 82/100 | 131 | 17 yrs |
| Mortgage broker | 141 | 80/100 | 179 | 16 yrs |
| Home inspector | 138 | 77.5/100 | 210.5 | 17 yrs |
| Notary / lawyer | 147 | 77/100 | 81 | 17 yrs |
| Certified appraiser | 118 | 72.5/100 | 21 | 22 yrs |
D. Since July 2026
The July 13, 2026 edition measured 98% coverage; this one measures 92%. That 6-point drop is not primarily a loss: the sample changed. The number of tracked slots grew by 110 (from 640 to 750), with new sectors and two provinces joining the Barometer, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador; published profiles grew by 62 (from 630 to 692). The scoring rules also evolved between the two snapshots. The data therefore can't attribute the change in median score (80 → 78/100) to a single cause.
| Profession | Profiles (Jul.) | Profiles (Oct.) | Change | Median score, Jul. → Oct. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Real-estate broker | 128 | 148 | +20 | 82.5 → 82 (−0.5) |
| Mortgage broker | 124 | 141 | +17 | 81.5 → 80 (−1.5) |
| Home inspector | 125 | 138 | +13 | 82 → 77.5 (−4.5) |
| Notary / lawyer | 128 | 147 | +19 | 79 → 77 (−2) |
| Certified appraiser | 125 | 118 | −7 | 71 → 72.5 (+1.5) |
Two movements read without ambiguity. Profiles confirmed by the professional went from 55 to 83. And certified appraisers are the only profession whose number of published profiles fell (125 → 118), even as the number of tracked sectors grew.
Methodology
Scope: the 750 slots Payotte tracks — 150 sectors × 5 professions, in 76 cities and 10 provinces. A slot is "filled" when an expert is published in it: a named professional with a score of at least 50/100. Of 747 profiles evaluated, 692 are published; the others are below the threshold or have no selected professional, and are not shown. Portrait medians cover published profiles; median experience covers those that publish a start year or tenure (76% to 97% of profiles depending on the profession). Snapshot: Payotte database frozen on October 1, 2026. This is not a census of the profession: a vacant slot means no professional meets Payotte's grid in that sector yet, not that none practises there.
Sources
Payotte database as of October 1, 2026: Google reviews captured and dated on each profile; professional credentials verifiable on the register of the body named on each profile; written statements from professionals, attributed and dated. The CSV carries every cut on this page — by profession, by province and city by city — under a CC BY 4.0 licence (attribution: "Payotte, payotte.com").
Download the data (CSV)FAQ
As of October 1, 2026, of the 750 sector × profession slots Payotte tracks in Canada (150 sectors, 5 professions), 692 have a published verified expert — 92%; 58 remain vacant. Coverage ranges from 99% for real-estate brokers to 79% for certified appraisers, who alone account for 32 of the 58 vacant slots. Source: Payotte Barometer, October 1, 2026 edition — open data (CC BY 4.0).
Certified appraisers: 32 of 150 sectors have no verified one, for 79% coverage. Next come home inspectors (12 gaps) and mortgage brokers (9). Real-estate brokers have only 2.
Because the sample grew faster than the profiles: 110 more slots (new sectors, two provinces added) for 62 more published profiles. The scoring rules also evolved between the two snapshots; the data can't isolate the effect of each.
No. It means no professional there meets Payotte's publication threshold yet (50/100, named professional). A professional practising in a vacant sector can put themselves forward from the sector page.
Yes. The dataset is downloadable as CSV under a CC BY 4.0 licence. Attribution: "Payotte, payotte.com".
Three vacant seats, on the ground
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