Using Kijiji to Get Contractor Jobs in the GTA

Why Kijiji Is Worth Mentioning

Kijiji is the dominant classified ads platform in Canada, with Ontario being its largest market. Unlike US-centric platforms, Kijiji has genuine organic traffic from GTA homeowners looking for trade services — particularly for smaller jobs and repairs where they want to compare prices quickly.

It won’t replace Google or HomeStars for high-value jobs, but for certain trades and situations it generates leads that cost almost nothing.

Free vs. Paid Listings

Free listing: post in the Services section under your trade category. Kijiji allows multiple free posts, though they age off after 60 days and must be renewed.

Top Ads (paid): $20–60 per month to keep your listing at the top of search results in your category. Useful in high-volume categories (cleaning, moving, handyman) where free listings get buried quickly.

Urgent Ads: one-time fee to boost a specific post for short-term visibility. Rarely worth it for contractors — it’s designed for one-off item sales.

For most trades, start with a free listing and measure results before paying for placement.

Which Trades Do Well on Kijiji

Higher volume, lower-friction services attract more Kijiji inquiries:

handyman and general repairs
painting (interior and exterior)
landscaping, lawn care, snow removal
cleaning and pressure washing
furniture assembly and small carpentry
junk removal

Trades with higher job values and longer sales cycles (roofing, HVAC replacement, full electrical) do less well because Kijiji users are often price shopping early and not ready to commit to a larger purchase.

Writing an Effective Kijiji Ad

Title: be specific. “Plumber — Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton” outperforms “Plumbing Services Available.”

Price field: include a starting rate (“From $85/hr”) rather than leaving it blank. Blank price fields get filtered out by users searching with a budget in mind.

Description: lead with what you do and where, then credentials and licences. Include your response time. Keep it under 300 words.

Photos: add at least 3–4 photos of completed work. Ads with photos receive significantly more inquiries than text-only listings.

Phone number: include your phone number directly in the ad. Many Kijiji users prefer to call rather than use the platform’s messaging system.

Managing Kijiji Leads

Kijiji leads tend to be more price-sensitive than Google or HomeStars leads. Expect:

more inquiries asking for quotes without intending to book immediately
price negotiation on jobs that have clear market rates
occasional no-shows or no-responses after initial contact

Respond fast. Kijiji users typically contact multiple contractors and book whoever responds first. A 2-hour response gap loses the lead in most cases.

Qualify early. Ask the job location, timeline, and whether they’ve had other estimates before spending time on a detailed quote.

NAP Consistency

If you list your business on Kijiji, use exactly the same business name, address, and phone number you use on your Google Business Profile and website. Inconsistent NAP data across platforms can confuse Google and weaken local search ranking: NAP consistency.

When to Move On

Kijiji works well for volume during slow periods or when building a new service area. Signs it’s not worth continuing:

leads are consistently outside your target job size
close rate from Kijiji inquiries is below 10%
time spent responding to unqualified inquiries outweighs revenue generated

At that point, the same time and small budget is better spent on improving organic Google visibility or building Google reviews.

External: Kijiji Services — Toronto