LEAF Score Explained

Every company in this directory can earn up to 10 leaves — one for each thing below, calculated identically for every listing, whether or not a business has ever paid us for anything. A leaf is either earned or it isn’t: there’s no partial credit and no way to buy one. Here’s exactly what each leaf means and where it comes from.

No company is ever static, please reach out directly with a company to do your own verification!

1/1050+ Google reviews

We look this up

Arborist consultants earn this leaf at 10+ reviews instead of 50+ — consulting work (reports, tree preservation plans) is typically one-off or municipal-facing, so it doesn’t generate the review volume a residential tree crew does.

2/105+ years in business

We look this up

How long the company has been operating, from the most reliable figure we could confirm.

3/10Employs a Certified Arborist

We look this up

At least one ISA Certified Arborist on staff, confirmed against the International Society of Arboriculture's own public directory. Each person counts once, at their highest credential: someone who is a Board Certified Master Arborist earns the Master Arborist leaf only. This leaf needs a separate Certified Arborist on the team.

4/10Employs a Tree Risk Assessment Qualification holder

We look this up

Training specifically in judging whether a tree is dangerous — often the exact thing you want to know — confirmed the same way, against the ISA's own directory.

5/10Employs a Board Certified Master Arborist

We look this up

ISA's senior credential, built on top of Certified Arborist. Confirmed against the ISA's own public directory.

6/10Certificate of insurance on file

Their own word

The business has uploaded a current certificate of liability insurance, and the listing says when it is valid until. The leaf lapses the day the certificate expires. Free to do, for every company, always — what's sellable is our review of that certificate, never the leaf itself.

7/10Valid WSIB clearance

We look this up

Confirmed against Ontario's public WSIB clearance register, either by our own research or a certificate number the business has confirmed.

8/10Transparent pricing

Their own word

The business has published its pricing: a day rate (based on an 8.5 hour day with 3 staff) for tree removal, tree pruning and crane services, and a "starting at" price for everything else. Free to do, for every company, always.

9/10Verified their own listing

Confirmed by the business

The business has confirmed its own listing details are accurate, within the last 12 months.

10/10Founded in Canada

We look this up

Whether the company itself (not just its Ontario branch) was founded in Canada.

We only ever award a leaf for what we can confirm. There are companies who do have WSIB coverage or Certified Arborists on staff but, despite our best efforts, we can’t find them in a public record — most often because the company has no distinct legal name to search, or because the credential directory is opt-in and the person never claimed their listing in it. A missing leaf never means “doesn’t have it,” only “we couldn’t confirm it.” If a company believes a leaf is missing in error, the fastest fix is making that fact easier to find in the public record we’d be checking.