2026 · Original research
The state of small business
websites in the GTA.
We surveyed 49,994 businesses listed on Google Maps across the Greater Toronto Area and opened 34,180 of their websites to see what was actually there. Nobody paid for this and nothing here is estimated — every number below comes from a page we loaded ourselves.
Put plainly: of the 34,180 websites we opened, 40% were either broken or unusable on a phone.
By city
Where the gaps are.
| City | Businesses | No site | Broken | No mobile | Median reviews |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mississauga | 3,173 | 312 | 441 | 558 | 81 |
| North York | 2,745 | 412 | 417 | 522 | 48 |
| Toronto | 2,700 | 69 | 274 | 351 | 120 |
| Scarborough | 2,685 | 445 | 432 | 547 | 53 |
| Etobicoke | 2,470 | 358 | 329 | 449 | 43 |
| Brampton | 2,461 | 444 | 353 | 460 | 78 |
| Oakville | 2,125 | 175 | 278 | 360 | 43 |
| Burlington | 1,958 | 167 | 240 | 334 | 38 |
| Richmond Hill | 1,940 | 261 | 283 | 364 | 39 |
| Markham | 1,878 | 221 | 266 | 355 | 45 |
| Whitby | 1,544 | 196 | 206 | 277 | 32 |
| Vaughan | 997 | 90 | 147 | 190 | 42 |
By trade
Reviews are not
comparable between trades.
A veterinary clinic with 200 reviews is average. An accountant with 200 is exceptional. Any ranking that compares them on the same scale is measuring the wrong thing.
| Trade | Businesses | No site | No mobile | Median reviews |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| veterinary clinics | 637 | 16 | 42 | 221 |
| dentists | 2,453 | 39 | 281 | 180 |
| HVAC contractors | 777 | 69 | 131 | 46 |
| plumbers | 678 | 62 | 205 | 41 |
| law firms | 1,383 | 74 | 167 | 37 |
| clinics | 835 | 81 | 75 | 31 |
| renovation contractors | 703 | 65 | 141 | 19 |
| electricians | 644 | 89 | 125 | 18 |
| cabinet makers | 523 | 59 | 98 | 17 |
| accountants | 1,106 | 122 | 154 | 16 |
Method.
Listings were collected from the Google Places API and OpenStreetMap across the Greater Toronto Area in August 2026. Every website was requested directly and checked for a mobile layout, HTTPS, page age and platform. Sites that returned a bot challenge were recorded as unverified and excluded from every count above — we do not report on pages we could not see. Figures may be reproduced with attribution to Formory Group.
Now check your own
You have read the numbers.
Where does your site stand?
Type your address and we will open your site the way a visitor would, then tell you plainly what is wrong with it — including when the answer is nothing. Ten seconds, no email, nothing stored.
Want the same for
your business?
Tell us what you do and where you work. We will look at what you have now and say plainly whether it is worth rebuilding — including when it is not.