Statistics Canada's Survey of Digital Technology and Internet Use, published on September 17, 2024 for reference year 2023, shows that 59.9% of construction enterprises had a company website and 25.5% had no web presence of any kind (Table 22-10-0120-01). Across the whole private sector, the no-presence share was 9.8%. Construction, which includes HVAC and plumbing contractors, is one of the least visible parts of the economy online, and that is an opening for the firms that do the basics well.
What the survey found
The answer first: construction trails the private sector on every type of web presence the survey measured.
| Type of web presence, 2023 | Construction | All private sector |
|---|---|---|
| Company website | 59.9% | 77.9% |
| Social media accounts | 46.5% | 63.1% |
| Paid online advertising | 16.7% | 21.5% |
| Free online advertising | 15.3% | 21.6% |
| Email marketing | 6.1% | 17.3% |
| No web presence | 25.5% | 9.8% |
The construction figures carry quality grades of A to C (excellent to good); the private-sector figures are graded A.
Size changes everything
The smaller the firm, the less likely it is to be online. Statistics Canada defines micro enterprises as having 0 to 4 employees, and small ones as 5 to 19.
| Construction, 2023 | Micro (0–4) | Small (5–19) | Medium (20–99) | Large (100+) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Company website | 34.7% | 53.7% | 89.9% | 95.7% |
| Social media | 31.2% | 43.5% | 61.2% | 64.8% |
| Paid online ads | 1.3% | 17.1% | 14.4% | 17.3% |
| No web presence | 36.9% | 29.6% | 5.1% | 3.4% |
This matters because most HVAC and plumbing contractors are small. Statistics Canada's June 2026 business counts show that 57.6% of plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractor locations with employees had one to four staff, as our contractor counts report explains.
Our analysis: the visibility gap is the opportunity
Our reading is that in many local HVAC markets, a large share of competitors are hard to find online, and very few small ones buy ads.
- A complete website is still a differentiator. If roughly a third of micro construction firms have no web presence, a fast site with clear service pages already places you ahead of part of the field. Our content and SEO service starts there.
- Paid search is uncrowded at the small end. With only 1.3% of micro construction firms paying for online ads in 2023, the auction for local HVAC terms is often set by a few mid-sized firms and lead sellers. A small, well-targeted campaign can be competitive.
- Email is almost unused. Only 6.1% of construction firms used email marketing. For HVAC, a short maintenance reminder to past customers, sent with proper consent, is one of the cheapest sources of repeat work. Our CASL report covers the consent rules.
- Social media is common but thin. Nearly half of construction firms had accounts, but an account is not a presence. Before adding channels, make sure your Google Business Profile, which is what local searchers actually see, is complete.
How to use this in your own market
Turn the national pattern into a local check you can run in an afternoon.
- List the 15 to 20 contractors that appear when you search your main services from a phone in your area.
- Note which ones have a working website, a profile with recent photos and replies to reviews, and any visible ads.
- Count the gaps. Where most rivals lack a site or never reply to reviews, put your effort into those basics before anything else.
- Repeat every six months, because the field changes.
If you want this done for you, our benchmarking service produces it as a dated report with every competitor named.
Where the numbers moved between surveys
The table also holds 2019 and 2021 figures for construction, so the direction is visible, with care. The share of construction enterprises with a company website was 73.0% in 2019, 71.5% in 2021 and 59.9% in 2023, and the share with no web presence was 20.4%, 24.1% and 25.5%. Our reading is cautious: survey samples and size groups changed (2023 adds a micro-size group), so a fall on paper may partly reflect who was counted. What the series does not show is a sector rushing online.
Limits of this reading
The survey covers enterprises in all of construction, not HVAC alone, and it measures whether firms have a presence, not whether it works. A bad website counts the same as a good one. The 2023 data is also now three years old, and digital adoption tends to move, so treat the figures as a baseline.
HVAC.Report analyses public data for HVAC contractors; we are a marketing service and not a contractor. Call, text or email if you want a read of your own market.
Frequently asked questions
Is this data about HVAC companies specifically?
No. It covers the whole construction sector, NAICS 23, which includes HVAC and plumbing contractors along with builders and civil firms. It is the closest published proxy, so read it as context for the trades, not as an HVAC figure.
How reliable are the 2023 construction estimates?
Statistics Canada grades each estimate. Most construction figures in 2023 carry B (very good) or C (good) ratings, while the private-sector totals are rated A (excellent). We note the grades so readers can weigh them.
Does having a website still matter if I get most work from referrals?
Yes. A referred homeowner usually checks you online before calling. If they find no site, or one that does not match what the referrer said, some will call the next name instead.
Why is paid advertising so rare among micro firms?
The survey does not give reasons. Our reading is that owners of very small firms lack the time to manage ads and fear wasted spend, which is why tracking calls to their source matters before spending anything.