Get business consulting leads in Canada

There is no regulator to call about a business consultant, no public register of practitioners, and no complaints body with authority over the profession. Anyone may print the title on a card. This is not a warning about the people in the field, many of whom are very good; it is a statement about where the burden of checking falls. In a licensed trade you can verify a licence in a registry and move on. Here, verification means talking to people who have paid this consultant to do work like yours.

Some things can still be checked. Professional designations from adjacent fields are real and verifiable with the body that grants them, which is why consultants working on finance or human resources problems often hold an accounting or HR credential. The voluntary Certified Management Consultant designation is administered by CMC-Canada and conferred by its provincial institutes, and membership can be confirmed with the institute. In Alberta, the Certified Management Consultant title is protected under provincial legislation, and the province's occupational information states plainly that registration is not required for someone who does not call themselves a Certified Management Consultant or use the initials.

Treat a consultant's own case studies as marketing until a past client confirms them. Ask for two or three references from engagements that resemble yours in size and subject, and ask those clients what the consultant delivered, what changed afterwards, and what they would scope differently next time.

Sources: Statistics Canada — NAICS 54161, Management consulting services · Statistics Canada — NOC 11201, Professional occupations in business management consulting · Government of Canada — Business and industry services · Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada · Business Development Bank of Canada — Consulting services · CMC-Canada — About the association and its provincial institutes