The short answer: before you photograph or film anything inside or outside a customer's home for marketing, ask them, get the answer in writing, tell them how you'll use it, and keep anything that identifies them or their address out of the shot. Do that every time and you'll avoid nearly every awkward conversation. This guide explains how to build those habits into a normal work day.
It's written for owners of Canadian trades businesses. It is practical marketing guidance, not legal advice. Where the law matters, we point you to the regulators.
Why consent matters more for trades than for most businesses
Trades work happens in the most private place a customer has: their home. A restaurant posting a photo of a plate of food reveals nothing about anyone. A renovator posting a basement photo might reveal a family's photos on the wall, a child's bedroom, the brand of their alarm system, and through a window, which street they live on.
Canadian privacy law treats information about an identifiable person seriously. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada explains that PIPEDA covers personal information handled in commercial activity in most of the country, while Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec have their own private-sector privacy laws that apply within those provinces. You don't need to become a privacy expert. You do need a routine that treats customers' homes the way you'd want your own treated.
There's also a plain business reason. Customers talk. A homeowner who discovers their kitchen on your Instagram without having been asked will tell their neighbours, and that story spreads faster than your post.
The four-step consent routine
Here's the routine we set up for clients. It adds a few minutes per job.
Step 1: Ask before the job starts
Ask when you confirm the booking, not on the morning of the job, so the customer has time to think. A text works well because it creates a record. Template:
Hi [Customer name], it's [Your name] from [Business name], confirming [Job type] on [Date]. We sometimes share photos of our work online. Would you be OK with us taking a few photos or short clips of the work area? We never show your address, people or personal items. Totally fine to say no.
Keep the language plain. Avoid burying the request in a long contract clause the customer won't read.
Step 2: Be specific about the use
Customers can reasonably agree to one use and not another. The main levels are:
- Internal only: photos for your job records and warranty file.
- Organic social and website: posts on your own pages and your project gallery.
- Paid advertising: the same images used in ads that reach thousands of strangers.
If you plan to use something in ads, say so. Paid reach is a wider audience than most people imagine when they say yes to "a few photos for our page".
Step 3: Save the yes where you can find it
Screenshot the text reply or note it in your job management software. A simple field such as "Photo consent: social yes / ads no / date" on each job is enough. When someone on your team picks a photo for an ad six months later, they need to be able to check in seconds.
Step 4: Honour a change of mind
If a customer later asks you to take something down, do it quickly and confirm. Tell them which platforms you removed it from. Treat it as a service moment, not an inconvenience.
What to keep out of the frame
Even with consent, keep these out of every shot. Most customers assume you will, and the few who don't think of it will thank you.
- House numbers and street signs
- Licence plates on cars in the driveway or garage
- Mail, packages and paperwork with names or addresses
- Family photos, children's names on walls, school artwork
- Children and pets, unless a parent or owner has specifically agreed
- Alarm panels, cameras, safes and lock types, which can help a burglar
- Screens showing email, calendars or banking
- Views out of windows that reveal the street or a recognisable landmark
- Valuables: jewellery, art, collections, expensive electronics
A good habit: before you press record, do a five-second scan of the frame. Move the item, change the angle, or crop it afterwards.
Captions, tags and locations
Consent covers the image, but captions can leak information too.
- Use a neighbourhood or town, not the street. "Deck refinish in [Neighbourhood]" is fine. "Deck on [Street name]" is not.
- Don't tag the customer unless they ask you to.
- Turn off precise location tagging on the post and check that the phone isn't embedding GPS data in shared files.
- Post with a delay for jobs where the home is empty, such as during a vacation or a long renovation. Announcing "this house is empty for three weeks" is a risk to your customer.
Crew members on camera
Your own employees deserve the same respect. Some love being on camera; others really don't. Ask each crew member, record the answer, and never make it a condition of the job. If someone leaves the company, decide together whether older clips featuring them stay up.
Consent for messages is a separate question
Photo consent and message consent are different things. If you plan to send customers promotional texts or emails, such as seasonal offers, Canada's anti-spam law applies. The CRTC's CASL FAQ explains that commercial electronic messages need the recipient's consent, identification of the sender and a working unsubscribe option. A yes to photos is not a yes to marketing texts.
Common mistakes
- Asking after posting. It turns a courtesy into an apology.
- Relying on a contract clause alone. It may cover you on paper but it won't protect the relationship.
- Letting employees post jobs on their personal accounts without the same rules. Customers don't see the difference.
- Reusing old photos in new ads without checking that the original consent covered advertising.
- Assuming commercial clients are fine with it. Many property managers and businesses forbid site photos entirely. Ask in writing.
A one-page checklist for your crew
Print this and stick it in the truck:
- Consent text sent and answered? Check the job notes.
- Five-second frame scan before recording.
- No faces, plates, numbers, mail or screens.
- Shoot the work, not the house.
- Upload to the company folder, not just your camera roll.
- Caption with the town or neighbourhood only.
How this fits with the rest of your social media
A consent routine is the foundation of everything else on this site. It's built into our before-and-after content systems and short video routine, and it's checked again before any footage goes into paid social campaigns. The before-and-after shot list guide shows how to get great images while respecting all of the above. If you'd like a second pair of eyes on your current consent wording, call, text or email us.
Frequently asked questions
Is a verbal yes enough?
It's better than nothing, but it's hard to prove later and easy to misremember. A short text exchange takes ten seconds and gives you and the customer a clear record of what was agreed.
Do I need consent to photograph only my own work, like a new panel?
If nothing in the photo identifies the home or the people in it, the risk is much lower. It's still good manners and good business to ask, because the customer is the one whose house you're in.
What if a customer asks us to remove a post?
Take it down promptly, from every platform and from your ad library, and confirm by text that you've done it. Note it in the job file so nobody reposts it later.
Is this legal advice?
No. It is practical guidance from a marketing service. Privacy rules differ by province and situation, so for anything unusual, read the regulator's guidance or speak to a lawyer.