How we check shops

Where a listing comes from

GarageMap compiles each listing from the shop’s own website and public business information: its name, the services it describes, where it is on the map, its website and, where it has one, its online booking link. Shop owners can claim their listing and update the services it shows.

Street addresses, phone numbers and opening hours are refreshed periodically, and can lag a change at the shop. Confirm them with the shop before you go, especially around holidays.

What a listing does not mean

• It is not an endorsement. Being listed means a shop does the kind of work shown, not that we recommend it or have inspected its work.
• We do not rate or review shops. No page shows a star rating, a review count or review text.
• Nobody pays for a place. Listing is free, and no shop can pay to be listed or to appear higher in a list.
• It says nothing about a licence unless the listing shows a trust badge, described below.

Corrections and removals

If something in a listing is wrong, email hello@garagemap.ca with the shop’s name and what needs changing. Shop owners can also ask us to remove their listing, or sign in and update its services themselves.

Trust badges

A trust badge on a shop page or shop card records what a public register said about the shop, and the day we looked. We check each register by hand, one shop at a time.

• Every badge shows the date it was checked. Registers change; a badge is only as current as its date.
• A badge is not an endorsement by the body that keeps the register, or by GarageMap. It is our note of what the register said.
• No badge means not checked yet — not that the shop is unlicensed or unapproved. Look the shop up in the register yourself; each one is linked below.

AMVIC licensed

In Alberta, automotive repair businesses must be licensed by the Alberta Motor Vehicle Industry Council (AMVIC) (Automotive repair activities, AMVIC). The badge means we found the shop’s business licence in the AMVIC public licence search on the date shown; the shop page also shows the licence number.

AMA Approved Auto Repair

The Alberta Motor Association (AMA) chooses the shops in its Approved Auto Repair Service (AARS) program and lists them on its Approved Auto Repair Service page. The badge means the shop was on that list on the date shown. The program’s warranty and member benefits are AMA’s, on AMA’s terms.

Out-of-province inspection facility

Unless a vehicle is exempt, an out-of-province vehicle inspection in Alberta has to be done at a facility licensed for it by the province’s Vehicle Inspection Program. The badge means the shop appeared in the province’s Alberta Vehicle Inspection Facility Search on the date shown. Our out-of-province inspection guide explains the rest of the process.

City of Calgary business licence

The City of Calgary publishes the businesses it licenses as open data. The badge means the shop had an active City of Calgary business licence in the Calgary Business Licenses dataset on the date shown. It applies to Calgary shops only, and the City notes that not every business needs a municipal licence.

Before you approve a repair: estimates in Alberta

AMVIC’s guidance for drivers says a licensed repair business cannot go over an estimate by more than 10 per cent, and that increase cannot add up to more than $100. You must agree to any additional work and added cost before it is started. Ask for the estimate in writing.

Source: Repairing a vehicle, Alberta Motor Vehicle Industry Council (AMVIC). Checked September 29, 2026. This is a summary, not legal advice; AMVIC’s page is the authority.