A corporation shield usually protects these guys for the wrong reasons. Ontario has no 'licensing' to give consumers any faith or comfort level that they are dealing with someone with any knowledge.
Let's be honest, in Ontario, if you can open a bank account, have a phone and are able to answer it, you can be in business for yourself. There is no threshold to be passed, anyone can get a business license (if you area even requires it), Workers Comp and HST applications are approved immediately (government never says no to taking money), liability insurance is not required on most projects, and even when it is, 1 in 10 ask for proof.
Personally I don't believe in reviews. We are Canadians, very few people complain, and even fewer write rave reviews to compliment you. If you do look at reviews, and the guy has many compliments and one bad one, well, chances are the bad one is normally the customer themselves being unreasonable.
There is nothing wrong with paper contractors, all the big boys are paper contractors, they have nothing in-house, maybe a foreman, they rely on the subs to do their jobs properly, the one issue that applies is the old apples to apples comparison. That is where a paper contractor fails if he has no construction knowledge. My pricing is based on the services and materials we provide and when I get beat out on a job, which happens a lot, it is normally because I have included items that the lower priced competitor has not and the paper contractor misses it.
This is usually why I don't bother trying to sell myself after the quote if the customer or paper contractor comes back immediately and says I am too expensive…it tells me they have not read the quote…so why would I want to work for them, let them learn the hard way.
Ever bid commercial or large residential projects? They supply not only the plans, but also a spec book and a scope of work, that eliminates the need for comparison to whats included and whats not. You do decks? Your paper contractor wants a price for a deck, does anyone talk about where the spoils are going, is there filter cloth and gravel under the deck, is there flashing being installed behind the ledger?
Ontario is slowly improving, but has a long way to go, as do most provinces and states.