7 Locals is a free directory of Christian-owned local businesses across Canada. It exists to make one thing easier: finding a local business you can trust, and getting in touch with it directly. This post explains what the directory is, who it is for, how every listing is verified, and how to add your own business.
What 7 Locals Is
7 Locals is a business directory: clean, professional and practical. You can browse by province, city or category, open a business's profile, and contact the business yourself. There is no middleman between you and the owner.
Every listing is checked by a person before it appears. Nobody can buy a better position: no business can pay to rank higher, appear more often, or outrank another.
It is not a religious platform. Faith is the standard behind who qualifies to be listed, not the message of the site. The businesses here are Christian-owned, and the directory itself is for everyone.
Who the Directory Is For
7 Locals has two kinds of users, and it is built to be useful to both.
If you are looking for a business
You do not need to share anyone's faith to use 7 Locals, and you do not need an account to browse. Find a business by place or by category, read its profile, and contact it directly, free. Plenty of people browsing are not Christian, and they are welcome here.
Every profile also tells you how the listing got onto the directory, so you know whose words you are reading. More on that below.
If you own a business
If you run a Christian-owned business in Canada that is locally owned and currently trading, you can list it free. You write your own description and owner statement, a person checks that the business is real, and it goes live. People browsing your city and category on 7 Locals can then find you and contact you directly.
How Verification Works
Every listing on 7 Locals is checked by a person before it appears, and re-checked at least once a year. Here is what that check covers.
What we check. That the business is real: locally owned, operating in Canada, reachable at the contact details shown, and currently trading.
What we take on trust. We take the owner at their word about their faith. Businesses we add ourselves are ones that already describe themselves publicly as Christian-owned, in their own words. If a business has not said it, we do not say it for them.
What verification is not. It is not a licence check: where a licence matters, confirm it yourself with the regulator. It is not a professional or financial endorsement either, because we do not assess anyone's competence, qualifications or advice. It confirms that a business is real, locally owned and trading, and nothing more.
The badge. Each profile shows the month and year of its last successful check. Verification is a point in time, so listings are re-checked at least every twelve months, and sooner if something changes. If a listing no longer holds up, it comes off the public site until it does.
Verification cannot be bought, and placement is not for sale. The full method, including what we ask of owner statements, is on our How We Verify page.
How a Listing Gets Here
There are two ways a business ends up on 7 Locals, and the profile tells you which. The bar for being listed is the same on both paths. What differs is who supplies the claim.
The owner added it. Someone from the business registered or claimed the listing, told us it is Christian-owned, and wrote their own description and owner statement. Their word is the evidence for the faith claim; our check confirms that the business is real.
We added it. We build out the directory from businesses that already describe themselves publicly as Christian-owned. These profiles carry no owner statement, because nobody from the business has written one, and the owner is invited to claim the listing and add their own words.
Reading a Profile
Each profile is built to tell you three things quickly.
Whether the business is real. The verified badge shows the month and year of the last successful check, so you can see how recently a person confirmed it.
Whose words you are reading. The profile says how the listing got here. An owner-added listing reads "Claimed and confirmed by the owner." A listing we added reads "Added by 7 Locals from public information".
What the owner says. Where the owner has written a statement, it appears in quotation marks, in their own words. A listing we added has no statement until the owner claims it.
The rest of the profile is there so you can decide whether to get in touch, and then contact the business directly.
How to List Your Business
Listing is free, and a person reviews every listing before it goes live.
- Create an account. You will be asked for your name, email and phone number. The phone number is used to verify your account and listing.
- Write your profile. Describe what you do, where you work and how customers can reach you.
- Write your owner statement. This is your own voice on your profile, shown in quotation marks.
- Submit it for verification. A person checks that the business is real before it appears.
If 7 Locals has already added your business from public information, you do not need to start over. Find the listing and claim it instead.
Writing a good owner statement. Write it in the first person, in about 140 to 600 characters. Say what you do, who you serve, and what your faith means for how you run the business. Plain and specific beats polished and generic.
Leave out claims about other businesses, promises of outcomes or returns, guarantees or superlatives you cannot support, and contact details, links, prices or offers, which belong in your profile fields. Do not preach at the reader. A statement that does not meet these guidelines is held rather than published, and you are told why and invited to rewrite it. We never write or edit a statement into your voice.
What Is Free, and What Is Not for Sale
Being listed, found and contacted is free forever. That is not an introductory offer.
Just as important is what money cannot do here. No business can pay to rank higher, appear more often or outrank another, verification cannot be bought, and placement is not for sale. Whether a listing appears depends on one thing: whether it meets the standard.
If Something Looks Wrong
A directory is only useful if it stays accurate, and anyone can help keep it that way.
- Report a listing. Wrong information, a business that has closed, or one that should not be here: tell us, and we re-check it. We never tell a business who reported it.
- If your listing is turned down or removed. Reply to the decision email. We will say which criterion was not met and what evidence would settle it, then re-check within five business days.
- If you want off the directory. Ask, and we remove the listing within two business days. No reason needed.
Write to hello@sevenlocals.ca. Reports are acknowledged within two business days.
Where to Start
If you are looking for a business, browse the directory by province, city or category. If you own one, list your business free. To learn more about who runs the directory and why, read about 7 Locals, and for quick answers, see the frequently asked questions.
We are glad you are here.
Write the profile that says all this
Free to list, free to be contacted. Your words, verified in about two business days.