Signals explained

A signal is one dated, evidence-backed thing that happened to one business — not an opinion about it. Each signal keeps the record that produced it, so every claim on a profile can be traced back to a licence or permit row in the City of Calgary’s open data. Signals are generated once a day after the day’s import.

Signals also carry ranked service needs: the kinds of B2B service that type of business typically buys when this happens. Those are matched from the business’s category, not inferred from anything the business told us.

New business

Usually high confidence

A business appears in the licence data for the first time. This is the core lead signal — somebody just started trading and has not yet bought insurance, bookkeeping, a POS system or signage from anyone.

Based on a first-time business licence in official Calgary open data, cross-checked against prior records. Licences that are really a re-issue of an older licence at the same name and address are filtered out before this signal is emitted, so a decade-old restaurant renewing under a new licence number does not arrive as a new business.

Opening soon

Usually high confidence

A licence exists and a matching building permit says the space is being fitted out. The business is not trading yet. This is the earliest useful moment for anything bought before the doors open — signage, fit-out trades, insurance, equipment.

Based on a development permit or pre-open licence stage — the business is not yet operating.

Permit activity

Medium confidence

Building or development permit activity at a business’s address — a renovation, an expansion, a change of use. It says money is being spent on the premises. It is medium confidence because a permit at an address does not always belong to the business currently licensed there.

On cards and in the signals feed these carry the same Opening soon chip as the signal above — both mean work is happening at the premises. The exports name the type exactly.

Contact info available

High confidence

We found public contact details for a business we had none for. It is not an event in the business’s life — it is an event in ours, and it is here because “this lead is now reachable” is worth knowing. Where the details came from is on the contact data page.

Category growth

Medium confidence

A sector-level trend rather than a business: notably more new licences in one category than the preceding period. There is no business attached and no contact to act on — it is context for deciding which sector to prospect.

Based on a statistically notable rise in new licences for this category in the public record.

Licence renewed

Rare today

A licence renewal recorded in the open data. Renewals are only emitted when the record itself shows the change, which is uncommon in the published dataset — expect to see very few of these.

Closed

Not switched on yet

A licence cancellation or expiry. The detection is built and tested, but it is not running in production yet, so you will not see closure signals on the site today. When it is enabled, closures will appear alongside the other types and in the exports.

When a business that is opening is the third-or-later address of an operator already licensed in Calgary, its chip reads New location instead of New business, and its profile carries a Chain badge. Those signals are hidden by default on the lead-facing lists, because a franchise’s eleventh outlet usually buys insurance, bookkeeping and POS centrally. Tick Show chain locations (or add ?chains=1 to the URL) to include them; the service needs shown for a chain location are narrowed to what is bought locally — signage, cleaning, waste, local marketing.

Confidence describes how completely the underlying record supports the claim — not how good a lead it is.

High confidence

The evidence is a direct, complete official record of exactly the thing the signal claims. Hovering the badge on a card shows the specific basis for that signal type.

Medium confidence

Some evidence fields were incomplete or only partially corroborated, so confidence is capped at medium. Worth acting on, worth verifying first.

Low confidence

Not badged at all. The signal is derived from a record that only partly supports it; treat it as a pointer to go and check, not as a fact.