Quick Answer: Yes, Van Blanc Ent. Inc. is a legitimate container dealer, but do not take our word for it. Run the same three-check test we publish for every competitor: a walkable Brantford yard since 1995, matching names on quote and payment, and no deposit taken before you inspect the steel.
A review series that grades other container companies eventually owes readers this piece. We have published straight answers on BigSteelBox and ATS Containers, both written by us, both disclosing that we compete with them. Fair is fair: here is Van Blanc under the same lamp, with every claim pointed at something you can verify without our help.
There is also a harder reason this page exists. Scammers photographed our yard, our trucks, and our containers, and reran those photos in fake classified ads across Ontario. If you have seen Van Blanc boxes in an ad priced a thousand dollars under everyone else, this page is how you tell the real yard from the borrowed pictures.
Run the dealer test on us
The three-check test we give every buyer, applied to ourselves, with receipts:
| Check | What to verify | Van Blanc’s answer |
|---|---|---|
| Walkable yard | A real address with real steel you can visit | 90 Morton Avenue East, Unit 1-B, Brantford, operating since 1995. Walk-ins welcome; the map at the bottom of this page is the same pin Google shows. |
| Names match | The name on the ad, the quote, and the payment are the same business | Van Blanc Ent. Inc. on all three. If a listing shows our boxes but payment goes to any other name, it is not us. Call the yard before sending anything. |
| No deposit-first | You see the container before money moves | We have never asked for a deposit or an upfront wire transfer in 30 years. Payment happens on delivery, after inspection: cash, certified draft cheque, or the payment options on our contact page. |
Anything on that table can be checked from your kitchen table. The address resolves on any map. The reviews are public. The phone gets answered by the family that owns the yard.
Why fake ads show Van Blanc containers
A few years back a visitor spent twenty minutes photographing our inventory, saying his boss wanted pictures. Roughly 45 photos later he was gone, and within two days our boxes, our trucks, and our yard were running in Kijiji ads across Ontario at prices a thousand dollars under our quotes. Paul told that story to CBC News when they investigated Canada’s container scam wave; buyers in that reporting lost as much as 34,000 US dollars to sellers who never owned a single container.
The tell was never the photos. Stolen pictures look exactly like the real thing because they are the real thing. The tell is the checklist above: the fake ads could not survive a yard visit, could not match the payment name to the photos, and always needed money before the buyer saw steel. That pattern is why we publish the test instead of just saying trust us.
Paul LeBlanc, owner: “Same address, same family, same phone number for thirty years. When someone asks me how they can be sure we are real, I tell them: do not be sure, be thorough. Drive down, call the yard, read the reviews. The real thing holds up to checking. That is the whole point of being the real thing.”
What Van Blanc is, and what it is not
Van Blanc Ent. Inc. is a single family-run container yard. Paul LeBlanc founded it in 1995 after four decades in Asian trade, and has spent 19 years in the container business specifically. His son Christian, raised around the trade and flying to Asia with his father from age fifteen, runs the day-to-day yard. The inventory runs 200-plus containers across seven sizes and all four grades, covered plainly on the sea can buying overview.
One boundary doubles as a fraud tell: Van Blanc delivers in Ontario only. Our trucks run the province from Brantford, 1-3 days to most regions, and that is the whole map. A “Van Blanc” quote offering delivery to Calgary, Halifax, or anywhere outside Ontario is not from us, full name on the paperwork or not. Real yards have real range limits; fake sellers deliver anywhere because they deliver nothing.
What we are not: a franchise, a broker, or an online checkout. There is no cart on this website by design, because our model is the opposite of pay-then-hope. You pick the exact unit, in person or by photos of the specific box, and pay when it lands on your property. Buyers who prefer ordering a container like a book from an online store have legitimate options for that, and we have reviewed some of them. Buyers who want to put a hand on the steel first end up here.
Five ways to verify us without our help
The Independent Checklist
- Read the Google reviews: 4.9 stars across 140+ reviews on our public listing, written by named buyers over years, not a burst of five-star strangers in one month.
- Read the CBC coverage: CBC News interviewed Paul by name in its container-scam investigation. The link is in the sources below; national newsrooms do not interview fictional yards.
- Call and ask for the family: 519-754-6844 reaches the yard. Ask for Paul or Christian. Scam operations have call centres or nothing; family yards have the family.
- Drive to 90 Morton Avenue East: the rows are visible from the gate. Buyers from across Ontario make the drive before large orders, and we would rather you did.
- Match every detail: our domain is vbinc.ca, our phones are the ones on the contact page, and every legitimate Van Blanc quote carries the same business name. Any mismatch means walk away and call us to report it.
One more marker that is hard to fake: time. The company review hub exists because thirty years in one industry, at one address, under one family name, leaves a public trail. Fraud operations reboot under new names every season. Yards accumulate reviews, news coverage, repeat customers, and a paper trail that checking actually rewards.
The trail shows up in the reviews themselves. The ones displayed on our homepage are from named buyers: Scott J. put it as plainly as anyone ever has, “Don’t waste your time with Facebook. Just call Van Blanc.” Michael L. bought from us in 2017 and came back in 2024, and a repeat container buyer seven years apart is the kind of evidence no marketing department can manufacture. Read enough of the 140+ and a pattern emerges that matches everything this page claims: people saw the bin, paid on delivery, and got what they inspected.
Checked? Then Get a Number
Run every check above first if you like. Then Give us size, grade, and postal code; one honest number comes back with a real lead time, usually the same day.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Van Blanc Ent. Inc. a legitimate company?
Yes. Van Blanc has operated a real container yard at 90 Morton Avenue East in Brantford since 1995, holds 4.9 stars across 140+ public Google reviews, and was interviewed by name in CBC News’ investigation of container fraud. Every claim is independently checkable.
Why do fake ads show Van Blanc containers?
Scammers photographed our inventory and reran the pictures in fake classified ads at too-good prices. The photos are real; the sellers are not. If an ad shows our boxes but the seller name, domain, or phone does not match this site, call the yard before sending anything.
Does Van Blanc require a deposit?
No, and it never has. In 30 years we have not asked for a deposit or an upfront wire transfer. You pick your container, we deliver it, and payment happens on delivery after you have inspected the unit on your property.
Is Van Blanc a franchise or a broker?
Neither. It is one family-run yard in Brantford, owned by Paul LeBlanc since 1995 and operated day to day with his son Christian. There are no franchise locations, no drop-shipped inventory, and no cart checkout; every container sold is a unit we own and you can see.
How do I confirm an ad or quote is really from Van Blanc?
Match three details: the domain (vbinc.ca), the phone numbers on our contact page, and the business name Van Blanc Ent. Inc. on the quote. When any detail is off, or the price sits far under every real dealer, call 519-754-6844 and ask. Reporting fakes helps the next buyer too.
Sources
- CBC News. (2021). More companies, consumers caught in shipping container scam. CBC News. cbc.ca
- Google. (2026). Van Blanc Ent. Inc., Brantford: business listing and reviews. Google Maps. google.com/maps
- Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. (2026). Reporting fraud and cybercrime. Government of Canada. antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca
Reach Van Blanc in Brantford
The yard this article describes is at 90 Morton Avenue East in Brantford, where it has been since 1995. The map below is the same public listing carrying the reviews cited above.
Van Blanc Ent. Inc., 90 Morton Ave E Unit 1B, Brantford, ON N3R 7J7, +1 888-509-6658
Skeptics make our favourite customers. Come check us against our own checklist.