How to Start a Cleaning Business in Canada (2026): Step by Step

Starting a cleaning business in Canada takes seven things: a registered business, a bank account, GST/HST registration, insurance and a bond, a way to price recurring work, a plan for hiring, and software to schedule, invoice and pay your team. Startup costs are low (supplies and transport), which makes cleaning one of the cheaper businesses to start. Here is each step in order.

The biggest difference from most trades is staff: cleaning companies grow by adding cleaners, so payroll and the employee versus contractor question arrive early.

Step 1: Sole proprietorship or corporation?

• Sole proprietorship. The cheapest start. In Ontario, registering a business name costs $60 if you trade under a name other than your own; other provinces have their own registries and fees. The business and you are the same person for tax and liability.
• Corporation. A separate legal entity, which matters in a trade where a broken heirloom or a missing item in a client's home can turn into a claim. Ontario charges $300 to incorporate provincially. Ownr takes 20% off its incorporation through our link, so a federal incorporation is about $399 in year one, government fees included, or about $99 if you also open a new RBC business account.

Our guide to the cheapest way to incorporate in Canada compares every route, and the tax benefits and drawbacks of incorporating covers when it pays.

Step 2: Open a business bank account

Keep business money separate from day one: it makes GST/HST returns and year-end far simpler, and a business paid in many small recurring amounts needs to see clearly who has paid. Venn Essentials has no monthly fee, pays 2% interest on CAD and USD balances and includes free Interac e-Transfers, which is how many residential clients pay. Sole proprietors and corporations can sign up; Venn is not available in Quebec. Registered corporations can earn up to $500 in bonuses through our link. Our guide to free business bank accounts in Canada compares the other $0 options.

Step 3: Register for GST/HST

Cleaning is a taxable service. You must register for GST/HST once your taxable revenue passes $30,000 over four consecutive calendar quarters. Residential clients pay the tax as a cost, while commercial clients registered for GST/HST claim back what you charge, so registering early costs you nothing with offices and lets you claim back the tax on supplies and equipment. Charge the rate for the province where you clean. Our guides cover when and how to register for GST/HST and the rate in each province.

Step 4: Insurance, bonding and written agreements

• Commercial general liability insurance, for damage to a client's property or an injury on site.
• A janitorial bond, which pays a client back if a cleaner steals. Commercial clients and many homeowners ask for proof before handing over keys or alarm codes.
• A written agreement for every client, setting what each clean includes, how often you come, how you handle keys, pets and supplies, and the cancellation and payment terms.

Step 5: How to price cleaning work

Most cleaning businesses are built on recurring contracts, with one-off deep cleans priced higher on top. Quote the first clean of a new home separately: it usually takes longer than every visit after it.

Step 6: Hiring cleaners and running payroll

The first hire is where many cleaning businesses get the paperwork wrong. Whether a cleaner is an employee or a contractor depends on the relationship: if you set the schedule, supply the products and direct the work, the CRA is likely to treat them as an employee. Our employee vs contractor guide explains the tests.

Once you have employees you need a CRA payroll account, you deduct income tax, CPP and EI from each pay and remit them with your share, and you issue T4s each year. Workers' compensation depends on your industry and province (WSIB in Ontario, WorkSafeBC in British Columbia), so check whether you must register before the first shift. Wagepoint is Canadian payroll built for small teams: it calculates each pay, files the CRA remittances for you and prepares T4s, and signing up through our link earns a $50 gift card after your first payroll. Our vacation pay guide covers what employees earn on top of their wages.

Step 7: Software to schedule, invoice and get paid

A cleaning business runs on a calendar of recurring visits and a team that needs to know where to be. Jobber handles quotes, an online request form and client hub, recurring visits, scheduling for your team, automatic reminders to clients before each visit and invoices clients pay by card. It costs US$29 a month for one person on Core or US$99 on Connect, billed annually, and a crew of 2 to 5 pays US$149 on Connect. Jobber usually takes 20% off the first 3 months of a monthly plan when you sign up and skip the 14-day trial. Every plan and team-size band is in our Jobber pricing guide.

For the books, QuickBooks Online handles bank reconciliation, GST/HST and payroll, and Jobber syncs invoices and payments into it from its Connect plan; our guide to Jobber with QuickBooks or Xero shows what syncs. Through our link, new QuickBooks customers get 80% off for 8 months: EasyStart is $6 a month, Essentials $14. Our contractor software guide by trade compares Jobber with the alternatives.

Cleaning business startup checklist

Prices read on Ownr, Venn, Jobber, QuickBooks Canada and ontario.ca on 30 and 31 October 2026, before tax.