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

Starting a landscaping business in Canada takes seven things: a registered business, a bank account, GST/HST registration, insurance and any licences your services need, equipment, a pricing model for maintenance and projects, and software to quote, schedule and invoice. The season is short, so the paperwork is best done over the winter. Here is each step in order.

Landscaping in Canada is seasonal, and most operators add snow removal in winter to keep the same clients, crew and truck working all year.

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 damaged foundation, a cut irrigation line or an injury on a client's property 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 seasonal business needs to see exactly what each season earned. 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

Landscaping and lawn care are taxable services. You must register for GST/HST once your taxable revenue passes $30,000 over four consecutive calendar quarters. Many landscapers register from the start, because registration lets you claim back the GST/HST paid on a trailer, mowers, fuel, plants and stone as input tax credits, which adds up in an equipment-heavy first year. Charge the rate for the province where you do the work. Our guides cover when and how to register for GST/HST and the Quick Method.

Step 4: Insurance, licences and contracts

• Commercial general liability insurance for damage to a client's property or an injury on site, plus commercial auto insurance for the truck and trailer.
• Pesticide licences, if you offer weed or pest control. In Ontario, applying pesticides for clients needs an exterminator licence ($90) and running that business needs an operator licence ($200), and the province restricts which products can be used on lawns. Other provinces have their own rules, so many new landscapers start without chemical treatments.
• Workers' compensation before your first crew member, where your province requires it for your industry (WSIB in Ontario, WorkSafeBC in British Columbia).
• A written contract for every client, setting the services, visit frequency, the season's start and end, what happens on rain days and the payment terms.

Step 5: Equipment and how to charge

Start with what your first contracts need: a commercial mower, a trimmer, a blower, hand tools and a trailer. Rent larger equipment for one-off projects until the work justifies buying it. Then choose how you charge:

Maintenance contracts pay the bills; installation projects carry the margin. Many landscapers sell fall cleanups and winter snow contracts to their summer clients in September.

Step 6: Software for quotes, routes and invoices

A landscaping crew earns money on the lawn, not on the phone. Jobber handles quotes with optional add-ons clients can tick, an online request form and client hub, recurring maintenance visits, routes and crew scheduling, automatic reminders 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 for landscaping and lawn care.

Step 7: Bookkeeping and taxes for a seasonal business

• Keep a vehicle log. Business kilometres decide how much of your truck costs you can deduct.
• Capitalize equipment. Mowers, a trailer or a skid steer are deducted over several years through capital cost allowance, not all at once.
• Set money aside in summer for winter. Most revenue arrives between April and October, but insurance, payments and tax are due all year.
• Hiring a crew? Once you have employees you need a CRA payroll account and source deductions; Wagepoint runs pay and files the CRA remittances for you.

Our guide to setting up accounting for a new business covers the rest.

Landscaping business startup checklist

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