How to Start a Business in Canada

Start with the CRA business number — it is free

Your nine-digit CRA business number is the root identifier for everything tax-related your business will do. Registration is free through the CRA's Business Registration Online, and the number is issued on screen when you submit. Add program accounts as you need them: GST/HST, payroll, and corporate income tax each get their own extension on the same business number. Adding them in the same session saves you a second registration later.

Source: Our sole-proprietorship guide covers registration

Cross $30,000 in sales and GST/HST registration becomes mandatory

Below $30,000 of taxable sales over four consecutive calendar quarters, you are a small supplier and GST/HST registration is optional. Cross that line — $30,000 in a single quarter also triggers it — and you must register and start charging. Many founders register early anyway, so they can claim back the GST/HST they pay on startup costs.

Source: Our sole-proprietorship guide covers the GST/HST threshold

Hire your first employee and the payroll account fires

The moment you have an employee, you need a CRA payroll program account — the RP extension on your business number — to remit income tax, CPP, and EI. Register it before your first remittance due date, which for a new employer falls on the 15th of the month after you first deduct from pay. Miss it and the penalties start immediately.

Source: CRA payroll account guide (cadanapay.com)

Your province does not issue a general business licence — your city might

Provincial name registration and the CRA business number are not the same thing as permission to operate locally. Many Canadian cities require a municipal business licence on top, and the rules differ city by city — check yours before your first day of operation, not after a bylaw officer visits. The same hire-triggered logic applies to workers' compensation: in Ontario employers register with the WSIB within 10 days of the first hire, and other provinces run their own boards with similar rules.

Source: Our cleaning business guide covers licensing and WSIB