How to Start a Flooring Installation Business in Canada
Start a flooring installation business in Canada: licensing, registration, insurance, workers' compensation, and how flooring jobs are priced.
How to Start a Solar Installation Business in Canada
Start a solar installation business in Canada: qualify the electrical work, master utility interconnection, and sell systems sized to each home's real use.
Applies in: across Canada
The short answer
A solar installation business is an electrical and utility-paperwork business that happens to put panels on roofs. The panels are the easy part. The work that decides whether you stay in business is qualifying the electrical crew, getting each system through the local utility's interconnection process, and sizing systems to what each home actually uses. A crew that mounts panels fast but cannot get a system approved, inspected, and switched on will drown in unfinished jobs. Qualify the electrical work first, learn one utility's process cold, and only then scale to the next utility.
This guide covers the business of installing solar systems. It is not a buying guide for homeowners, and it gives general process information only, not legal advice. Utility programs and rebate terms change, so check the utility's current pages for each job.
Step 1: Qualify the electrical work first
Grid-connected solar touches the home's electrical system and the grid, so the electrical trade rules apply in full. In Ontario, electrical work offered to the public must be done by a licensed electrical contractor, and the work is inspected under the provincial electrical safety code. Other provinces license electricians and electrical contractors through their own regulators, and the person who signs off the electrical work must hold the right qualification in the province where the job sits. Decide your model before you sell:
- Employ or partner with licensed electricians. The cleanest model for a new solar business: the electrical work is done and signed off by people who hold the trade licence.
- Mounting-only work. Roofers and labourers can handle racking and panel mounting, but the electrical design, wiring, inverter connection, and sign-off stay with qualified electrical workers.
- Subcontracting. You can subcontract the electrical scope to a licensed contractor, but the customer still judges you on the whole job, so the subcontract terms, inspection responsibility, and warranty route need writing down.
Never advertise an electrical service your team cannot legally deliver in that province. The regulator, the utility, and the insurer will all ask for the licence, and they will ask at the worst moment if you do not have it.
Step 2: Register the business and arrange insurance
Register the business name in the province where you operate, get a Canada Revenue Agency business number, and set up GST/HST from the start, since a solar business usually passes the $30,000 small supplier threshold on its first few jobs. Insurance needs care: liability cover for roof work, electrical work, and property damage, plus vehicle and equipment cover for panels and inverters in transit. Tell the insurer you do roof-mounted electrical work. A general contractor policy that does not name that work will not behave the way you expect when a roof leaks or an inverter fails. Keep customer deposits, supplier payments, and operating cash in separate view, because panel and inverter orders tie up large sums before install day.
Step 3: Learn one utility's interconnection process cold
Every grid-connected system needs the local utility's approval, and no two utilities run the same process. Start with your home utility and learn its full sequence before you take jobs in the next utility's territory:
- British Columbia (BC Hydro). The customer and contractor submit a self-generation application before installing, and BC Hydro strongly recommends waiting to buy generating equipment until the application is reviewed and accepted. Technical acceptance must arrive before the licensed contractor installs the system. After install, final inspection documents go in, and interconnection approval follows. Battery enrolment in Peak Saver, where it applies, must happen within 14 days of interconnection approval to get the full rebate, and rebates are paid within 60 days after interconnection approval. As of July 1, 2026, the old net metering rate is closed to new customers and a new self-generation rate applies.
- Alberta. Micro-generators apply to their distribution company to connect and operate a generating unit. The steps include finding the company on the electricity bill, notifying it, following Alberta Utilities Commission guidelines (consulting an electrical contractor, getting municipal permits, preparing a site plan), submitting through the commission's filing system and to the distribution company, and signing an interconnection agreement. Small systems under 150 kilowatts are credited monthly at retail rates, or at hourly wholesale prices with a suitable meter, while systems at 150 kilowatts and above are credited at hourly wholesale prices. Compensation and billing are negotiated with the retailer, not set by government.
- Other provinces. Each local distribution company or utility runs its own application, inspection, and approval steps. Find the utility's interconnection page for the exact address, and build its steps and timelines into the quote.
Put the utility steps in the customer quote in plain language: application, acceptance, install, inspection, approval, switch-on. A customer who expects panels on Monday and savings on Tuesday will be disappointed by every utility process in the country.
Step 4: Build a quoting process based on real use
A good quote starts with the customer's bills, not with a package. Gather past electricity use, check the roof's direction, pitch, and shading through the day and the year, and size the system to the home's use rather than to the largest array the roof can hold. Show the customer the figures you used, the roof layout, the equipment list, and the production estimate, and state which rebate or export terms you relied on, with the condition that programs change. BC Hydro's rebate terms are the worked example: $1,000 per kilowatt of solar capacity, capped at 50% of installed product cost and $5,000 for a residential home, plus $500 per kilowatt hour of battery storage, capped at $1,500, or $5,000 with Peak Saver enrolment, first come, first served while funding lasts. Never carry those figures into another province's quote. Price the job from supplier quotes for that system, that roof, and that utility's requirements, and state what is excluded: roof repairs, panel upgrades, trenching, or tree work, each priced separately if they turn up.
Step 5: Run installs to inspection, not to panel day
Crews love panel day. Customers remember switch-on day. Run the job to the second one. The install sequence that keeps jobs clean is: utility application accepted, equipment ordered to the approved specification, roof and racking done, electrical work done and inspected, final inspection documents submitted, utility interconnection approval received, and only then the system switched on for export. Changing equipment after approval can force a new application, as BC Hydro warns, so hold the specification steady once it is approved. Keep a job file for every install: application, approval, inspection records, equipment serials, warranties, and the customer's permission to operate. That file is what the next service visit, the warranty claim, and the home sale all run on.
Step 6: Offer service after the switch-on
The sale after the sale is service. Offer monitoring setup so the customer can see production, a plain-language guide to what the system does in an outage (a standard grid-tied system stops exporting during an outage for crew safety, unless it was designed and commissioned with backup power), and a clear route for warranty claims: who to call, what the response time is, and what the warranty covers. Check in after the first bill that shows solar production, because that bill is where misunderstandings about export credits surface. A customer who understands the first bill refers neighbours. A customer who does not understand it calls the utility, and the utility calls you.
Related guides: How to Start an Electrician Business in Canada, How to Start a Roofing Business in Canada, How to Start a Renovation Contracting Business in Canada, and How to Get a Business Number in Canada.
Starting a solar installation business in Canada, in six steps
- Qualify the electrical work firstGrid-connected solar is electrical work, and the electrical trade is regulated in every province. Decide who on your team holds the licence before you sell a system.
- Register the business and arrange insuranceRegister the business name, get a Canada Revenue Agency business number, and arrange liability and roof-work cover. Solar work puts crews on roofs and on live electrical systems.
- Learn one utility's interconnection process coldEvery grid connection runs through the local utility or distribution company, and each one has its own application, inspection, and approval steps. Master your home utility before you expand.
- Build a quoting process based on real useSize each system from the customer's past electricity use, roof, and shading, not from a standard package. An oversized system wastes the customer's money and can fail utility approval.
- Run installs to inspection, not to panel dayThe job is not done when panels go on the roof. Electrical inspection, utility approval, and permission to operate are part of the job, and the customer should know that from the quote.
- Offer service after the switch-onMonitoring, cleaning advice, and a clear warranty route keep customers referring you. A system nobody checks after install is a complaint waiting for a storm.
Verified figures for a solar installation business
| BC Hydro solar rebate, per kilowatt | $1,000 per kW of installed DC capacity |
|---|---|
| BC Hydro solar rebate, residential maximum | $5,000 (and 50% of total installed product cost) |
| BC Hydro battery rebate, per kilowatt hour | $500 per kWh of installed storage capacity |
| BC Hydro battery rebate, residential maximum | $1,500, or $5,000 with Peak Saver enrolment |
| Alberta small micro-generation threshold | Under 150 kW |
| GST/HST registration threshold | $30,000 in taxable supplies in one quarter or over four quarters |
BC Hydro rebates are first come, first served while funding lasts, and systems must be reviewed and approved to connect to the grid through self-generation. Rebate figures are British Columbia figures only; other provinces run different programs or none at all, so never quote a BC Hydro rebate to a customer in another province.
Questions people ask
Do I need to be an electrician to install solar panels in Canada?
The electrical part of a grid-connected solar job is regulated electrical work, so the person doing that work must be qualified under the province's electrical rules. In Ontario, for example, electrical work offered to the public must be done by a licensed electrical contractor, and the work is inspected under the provincial electrical safety code. Other provinces license the trade through their own regulators and safety authorities, and the installer who signs off the electrical work must hold the right ticket in the province where the job sits. A solar business can employ roofers and labourers for mounting and racking, but the electrical design, connection, and sign-off belong to qualified electrical workers. Check your province's electrical regulator before you hire or advertise, because the licence that lets you sell a system is not the same as the licence that lets you connect one.
How does grid connection work for a solar customer?
The customer does not simply switch the system on. In British Columbia, the customer works with their contractor to submit a self-generation application before installing, waits for technical acceptance from BC Hydro before the licensed contractor installs the system, then submits final inspection documents to receive interconnection approval. In Alberta, micro-generators must apply to their distribution company to connect and operate a generating unit, follow the Alberta Utilities Commission guidelines, which include consulting with an electrical contractor, getting municipal permits, and preparing a site plan, and sign an interconnection agreement with the distribution company. In other provinces, the local utility or distribution company runs its own version of the same sequence: application, installation, inspection, approval, then permission to operate. Build the utility steps into your quote and your schedule, because a system installed before its application is accepted can lose its rebate or its approval.
What rebates can my customers get?
It depends entirely on the province and the utility, and programs change, so quote only the program you have checked that month. In British Columbia, BC Hydro pays $1,000 per kilowatt of installed DC solar capacity, capped at 50% of total installed product cost and $5,000 for an individually metered residential home, and $500 per kilowatt hour of battery storage, capped at $1,500 for a residential home or $5,000 if the battery is enrolled in Peak Saver, with rebates available first come, first served while funding lasts. BC Hydro also states that, as of July 1, 2026, the old net metering service rate is closed to new customers and a new self-generation service rate applies. Other provinces run different programs, and some run none, so check the utility and the province for each job rather than carrying one province's rebate into another province's quote.
How are Alberta micro-generators paid for excess power?
Under Alberta's Micro-generation Regulation, small micro-generators, meaning systems under 150 kilowatts, are credited for electricity sent back to the grid on a monthly basis at their retail rates, though they may also install a suitable meter to receive credit based on hourly wholesale market prices, while large micro-generators at 150 kilowatts and above are credited at the hourly wholesale market price. The customer must negotiate compensation and billing with their retailer, and the government does not set that rate. The distribution company reviews and approves the application, installs meters, and provides metering data, and the customer signs an interconnection agreement. Tell customers plainly that export credits are only part of the value: power the home uses itself, rather than exporting, is usually worth more, because it replaces power bought at retail.
How should I size a solar system for a customer?
Start from the customer's past electricity use, then check the roof, the direction it faces, and the shading across the day and across the seasons. A system sized to a standard package rather than to the home will overshoot or undershoot: an oversized system costs more than the customer will ever earn back, and an undersized system leaves the customer buying most of their power anyway. Alberta's rules also tie the system to the customer's own needs, and BC Hydro warns against buying generating equipment before the self-generation application is reviewed and accepted. Show the customer the use figures you sized from, the roof layout, and the expected production in plain terms, and put the utility approval steps and the rebate conditions in the same quote, so the customer sees the whole job, not just the panel count.
Do I need GST/HST registration for a solar business?
Solar installation is a taxable service in the usual case, and the small supplier rule decides when you must register. You stop being a small supplier and must register for GST/HST once your total revenues from taxable supplies pass $30,000 in a single calendar quarter or over the last four consecutive calendar quarters. Most solar businesses pass that threshold on their first few jobs, so set up the tax account before the first install rather than after it. You can register voluntarily before the threshold, which lets you claim input tax credits on panels, inverters, racking, and vehicles, but then you must charge and collect the tax. In Quebec, you also deal with QST. This guide gives general process information only and is not tax advice.
Sources
- BC Hydro, Rebates for solar panels and battery storage — $1,000 per kW solar rebate, $5,000 residential maximum at 50% of installed cost, $500 per kWh battery rebate, $1,500 or $5,000 with Peak Saver, self-generation application before install, technical acceptance before install, final inspection documents before interconnection approval, net metering closed to new customers July 1, 2026 —
- Government of Alberta, Micro-generation — small micro-generators under 150 kW credited monthly at retail rates, large at 150 kW and above at hourly wholesale prices, application to the distribution company, interconnection agreement, retailer-negotiated compensation —
- Electrical Safety Authority, Consumer Protection — only Licensed Electrical Contractors are legally licensed to do electrical work for hire in Ontario, with ESA notifications and compliance with the Ontario Electrical Safety Code —
- Canada Revenue Agency, General Information for GST/HST Registrants (RC4022) — small supplier threshold of $30,000 in a single calendar quarter or over four consecutive quarters —