Starting a side business alongside a job in Canada: file the freelancer taxes, keep the side money separate, check the GST/HST threshold and the licence rules, and register the side business — each with its live guide.
Applies in: across Canada
A side business is a second income stream sitting next to a paycheque, and the work is keeping the two apart: the money separate, the taxes filed on both, the GST/HST threshold tested on the side income alone, and the licence rules checked for the side work. This checklist is not the general starting-a-business checklist — every item here is specific to running a business alongside a job. Each item links to the live guide that walks it in full, so this page stays a checklist and never becomes a second copy of any guide.
Separate the side money from the paycheque, register the side business as a sole proprietorship, check the GST/HST threshold on the side income, check the licence rules for the side work, and file the freelancer taxes alongside your employment income. The BC item below is a province example only.
Work down this list and check each item off only when it is done.
This checklist states no income figure, fee figure, or tax amount for any item, because those figures sit on the official pages the linked guides cite and change — check the figure on the page that governs you. It does not cover incorporation, business insurance, or the general start-a-business sequence: those belong to the starting-a-business checklist, which walks the full sequence. It does not cover quitting the job to run the business full time — that is a different decision with its own guide set.
This checklist is about the split between your job and the side business: every item is framed on keeping the two apart and on the rules that apply to side income. The [starting-a-business checklist](/guides/starting-a-business-in-canada-checklist/) is the general list — register, business number, GST/HST, licence, bank account, insurance — for starting a business outright. Use this one while you keep the job; use that one when the business becomes the whole thing.
Work the [register guide](/guides/how-to-register-a-sole-proprietorship-and-gst-hst-in-canada/) for the sole-proprietorship route: it walks the business-name registration, the business number, and the GST/HST number together. The [BC sole-proprietorship guide](/guides/how-to-start-a-sole-proprietorship-in-bc/) shows the same route as a province example.
When your side income passes the small-supplier threshold. This checklist states no figure for that threshold — the [GST guide](/guides/do-you-need-a-gst-number-as-a-sole-proprietor-in-canada/) walks the test and states the figure, and the [register guide](/guides/how-to-register-a-sole-proprietorship-and-gst-hst-in-canada/) walks the registration.
Keep the side money separate from the paycheque from the first dollar, so the tax filing and the records stay clean. The [freelancer bank-account guide](/guides/business-bank-account-for-freelancers-in-canada/) walks the separation, the records, and the business name.
It depends on the municipality and on whether the work is home-based. The [freelancer licence guide](/guides/do-freelancers-need-a-business-licence-in-canada/) walks the municipal licence check and the home-based rules, with city examples.
The general start-a-business sequence, incorporation, and business insurance are not covered here — they belong to the [starting-a-business checklist](/guides/starting-a-business-in-canada-checklist/), which walks the full sequence. This checklist covers the side-income split only.