What Canadian business owners wish they'd known

Updated October 1, 2026

We went through what Canadian owners have been asking and answering from late 2024 to 2026: owner discussions online, CFIB and BDC surveys, and advice from accountants and lawyers who work with small businesses. Below is what came up most, in our own words. Anything involving a rule or a number was checked against CRA, Ontario or another official source, and we've noted where popular advice is wrong or out of date.

Before you spend money

• Test the idea with real customers first. Ask people what they've actually bought, not whether they "would" buy. Then try a small real version: a first job at a fair price, a few products, a part-time launch.
• Keep your job until you have paying clients. Many owners say they wouldn't quit until they had savings and a few customers who'd already paid.
• Start with the free help. Your local Small Business Advisory Centre gives free advice and is where you apply for Ontario's Starter Company Plus grant (up to $5,000; you put in at least 25% of the grant amount). If you're 18 to 39, Futurpreneur offers up to $75,000 in loans with a mentor for two years. See our funding guide.

Money and tax

• Separate accounts from day one. One for the business, one for income tax, and one for any HST you collect. The HST was never yours to spend.
• Set tax aside on every payment. A common rule is 25–30% of profit, plus all HST collected. Remember that self-employed people pay both halves of CPP: 11.9% of net earnings between $3,500 and $74,600 in 2026, up to $8,460.90, plus a smaller second contribution on earnings above that.
• Pay by April 30, file by June 15. Sole proprietors can file their return later, but interest on tax owing starts on May 1.
• Expect instalments in year two or three. Once you owe more than $3,000 at tax time this year and in one of the two years before, CRA asks for quarterly payments (March 15, June 15, September 15 and December 15). Paying the amounts on CRA's reminder avoids interest.
• File on time even if you can't pay. Filing late adds a 5% penalty plus 1% a month. Paying late only adds interest, and CRA can set up a payment arrangement.
• Do the books monthly, or better, weekly. Owners who leave it to tax season lose receipts and forget what transactions were. Without a receipt, CRA can disallow the expense. See our bookkeeping guide.
• Keep a vehicle log. Sole proprietors deduct the business share of actual car costs, so you need a record of business kilometres.
• Watch cash, not just profit. A business can be profitable on paper and still run out of money while customers take their time paying. A simple month-by-month cash forecast catches this early.

HST

• The $30,000 limit is about quarters, not a calendar year. You must register once you pass $30,000 in taxable sales in a single calendar quarter or over the last four quarters combined. If one quarter alone goes over, you charge HST starting with the sale that took you over.
• Registering early can make sense if you sell to other businesses or have big startup costs, because you can claim back the HST you pay. If you sell mostly to consumers, adding 13% raises your prices. See our HST guide.
• Ask about the Quick Method once you've been registered for a year. Many service businesses remit less and spend less time on HST returns.

Incorporating

• Don't incorporate just because someone said to. The tax saving mostly applies to profit you leave in the company, and you'll pay more for setup and a corporate tax return every year. Ontario's small business rate fell to 2.2% on July 1, 2026, so combined with the federal rate, the first $500,000 of active business income is taxed at 11.2%.
• Liability protection is real but limited. See Will incorporating protect my family's savings?

Finding your first customers

• Start with people you know and ask for referrals. Owners say early work mostly comes from family, friends and local word of mouth, not paid ads.
• Answer fast. In service businesses the first company to reply usually gets the job. It costs nothing and beats most advertising.
• Set up a Google Business Profile. Choose a specific category, add real photos, keep your name and phone number identical everywhere, and hide your address if you travel to customers.
• Ask happy customers for reviews and reply to all of them. Never buy reviews or reward people for writing them.
• In local Facebook groups, be helpful rather than salesy. Recommendations from other members carry far more weight than your own posts.
• If you advertise, keep it small and local, aimed at nearby postal codes and started a few weeks before your busy season.

Pricing and getting paid

• Price from your real costs. Add up materials, time, insurance, vehicle and overhead, find your break-even point, then add your margin. Review prices every year.
• When a customer pushes back, cut the scope, not the rate. Ask which part of the quote they'd like to drop.
• Take a deposit. It covers materials and filters out customers who aren't serious. Owners often say the hardest hagglers are also the slowest payers.
• Plan for late payments. Use short payment terms and send invoices the day the work is done. If you need to collect, Ontario Small Claims Court now hears claims up to $50,000, generally within two years.
• Consider charging for estimates once you're busy, and credit the fee if the customer books.

"Buy Canadian" and tariffs

• Make it obvious you're Canadian. In a BDC survey published in April 2026, 59% of Canadians said they would pay more for Canadian-made products, but only 40% found them easy to identify, and 67% still mostly buy on price. Clear labels help, and so does selling on quality and service rather than price alone.
• Line up backup suppliers. In a CFIB survey from March 2026, 68% of small businesses still felt hurt by U.S. tariffs, and very few had heard of the federal Regional Tariff Response Initiative. Our supplier directory lists Canadian alternatives.
• Don't rely on one shipper. After the 2024 and 2025 Canada Post strikes, many businesses opened a courier account as a backup. A new contract runs to January 2029, but a second option is still cheap insurance.

Paperwork that catches people out

• Your business name expires after five years. Renewing costs $60 and you can do it from six months before. If you're more than 60 days late you have to register again.
• Corporations file an annual return with the Ontario Business Registry within six months of year-end.
• Your home insurance probably doesn't cover your business. Most policies cover only a little business equipment and no business liability. Ask about a home-business add-on or a commercial liability policy, and tell your auto insurer if you use your vehicle for work.
• Register with WSIB within 10 days of hiring if your industry is covered. Construction has wider rules.
• Calling someone a contractor doesn't make them one. CRA looks at who controls the work, who supplies the tools, and who carries the risk. If you're unsure, you can ask CRA for a ruling.
• Get consent before marketing emails. Under Canada's anti-spam law (CASL), a past customer's implied consent lasts two years from the purchase, or six months after an inquiry, and every email needs a working unsubscribe link.
• Have a lawyer read a commercial lease before you sign. Watch for personal guarantees and uncapped extra charges on top of base rent.

Scams aimed at new businesses

• Fake CRA calls and texts. CRA never asks for gift cards or crypto, never threatens arrest, and doesn't send refunds by text or e-transfer. Hang up and call CRA back on the official number.
• Fake renewal invoices and directory listings. New registrations attract official-looking bills. Renew only through the Ontario Business Registry, and don't pay invoices you can't match to an order.
• Urgent trademark emails. Messages warning that someone is about to register your name are a known scam.

Look after yourself

In BDC's 2025 survey of owners, 36% said mental health problems affected their work every week, rising to 60% of owners under 40, and cash flow was the top source of stress. Talking to other owners, a mentor or a professional early is common advice, and so is building a cash cushion before you need it.

Popular advice that's wrong or out of date

• "The HST threshold is $30,000 a year." It's measured by calendar quarter and by any four quarters in a row.
• "Self-employed people have until June 15." That's the filing deadline. Payment is due April 30.
• "You pay instalments as soon as you owe $3,000." Only if you also owed more than $3,000 in one of the two previous years.
• "Sole proprietors can claim 73 cents a kilometre." That's the rate employers can pay employees. Sole proprietors claim the business share of actual costs.
• "Every business has to register." A sole proprietor using only their own legal name doesn't have to register the name.
• "Small Claims Court only goes up to $35,000." It's been $50,000 since October 1, 2025.
• "Futurpreneur lends up to $60,000." It's now up to $75,000.
• "Home insurance covers my home business." Usually not, beyond a small amount of equipment.

General information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Rules and amounts are for Ontario in 2026; check the official sources below before relying on them.

Official sources

• CRA: When to register for and start charging GST/HST
• CRA: Who has to pay instalments
• CRA: CPP contribution rates and maximums
• Ontario: Corporate income tax rates
• Ontario: Suing someone in Small Claims Court
• Ontario: Starter Company Plus
• WSIB: Registration FAQs
• CRTC: Canada's anti-spam legislation FAQ
• CRA: Recognize a scam
• BDC: Most Canadians would pay a premium for Canadian-made products (April 2026)
• BDC: Entrepreneurs' mental health survey (July 2025)