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Ontario

Starting a construction business in Ontario

The order the paperwork actually happens in, which is not the order anybody explains it in. Sole proprietor or corporation and what that choice costs you later, the business number and the CRA accounts hanging off it, WSIB, the trade licence, and the insurance that arrives last and blocks your first bid.

Try this on a real business

Open a seeded business in your trade. Nine jobs on the pipeline, a quote sent and viewed, a deposit paid, an invoice overdue, and a holdback on the current month.

Open the demo business

No card, no form. Sign in later and everything you built stays on the same account.

14 guides on this

How to run the businessGet WSIB sortedWSIB is the paper a site asks for before it asks anything else. See where it sits in your setup, what the clearance certificate costs before you meet the bill, and where the account number lives so you can answer the next general contractor who asks in under a minute.How to run the businessWhat going out on your own costsTwo numbers decide this and only one gets discussed. The setup fees are hundreds. The gap between doing the work and being paid for it is thousands, and it is the one that closes businesses.How to run the businessC of Q, then whatYour ticket lets you do the work. Something else entirely lets you sell it. Read the Last Mile guide for your code to the end, find out whether your trade needs a contractor licence, and look around a working business before you file anything.309C309C Electrician (D&R)Residential and rural scope, exam booking and prep, ESA Master Electrician path, the 309C → 309A upgrade route, and going owner-operator.308R308R Residential Sheet MetalC of Q exam prep and booking for the residential HVAC sheet metal trade, plus the TSSA gas-ticket pairing, the 308R → 308A upgrade route, and the path to owner-operator residential HVAC contracting.After you qualifyIncorporationNamed vs numbered companies, Ontario vs federal incorporation, directors, share structure, and the step-by-step filing process.How to run the businessSole prop or incorporateThree paths priced on one screen: $100 for an Ontario sole proprietorship, $400 for an Ontario corporation, $300 federal, with the government filing fees inside each number. Fill the whole registration in, right to the review screen, before any account is needed.How to run the businessThe bid-ready checklistIncorporating is the starting gun, not the finish line. Ten stages generated for your trade, the next three things to do at the top, and a percentage that moves for the right reasons.How to run the businessBring your businessYou registered something, started charging, got work. Then a builder asked for a certificate you did not have. Drop your documents in, have the numbers read out of them, and land on a compliance checklist with what you already satisfy already ticked.After you qualifyCRA RegistrationBusiness Number, HST/GST, payroll deductions, corporate income tax: every CRA account your construction company needs.How to run the businessWe file it for youOne checkbox hands over the Articles of Incorporation and the four CRA program accounts. See the exact wording you authorize, which steps stay yours, what the all-in price covers, and the one panel every number lands in afterwards.How to run the businessOne place, not five toolsContractors build their own spreadsheets because every app was missing the thing that makes construction different, and because a monthly bill for something that still needs a workaround is infuriating. Holdback, per-job profit and the T5018, in one place, with no monthly bill.How to run the businessStart your business in OntarioThe eight setup stages in order, from incorporation through CRA, WSIB and licensing to bid ready: walk the three-step wizard to a live name check and an all-in filing price with government fees included, free and with no account, nothing filed until you authorize and pay.How to run the businessGoing independent, pricedWSIB, CPP at both halves, income tax, HST after $30,000, insurance and plates all arrive together. Add up your real monthly overhead, run it through a six-month cash forecast, and get the number that has to go on top of your rate.

Count it instead of estimating it

Do you have to charge HST yet?The small supplier threshold has two tests. The one that catches a contractor is the single quarter test, and it has no grace month. Enter your quarters and see which one bites first.Free, no signup.
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The rest of the Ontario library

Finding construction work in OntarioBidding and prequalification in OntarioPricing construction work in OntarioChange orders and extras in OntarioGetting paid on Ontario constructionConstruction holdback in OntarioConstruction liens in OntarioHST for Ontario contractors
Every guideThe whole Ontario libraryHow to run the business