Careerhelp

Entrepreneur

You start and run your own company. About half of small businesses with staff are gone within ten years.

Typical income
$33,600a year
Time to qualify
1 to 5 yearsafter high school
Demand
Moderate
Licence needed
Noanyone can do it

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  1. 1.MoneyWhat you earn and what it costs to get there.5 screens
  2. 2.EducationThe exact path from high school to qualified.5 screens
  3. 3.OptionalThings you don't need, but that help.3 screens
  4. 4.ExtrasDay to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.4 screens
  5. 5.FactoidsThings people don't tell you.3 screens

Quick answers

How much does an entrepreneur make in Canada?

There is no wage: income is whatever the business or account makes after costs, and it can be a loss. Typical income is about $33,600 a year, from the studies and platform data on the career page. Most people are near $21,400, and the successful few reach $55,200 or more.

How long does it take to become an entrepreneur in Canada?

1 to 5 years after high school, on the usual route.

What does it cost to become an entrepreneur?

$100 to $30,000 all in for tuition, fees, exams and kit. Living costs are not counted.

Do you need a licence to work as an entrepreneur in Canada?

No. There is no licence to hold, though many employers still ask for training or a certificate.

What is the job outlook for an entrepreneur in Canada?

This is self-employment, so there is no government outlook rating. We rate it moderate demand from how crowded it is and how many people make a living at it, and the career page explains why.

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Money

What you earn and what it costs to get there.

What business owners make

Full time, not incorporated

$33,600

All owners, not incorporated

$21,400

Full time, incorporated

$55,200

Median employment income in 2019 from the 2021 Census, the last year before the pandemic changed the numbers. Full time means a full year of full-time work. Employees working full time had a median of $61,600, more than most owners. Many owners make less, and many earn nothing while the business is new. A few founders make millions, but they are not the typical case.

Your first year

Often $0 or a loss

Most new owners pay costs before they can pay themselves

Equipment, rent, software and stock come first. Many founders keep a job, live on savings or rely on a partner's income for the first one to two years.

The survival odds

About 2 in 3 last five years

For small businesses with at least one employee

Government figures show 94.8% of small employer businesses survive one year, 68.0% survive five years and 48.2% survive ten. One-person businesses without staff are not in these numbers and close more often.

What it costs to start

Sole proprietorship name registration
About $60 in Ontario, similar in other provinces
Federal incorporation
$200 online, plus provincial registration
Business Number from the CRA (Canada Revenue Agency)
Free
Municipal licence or permit
Often $50 to $500, depending on city and trade
Equipment, stock and a lease
From $0 for a service to tens of thousands for a shop
Roughly, all in
$100 to $30,000

Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel

The low end is a service business started from home: a provincial business name registration, a website and a few tools. The high end is a business that needs equipment, stock or a lease before it can sell anything, such as a food truck or a small shop. Federal incorporation is $200 online if you want it. A degree is not required and is not counted. Many businesses cost far more than $30,000 to open, usually paid from savings or a loan you personally guarantee.

Avoid paid services that charge hundreds to file forms you can file yourself on government websites.

Where the money comes from

  • Bootstrapping

    Your savings and early sales. This is how most small businesses start.

  • Futurpreneur

    For founders aged 18 to 39: up to $75,000 in startup loans together with BDC (Business Development Bank of Canada), plus up to two years with a mentor.

  • BDC (Business Development Bank of Canada)

    A federal Crown corporation that lends to small businesses, often when banks will not.

  • Canada Small Business Financing Program

    Bank loans the federal government partly guarantees, for equipment, property and startup costs.

  • Summer Company, Ontario

    For students aged 15 to 29: up to $3,000 and mentoring to run a business over the summer.

Education

The exact path from high school to qualified.

How to become an entrepreneur in Canada

No degree or licence is required to start a company. Most successful owners learned the industry first.

  1. 1

    Learn an industry from the inside

    1 to 10 years

    Work in the field you want to start in. Most lasting businesses come from someone who knew the customers and the costs.

  2. 2

    Test the idea cheaply

    1 to 6 months

    Sell to real customers before you spend on a lease, an app or stock. A paying customer is the only real proof.

  3. 3

    Register and set up

    1 to 4 weeks

    Choose a structure, register in your province, get a Business Number, open a business bank account and check municipal licences.

  4. 4

    Survive the first years

    1 to 5 years

    Watch cash every week. Most businesses that close run out of cash, not ideas.

  5. 5

    Pay yourself properly

    Ongoing

    A business that pays you a fair wage plus a profit is the goal. Many never get there; some sell or close and go back to a job.

High school courses that help you become an entrepreneur

  • Math

    Pricing, margins, cash flow and loan interest. This is where most owners get hurt.

  • Accounting or business

    Reading an income statement and knowing which costs are fixed.

  • English and French

    Selling, writing to customers and negotiating. French opens Quebec and federal customers.

  • A technological or trades course

    Many of the most stable small businesses are skilled trades and services.

Time and money, at a glance

Time before the typical survivor pays themselves a living
1 to 5 years
Entry requirements
None to start. Some trades and professions need a licence first
Cost to start
$100 to $30,000 or far more
Paid while learning?
Yes if you learn in a job first. Rarely in the first year of the business

Registering a business

A sole proprietorship is the simplest start, but you are personally on the hook for every debt. If you trade under any name other than your own, register it with your province. Incorporating, federally or provincially, makes the company a separate legal person. You report profit to the CRA (Canada Revenue Agency) and pay both halves of CPP (Canada Pension Plan), 11.9% up to the yearly maximum. Once sales pass $30,000 over four quarters in a row, register for the GST or HST (Goods and Services Tax or Harmonized Sales Tax).

When you do need a licence

Starting a company needs no licence. Some kinds of work do: electricians, plumbers and other regulated trades, hairstylists in some provinces, food businesses, child care, real estate and financial advice all need provincial or municipal licences or inspections. If you sell food, plan for a public health inspection. If you hire, you must register a payroll account, deduct CPP (Canada Pension Plan), EI (Employment Insurance) and income tax, and register with your province's workplace safety board.

Optional

Things you don't need, but that help.

Help that costs little or nothing

  • Small business enterprise centres

    Free advice and workshops in many Ontario cities. Other provinces have similar centres.

  • Futurpreneur mentors

    Matched one-on-one mentoring for young founders, alongside the loan.

  • College continuing education

    Short, cheap evening courses in bookkeeping, marketing and business law.

  • University and college incubators

    Programs such as the DMZ (a startup incubator) at Toronto Metropolitan University give space, advice and contacts to student and alumni founders.

Nice-to-haves

  • Six months of savings

    So one slow month does not force you to close or borrow at a bad rate.

  • A bookkeeper or accountant

    A few hundred dollars a year can save you from tax penalties and bad decisions.

  • A co-founder with different skills

    One person who builds and one who sells is a common strong pair.

  • A first customer before you launch

    Preorders, a signed contract or a pilot. It changes how lenders see you, too.

Startups are a different game

A startup in the tech sense is built to grow very fast and is usually funded by investors who expect most of their bets to fail. Founders often pay themselves little for years and own a share that is worth nothing unless the company is sold or goes public. TikTok and YouTube show the winners. For most people, a small business that makes a steady profit is the more realistic goal.

Extras

Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.

What an entrepreneur does day to day

There is no typical day, which is part of the appeal and the strain. In one morning you might quote a job, chase an unpaid invoice, fix a broken website and train a new hire. Afternoons go on the actual work customers pay for. Evenings are bookkeeping, ordering and answering messages. In the early years, the owner is also the sales team, the support team and the cleaner.

The honest pros and cons of being an entrepreneur

The good

  • You decide what to build and how to run it
  • No ceiling on income if the business works
  • You can build something you can later sell
  • Young founders get real support from Futurpreneur and others

The hard parts

  • Owners earn less than employees at the median
  • No paycheque, benefits or paid vacation unless the business pays for them
  • Long hours, especially in the first years
  • You often personally guarantee loans and leases

Work life

Typical hours
50 to 60 a week or more in the early years
Remote work
Depends on the business
Physical demand
Low to high, depending on the trade
Income stability
Low at first, can become steady

Factoids

Things people don't tell you.

Most self-employment income is small

In 2024, about 3.3 million Canadians reported self-employment income on their taxes. The median was just $6,100, because most of it is side work alongside a job.

Almost every employer is a small business

Of the 1.10 million businesses with employees in Canada in December 2024, 98.2% were small businesses with fewer than 100 employees.

Incorporated owners earn more

In 2019, owners who worked full time in their incorporated business had a median income of $55,200, compared with $33,600 for full-time owners without a corporation.

How an entrepreneur compares

Every list is built from the same numbers shown above, so you can see where this career sits next to the others.

More online and self-made careers in Canada

Starting a company first, then the rest of the field. See all online and self-made careers.

Read more about it

Where these numbers come from

Last checked October 2026. This is self-employment, so there is no government wage data for it. The income figures come from the studies and platform data listed above.