Starting a small business in Thunder Bay From side hustle to real business.

1. Check your status allows it

Running your own business counts as work for anyone in Canada on a temporary permit. IRCC counts any money or commission you're paid for a service as work.

• Permanent residents and citizens can work anywhere in Canada, including for themselves.
• On a study permit: you can be self-employed off campus only if your permit allows off-campus work and you meet IRCC's other conditions. The hours count toward your limit of 24 hours a week during term. During scheduled breaks, such as summer, you can work full time. You must keep track of your own hours.
• On an employer-specific (closed) work permit: IRCC says it lets you work only for the employer named on the permit.
• On an open work permit (including a post-graduation work permit): you can work for any employer, with a few exceptions. IRCC's pages don't say plainly whether that includes running your own business. Read the conditions printed on your permit, and if you're unsure, ask IRCC or a licensed representative before you start.

Once you know your status allows it, you can list your business free on Soko, our community marketplace. A public listing is a record that you're working, so check this section first.

Sources: IRCC, "Work off campus as an international student", "What is considered work?", employer-specific work permits and open work permits

2. Register your business name

• Using your own legal name? As a sole proprietor (one owner, not a company), you don't have to register.
• Using any other name, like "Mama Wanjiku's Kitchen": register it on the Ontario Business Registry. It costs $60 and lasts 5 years. Renew it from 6 months before it expires to 60 days after; miss that and you must register again.
• Register online (instant) or by mail. ServiceOntario no longer registers businesses in person.
• As a sole proprietor you are personally responsible for all the business's debts. Incorporating (making a company) separates them. It costs $300 in Ontario or $200 federally, online, and you can move from provincial to federal later.

Sources: Government of Ontario, "Decide on an ownership structure", registration costs and "Ontario Business Registry"; Corporations Canada, fees; Thunder Bay & District Entrepreneur Centre

3. Tax: HST and your tax return

• HST: you don't have to register while your sales stay at $30,000 or less, both in any one calendar quarter and over the last four quarters.
  • Once you go over, you must register within 29 days.
  • If you go over in a single quarter, you must charge HST from the sale that took you over, even before you register.
  • Taxi and ride-share drivers must register from the first dollar.
• Business number: if you don't incorporate, you need a CRA business number only when you open an account such as HST or payroll.
• Your tax return: report your business income and expenses on form T2125 with your personal return.
• Keep every receipt, invoice and deposit slip. The law requires it. Keep them for six years from the end of the tax year they relate to, at your home or business in Canada.

Earning money in Kenya too? See Kenyan tax from Canada.

Sources: Canada Revenue Agency, "General information for GST/HST registrants" (RC4022), "Do you need a business number?", form T2125 and "Keeping records"

4. City licences and working from home

The City of Thunder Bay licenses some kinds of business, including:

• restaurants, food shops and caterers;
• hairstylists (in a shop or mobile);
• food trucks, carts and tents.

A food business licence application needs ID, your business name registration, and a lease or the building owner's permission. Ask Licensing and Enforcement whether your business needs one: 807-577-6536.

Under the City's zoning by-law, you can run a small business from any home, for example a single-chair esthetician, or a hairstylist or barber who holds a trade certificate (see section 6). Zoning allows it, but your lease or condo rules may not, so ask your landlord first. Some limits:

• Only people who live in the home can run it, with at most one helper or employee from outside.
• In the city it can use no more than 25% of the home's floor space.
• It can't be a shop or a restaurant. Selling products must go along with a service, unless you make the goods yourself.
• One small, unlit sign is allowed.

Sources: City of Thunder Bay, "Business Licensing" and Zoning By-law 1-2022, section 12.1.1 (PDF)

5. Selling food

• Tell the health unit first. Ontario law says anyone who plans to run a food business must notify the local health unit before they start. In Thunder Bay that's the Thunder Bay District Health Unit (TBDHU): (807) 625-5900.
• Cooking at home to sell (catering, or for a farmers' market) makes you a "home caterer". You follow TBDHU's operating guidelines for home caterers, write a food safety plan for each item you sell, and let an inspector visit your home up to three times a year. Check with the City about a licence too.
• Food handler certificate: most businesses that cook or serve food must have someone trained in safe food handling on site every hour it's open. TBDHU runs the course online and in person.
• Farmers' markets: follow TBDHU's guidelines for markets and fill in its vendor application.
• Festivals and events: notify TBDHU online at least 14 days before the event, and have a certified food handler there the whole time.

Sources: Thunder Bay District Health Unit, "Home Catering and Farmers' Markets", "Food Handler Certification" and "Special Events"; Ontario Health Protection and Promotion Act, s. 16 and O. Reg. 493/17, s. 32

6. Hair, nails and beauty

Ontario calls hair, barbering, nails and other beauty services "personal service settings". That includes working from a vehicle or at an event.

• Tell the health unit in writing at least 14 days before you open. TBDHU inspects personal service settings every year, and you post the results if the inspector asks.
• Hairstyling, including barbering, is a compulsory trade in Ontario. To be paid for it you need a Certificate of Qualification from Skilled Trades Ontario, a provisional certificate, or a registered apprenticeship, and you must appear on its public register.
  • If you trained or worked as a hairstylist in Kenya, ask Skilled Trades Ontario how to have that experience assessed.
  • We couldn't confirm whether braiding alone falls under the trade, so ask Skilled Trades Ontario before you start charging for it.
• Nails and esthetics are not compulsory trades. TBDHU inspects but doesn't license shops. The City licenses hairstylists, so ask Licensing and Enforcement about a City licence too.
• Doing hair or nails at a festival or event: send TBDHU a personal services vendor notice at least 14 days before.

Sources: Skilled Trades Ontario, "Hairstylist"; Ontario O. Reg. 136/18, Personal Service Settings; Thunder Bay District Health Unit, "Personal Service Settings"

7. Free advice, grants and loans

Free advice: Thunder Bay & District Entrepreneur Centre

Free, confidential business advice, help with a business plan, and workshops, run by the CEDC. Suite 701, 34 Cumberland Street North, (807) 625-3960. No walk-ins, so book an appointment. (gotothunderbay.ca)

Grants: Starter Company Plus and Summer Company

Through the Entrepreneur Centre. Both are for citizens and permanent residents only.

• Starter Company Plus: training and a mentor, and you can apply for a grant of up to $5,000 (a committee decides). You must run the business full time, 35 hours a week or more. The 2027 intake opens in January 2027.
• Summer Company: students aged 15 to 29 get up to $3,000. It opens January 25, 2027.

Women: PARO Centre for Women's Enterprise

PARO's Peer Lending Circles bring 4 to 7 women together. Members can borrow $1,000 to $5,000, and part may not need to be repaid if you meet the criteria. PARO says the circles suit women with little or no credit history. Suite 201, 34 Cumberland Street North, Thunder Bay. (807) 625-0328, toll-free 1-800-584-0252. (paro.ca)

Ages 18 to 39: Futurpreneur

Loans of up to $75,000 with BDC, plus a mentor for up to two years. Its Black Entrepreneur Startup Program is for people who self-identify as Black, with a business 24 months old or less. Citizens and permanent residents only. It's a loan you repay, so read the terms. (futurpreneur.ca)

Newcomers: BDC Newcomer Entrepreneur loan

Up to $50,000 for permanent residents or protected persons who arrived less than three years ago. (bdc.ca)

Black-owned businesses: Black Entrepreneurship Loan Fund

Federal loans of $25,000 and up, for businesses more than 51% owned by Black citizens or permanent residents. Applications go through the Federation of African Canadian Economics (FACE). (Government of Canada FAQ)

Most grants and loans above need citizenship or permanent residence. On a study or work permit, the Entrepreneur Centre's free advice and PARO's circles are where to start; their pages list no status rule.

Sources: the program pages linked above, checked on the date at the top of this page; Northwestern Ontario Innovation Centre; Literacy Northwest, its about page and its contact page

This page is general information, not legal, tax or immigration advice. Rules and program dates change, so confirm on the linked official page before you register, pay or apply. Wakenyatbay doesn't recommend particular accountants, consultants or lenders.

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