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Best Side Hustles in Canada: Options Compared by Cost, Skills and Tax

Updated

A side hustle is paid work on top of a job or studies. The options differ in what they cost to start, what skills they need, how much control you have over your hours, and what you have to do at tax time. This page compares them on those points; it is part of the side hustles hub, which has a page for each of the larger options.

Earnings aren’t quoted here: no government source publishes typical pay for each kind of side hustle, and pay depends on skill, city, platform and hours. The apps show what a job pays before you accept it, and the section on working out what a side hustle pays shows how to compare offers.

How the options compare

Side hustleWhere the work comes fromWhat it costs to startSkills neededControl over hours
Freelance writing, design, development, bookkeepingDirect clients and freelance marketplacesA computer and software, which you may already ownA professional skill and samples of your workHigh, within client deadlines
Online tutoringFamilies, schools, tutoring platformsA computer, webcam and internet connectionKnowing the subject and how to teach itAround students’ schedules
Food and grocery deliveryApps such as Uber Eats, DoorDash, SkipTheDishes and InstacartA smartphone and a bike or vehicleNone specialHigh: you log on when you choose, though demand varies by hour
Ride-sharingApps such as Uber and LyftA vehicle that meets the platform’s requirements, plus the right insuranceA driver’s licence and the checks the platform requiresHigh, with demand varying by hour
Pet sitting and dog walkingNeighbours, local listings, pet-care appsLittleComfort with animalsAround owners’ schedules
Cleaning, handyman work, yard work, snow removalNeighbours and local listingsTools, supplies and a way to get them to the jobPractical skillsSeasonal for yard work and snow
Reselling and handmade goodsOnline marketplaces such as Facebook Marketplace, Kijiji, eBay and EtsyMoney for stock or materialsKnowing what sells and for how muchHigh
PhotographyDirect clients and referralsA camera, lenses and editing softwarePhotography skill and a portfolioSet by when clients’ events happen
Paid surveys and micro-tasksSurvey sites and task platformsNothingNoneHigh

More detail on each group: gig economy apps, food delivery apps, freelance platforms, the freelancing guide, how to make money online, paid survey sites and online jobs for teens. The driving apps have their own pages: Uber, DoorDash and Instacart. Income that keeps coming in after the work is done is covered in passive income ideas, and renting out space in how to make money on Airbnb.

Working out what a side hustle pays

What a side hustle is worth to you is what’s left after costs and tax, divided by every hour it takes, including waiting, travel and admin. Two hypothetical weeks, each setting aside an assumed 20% of the net for income tax and CPP:

Delivery: $400 paid out by the app for 20 hours of logged-in time, with $80 of fuel and vehicle costs. Freelance design: a $1,000 invoice for 25 hours of work, with $50 of software costs.

DeliveryFreelance design
Paid$400$1,000
Costs−$80−$50
Net before tax$320$950
After setting aside 20%$256$760
Hours2025
Per hour$12.80$30.40

The right amount to set aside depends on your other income and province; the side hustle tax calculator estimates it.

Taxes on side hustle income

The tax pages own the detail: side hustle taxes, gig worker taxes and self-employed tax deductions. The main steps:

  • Report it. The CRA says gig workers resident in Canada “must report and pay tax on all self-employment income”, on Form T2125, Statement of Business or Professional Activities, filed with the return (how to complete the T2125).
  • GST/HST. You have to register for the GST/HST once you make taxable sales in Canada and are no longer a small supplier: that happens when your taxable sales go over $30,000 in a single calendar quarter (register from that sale) or over the last 4 consecutive calendar quarters (by the end of the month after that quarter); below that you can register voluntarily. A self-employed driver who provides commercial ride-sharing is treated as a taxi business for GST/HST: they must register and charge GST/HST on fares from their first ride, even below the $30,000 small-supplier threshold. Delivering food or groceries is not ride-sharing, so the usual small-supplier rule applies to it. GST/HST on freelance income covers registering and charging it.
  • CPP. You contribute to the CPP if you are over 18, work in Canada outside Quebec and earn more than $3,500 a year; contributions stop when you turn 70, and from 65 someone already receiving a CPP or QPP retirement pension can choose to stop. Self-employed people pay both the employee and the employer share of CPP contributions on their net business income (11.90% above the basic exemption up to the first earnings ceiling, plus 8% CPP2 between the first and second ceilings), worked out on Schedule 8 and paid with the income tax return. A non-refundable tax credit is claimed on half of the base contributions, and the other half, the first additional contributions and all CPP2 contributions are deducted from income.
  • Instalments. If tax isn’t withheld from your side income, you may have to pay during the year (who has to pay instalments). You have to pay income tax by instalments for a year if your net tax owing is more than $3,000 ($1,800 if you live in Quebec on December 31) for that year and was also more than that in either of the two previous years. Instalments are due March 15, June 15, September 15 and December 15; if your main source of income is self-employment income from farming or fishing, there is one instalment due date, December 31.
  • Expenses. Costs you incur to earn the income can be deducted, and costs that are partly personal (a phone, a car, part of your home) only for the business share. The rules for vehicle expenses and home office expenses have their own pages. A business can deduct at most 50% of the lesser of what it spent on food, beverages and entertainment and an amount that is reasonable in the circumstances, including meals while travelling or at a convention. The limit doesn't apply in some cases, such as costs billed to a client and shown on the bill, a business that sells food or entertainment to customers, and up to six office parties a year open to all employees at a location; long-haul truck drivers can deduct 80% of eligible meals.
  • Records. The CRA says to keep your records for six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to (unless it lets you destroy them earlier), at your Canadian residence or place of business unless it allows another place; you are responsible for them even when a bookkeeper or accountant keeps them, and you must make them available to the CRA on request. The CRA’s keeping records page has the details.

Side hustles alongside a job or EI

  • A job. Check your employment contract and your employer’s policies for clauses on outside work, working for a competitor, conflicts of interest and using the employer’s equipment or information.
  • EI. Earnings while you receive EI have to be reported, and they reduce your benefits. You keep 50 cents of EI for every dollar you earn, up to 90% of the weekly insurable earnings your benefit is based on; above that, earnings are deducted dollar for dollar, and a full week of work pays no EI. How much you can earn while on EI has worked examples.

Sources

The figures and rules on this page come from these sources, last checked against them between September 29, 2026 and October 1, 2026. How we check facts.