Incorporate a Cleaning Company for $35

Incorporate your cleaning company for $35.00, HST included. Government fees are separate. A CPA reviews your staff arrangement and your WSIB position before anything is filed.

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Complete the Incorporation Intake Form See Pricing

Cleaning is licensed by no regulator, so what you need is an ordinary corporation under the Business Corporations Act (Ontario), which we prepare and file for $35.00, HST included. Registry charges appear on their own line at the price the government sets. Open Corporation for $35 is a department of Gondaliya CPA.

The money question is whether the person holding the mop is your employee, because the Canada Revenue Agency applies the six factors in guide RC4110 to the facts rather than to the invoice. A Chartered Professional Accountant reads your crew arrangements, your WSIB position and your deposit records first.

Why Cleaning Companies Incorporate

Commercial work is closed to a proprietorship in practice. Property managers and building owners will not add you to a vendor list without a business number, an HST number, a WSIB clearance certificate and liability cover in a company name.

The claims are real: a flooded suite from a left tap, a scratched terrazzo floor, keys and alarm codes held by a crew, a theft allegation in a client’s office. The corporation holds those, but never shields a director from unremitted payroll or HST.

Labour is nearly the whole cost base. Past one or two cleaners you are an employer with a payroll account, and a corporation carries that role better than a personal name on a T4.

Start for $35 See Pricing

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12.2% on retained profit

Active business income inside the $500,000 federal business limit is taxed at 9% federally and 3.2% in Ontario, a combined 12.2%. Auto-scrubbers, extractors and a route van bought through the corporation are depreciated against that income and financed with 12.2% dollars.

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Cash flow is back-ended

Wages go out weekly and invoices come back on net 30 or net 60, and retained earnings taxed once at the small business rate are the cheapest way to carry that gap.

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Lumpy quarters

Post-construction and move-out work is lumpy. A heavy quarter followed by a quiet one wastes the low personal brackets, and a corporation lets you draw a level amount across both years.

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A saleable contract book

A cleaning company sells on its contract book, and a share sale can open the lifetime capital gains exemption no proprietor can use. Where a round already trades, a section 85 rollover moves the van, equipment and goodwill across at elected amounts.

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Rules That Apply to a Cleaning Company

There is no professional corporation for cleaning. No college regulates the trade, there is no certificate of authorization, nothing restricts who may hold a share, and the company has no annual licence to renew. You incorporate an ordinary corporation under the Business Corporations Act (Ontario). Five other rules do that work.

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Staff classification

The Canada Revenue Agency decides employee against subcontractor on the facts, not the invoice, using guide RC4110 and six factors: control, tools and equipment, the ability to subcontract, financial risk, investment and management, and opportunity for profit. Either party may request a binding CPP/EI ruling on Form CPT1 by June 29 of the following year.

Ontario adds a second test, because section 5.1 of the Employment Standards Act, 2000 does not allow an employer to treat an employee as though the person is not an employee, and where the question is in dispute the burden of proving the person is not an employee falls on the employer. An employment standards officer can issue a notice of contravention, a prosecution, or both.

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WSIB

Cleaning sits in Class M, Administration, Services to Buildings, Dwellings and Open Spaces, under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board rate framework. The 2026 Class M rate is $1.43 per $100 of insurable payroll against a provincial average of $1.23, and the 2026 maximum insurable earnings ceiling is $121,700.

You have 10 calendar days to register from the day you hire your first employee. Outside construction an independent operator is not automatically covered and applies for optional insurance instead.

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Bonding and insurance for commercial contracts

These are contract terms, not statute. A building owner typically wants commercial general liability naming the owner as an additional insured, a janitorial or fidelity bond covering employee dishonesty because your crew holds keys, and a WSIB clearance certificate, valid for up to 90 days.

Surety underwriters read corporate financial statements, so bookkeeping quality decides the limit you are offered.

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Cash payment record keeping

The Income Tax Act requires a corporation to keep books and records adequate to determine its tax, generally for six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to under section 230, and the Excise Tax Act puts the same duty on an HST registrant. Every job in the schedule must reconcile to a deposit.

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Name and annual filing

An Ontario name needs a distinctive element, a descriptive element and a legal ending, plus an Ontario-biased NUANS report under 90 days old unless you take a numbered company.

The Annual Return under the Corporations Information Act is due six months after the fiscal year end, filed in the Ontario Business Registry rather than on the T2.

Typical Share Structure for a Cleaning Company

Share class	Who holds it	Voting	Dividend entitlement	Why it is there
Class A common	Founding owner	Yes	Discretionary	Control and growth
Class B common	Spouse running scheduling and invoicing	Yes	Discretionary	Splitting, if TOSI clears
Class C non-voting	Operations manager	No	Discretionary	Profit share, no vote
Class D preferred	Founding owner	No	Fixed, redeemable	Freeze before a second crew or branch
Class E preferred	Founding owner	No	Fixed, redeemable	Section 85 consideration on rollover

Section 120.4 decides whether the Class B share pays anything. The excluded shares exception fails where more than 90% of business income comes from services, which a cleaning company almost never clears. The excluded business test is the workable route: a shareholder aged 25 or over who works an average of 20 hours a week is outside the tax on split income.

A CPA tests each shareholder against a written record of hours before the dividend is declared, not after the T5 is issued, and otherwise pays a salary reasonable under section 67.

HST on Cleaning Services in Ontario

Residential and commercial cleaning are taxable supplies at 13% in Ontario, because nothing in Schedule V to the Excise Tax Act exempts routine house cleaning or janitorial work.

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The homemaker nuance

The one nuance is publicly funded home support, where a homemaker service delivered in a private residence and paid or subsidized by a government or municipality may be exempt.

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When to register

The small supplier threshold is $30,000 of taxable supplies in a single calendar quarter or over four consecutive calendar quarters, and registration follows within 29 days.

Register voluntarily earlier if you are buying a van, a ride-on scrubber or a first stock of chemicals, because that tax is recoverable only from the registration date forward.

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The quick method

Eligibility stops at $400,000 of annual worldwide taxable supplies including GST/HST, the Ontario remittance rate is 8.8% for a service business, and a 1% credit applies to the first $30,000 of eligible supplies each fiscal year.

The election is Form GST74. It works in a labour-heavy year and against you in a year you re-equip.

Common CRA Issues for Cleaning Companies

Cleaners reassessed as employees

Triggered by a company that sets the schedule, supplies the equipment and chemicals, sends the crew to its own clients, and pays by the hour.

Unreported residential cash revenue

Triggered by deposits that do not match the job schedule, or an indirect verification of income where the auditor rebuilds revenue from supplies bought and hours paid.

Payroll source deductions in arrears

Triggered by missed remittances on the 15th. Penalties run from 3% to 10%, and section 227.1 of the Income Tax Act makes directors personally liable.

HST collected and not remitted

Triggered by returns filed at nil while customer invoices show 13%. Section 323 of the Excise Tax Act extends the same personal liability to directors.

Input tax credits denied on subcontractor invoices

Triggered by invoices carrying no supplier HST registration number, or one that does not validate, failing the Input Tax Credit Information (GST/HST) Regulations.

Vehicle and supply benefits

Triggered by one van used for the residential route and the family with no log, which produces a taxable benefit rather than a deduction.

First-Year Compliance Calendar

When	What is due	Who files it	What happens if it is late
Before the first commercial invoice	HST registration, mandatory past $30,000	Your CPA, with the CRA	Tax you should have charged comes out of your margin, plus interest
Within 10 calendar days of the first employee	WSIB registration	The corporation, with the WSIB	Coverage gap and reassessed premiums under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act
Week 1 to 2	Business number, RC0001 corporate tax and RP0001 payroll accounts	Your CPA, with the CRA	Nothing to remit against and nothing to file the T2 against
Within 60 days of incorporation	Initial Return, Corporations Information Act	Us, Ontario Business Registry	Non-compliance record. No fee
Before each contract starts, refreshed within 90 days	WSIB clearance certificate and certificate of insurance	The corporation	The client holds payment or will not let the crew in the building
15th of the month after each pay period	Payroll source deductions	The corporation, to the CRA	Penalty of 3% to 10%, and 20% on a repeat failure
Within 53 weeks of incorporation	First fiscal year end chosen	Your CPA	Hard to change once the first T2 is filed
One month after the first quarter end	First HST return, quarterly filer	Your CPA, with the CRA	Late filing penalty and interest
Last day of February	T4 slips and T4 summary	Your CPA, with the CRA	$100 minimum penalty, rising with slip count
3 months after year end	Part I tax balance, small business deduction claimed	The corporation, to the CRA	Interest from the day after the balance due date
6 months after year end	T2 return and Ontario Annual Return	Your CPA, and us	Late filing penalty, then eventual cancellation
Year two onward	Instalments once tax payable passes $3,000	The corporation, to the CRA	Instalment interest

Before Anything Is Filed

What a CPA Checks Before You Incorporate

Start Your Intake Form

We check nine things before a cleaning company is filed, and the first decides most of the rest.

Whether every cleaner on your schedule belongs on payroll is settled before the articles go in.

Check 1

Who is actually working for you

Read against guide RC4110 and the Employment Standards Act, 2000. Every cleaner is either a subcontractor with a business number, their own equipment and their own clients, or an employee who belongs on payroll. A reassessment reaches back and lands on the corporation with CPP, EI, interest and penalties attached.

Check 2

Your WSIB position

Whether you are an independent operator, a working owner with a crew, or an employer of a supervised workforce. That sets your class, your premium and whether you can produce the clearance certificate a building manager asks for.

Check 3

The contracts you are chasing

The insurance limit, the additional insured wording and the fidelity bond in those documents dictate what the corporation must carry from day one.

Check 4

Residential against commercial revenue

The split drives the HST treatment, the quick method question and how much of your takings arrive as cash.

Check 5

Jobs reconciled to deposits

Whether the job schedule reconciles to deposits well enough to survive an indirect verification of income.

Check 6

The exact legal name

Checked against the merchant account, the insurance certificate and the vendor registration, because several parties issue against one name.

Check 7

Who holds the shares

Whether a spouse or adult child meets a section 120.4 exception before the classes are drafted rather than after a dividend is declared.

Check 8

The year end

Set away from your heaviest contract month so the payroll accrual and the receivable count do not land in your busiest week.

Check 9

A section 85 rollover

Whether one is needed to move an existing round’s van, equipment and goodwill across without triggering a gain.

Fees to Incorporate a Cleaning Company in Ontario

Our fee is $35.00 with HST included. Government charges are listed on their own lines at the price the government sets. See our government fees page and pricing.

Item	Amount	HST	Total	Who charges it
Incorporation preparation and filing	$35.00	Included	$35.00	Open Corporation for $35
Ontario Articles of Incorporation, online	$300.00	Not applicable	$300.00	Ontario Business Registry
Ontario-biased NUANS report, named company only	$25.00	Included	$25.00	Open Corporation for $35
Initial Return and Annual Return	$0.00	Not applicable	$0.00	Ontario Business Registry
Minute book, account registrations, bookkeeping, payroll, T2	Quoted on request			Gondaliya CPA
Total, Ontario numbered corporation	$335.00 ($300.00 government filing + $35.00 our fee)			One-time
Total, Ontario named corporation	$360.00 ($300.00 government filing + $25.00 NUANS + $35.00 our fee)			One-time

Payment is by Interac e-Transfer to info@gondaliyacpa.ca only. Security question: Not Applicable, as auto-deposit is enabled.

The Bundle for Cleaning Companies

Incorporating is the first hour of the work. Afterwards Gondaliya CPA opens the business number, the HST account and the payroll account, registers the corporation with the WSIB and keeps the clearance certificate current, runs payroll and the CPP, EI and WSIB remittances, costs each contract so you know which buildings make money, reconciles invoices to deposits monthly, prepares the T4 and T4A slips, and files the HST returns and the T2. Ongoing work is quoted after a conversation about crew size, contract count and how much of your revenue is residential.

Cleaning Accounting at Gondaliya CPA Residential & Commercial Cleaning

Why Owners Use Us

Gondaliya CPA Professional Corporation is registered with CPA Ontario under firm registration number 61330051. Open Corporation for $35 is a department of Gondaliya CPA.

CPA Ontario firm registration number 61330051
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Free CPA Consultation for Cleaning Companies

The CPAs Who Review Your Cleaning Company

A Chartered Professional Accountant reviews your staff arrangement and your WSIB position before anything is filed.

Sharad Gondaliya, CPA

Principal

Bio

647-212-9559

Vandana Goel, CPA

Accounting Specialist

Bio

647-250-0242

What Our Clients Say

These Google reviews belong to Gondaliya CPA Professional Corporation and cover every service the firm provides. See all reviews.

Cleaning Company Incorporation FAQs

Do I need a professional corporation to run a cleaning company in Ontario?

No, Ontario has no professional corporation for cleaning or janitorial work, so you incorporate an ordinary corporation under the Business Corporations Act (Ontario) at a government filing fee of $300 online. Nothing restricts who may hold a share.

Does a cleaning company need WSIB coverage?

Yes, a cleaning business with workers must register with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board within 10 calendar days of hiring its first employee, under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act. Outside construction an independent operator applies for optional insurance instead.

What WSIB rate does a cleaning company pay?

Cleaning falls in Class M, Administration, Services to Buildings, Dwellings and Open Spaces, and the 2026 Class M rate is $1.43 per $100 of insurable payroll. The 2026 earnings ceiling is $121,700.

Are my cleaners employees or subcontractors?

The Canada Revenue Agency decides that on the facts of the working relationship, not on what the invoice says, using guide RC4110 and six factors including control, tools, financial risk and opportunity for profit. Either party can request a binding CPP/EI ruling on Form CPT1 by June 29 of the following year.

Do I charge HST on cleaning services?

Yes, residential and commercial cleaning are taxable at 13% in Ontario once registered, because nothing in Schedule V to the Excise Tax Act exempts routine house cleaning or janitorial work. Registration is mandatory once taxable supplies pass $30,000, and the Canada Revenue Agency allows 29 days after the day of your first taxable sale made other than as a small supplier.

Can a cleaning company use the quick method?

Yes, provided annual worldwide taxable supplies including GST/HST stay at or under $400,000, a cleaning business can elect the quick method with the Canada Revenue Agency on Form GST74. The Ontario service rate is 8.8%, with a 1% credit on the first $30,000 each fiscal year.

Do I need to be bonded and insured to win a commercial cleaning contract?

Bonding and insurance in cleaning are contract requirements set by the building owner or property manager, not by a statute or a regulator. Clients normally ask for liability cover naming them as an additional insured, a fidelity bond, and a WSIB clearance certificate valid for up to 90 days.

How long do I have to keep records if customers pay in cash?

A corporation must keep books and records adequate to determine its tax, generally for six years from the end of the last tax year to which they relate, under the Income Tax Act, with the same duty on an HST registrant under the Excise Tax Act.

Related Industries We Serve

Janitorial Contractors

WSIB clearance for building contracts
Crew payroll and remittances
Contract costing by building

Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning

Truck-mount and extractor CCA
HST on residential jobs
Van and route records

Window Cleaning

Seasonal cash flow planning
Subcontractor status checks
Liability and bonding records

Pressure Washing

Equipment financing and CCA
Quick method HST decisions
Cash job reconciliation

One Company, One Filing, $35.00

One company, one filing, $35.00 with HST included. Complete the incorporation intake form and we confirm the share structure, the year end, the HST date and whether every cleaner on your schedule belongs on payroll before we file.

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No legal advice. Gondaliya CPA Professional Corporation is a firm of Chartered Professional Accountants licensed by CPA Ontario, firm registration number 61330051. It is not a law firm. We prepare and file corporate documents and we provide accounting and tax advice. Nothing on this page is legal advice, and reading it creates no solicitor and client relationship. For legal advice, including advice on a shareholder agreement before you sign it, consult a lawyer licensed in the province where your corporation carries on business.