How to start a cleaning business in Quebec: 2026 guide

What are the steps to open a cleaning company in Quebec?

To open a residential cleaning company in Quebec, you pick a structure, register with the Registraire des entreprises if you use a business name, get insured, decide when to register for GST and QST, get your borough’s occupancy permit, and set prices in French that cover Quebec wages. Add CNESST and a payroll account when you hire. Starting a cleaning business in Quebec has one extra layer the other provinces don’t: the French-language rules apply to your name, signs, website and quotes from day one.

This guide covers what is specific to Quebec and Canada: the Registraire, the CRA and Revenu Québec, GST and QST, the CNESST, the Act respecting labour standards, the Charter of the French language and Montreal’s permits. For the parts that work the same everywhere (choosing services, buying supplies, your first cleans), read our general guide on how to start a cleaning business. Its costs and rules are American, so use this page for the Quebec numbers. The Ontario guide follows the same structure if you serve the Outaouais or Ottawa side of the river.

Here is the order that saves you from redoing anything later:

1. Choose your services and the municipalities or boroughs you will serve.
2. Pick a French name and a structure, and register with the Registraire des entreprises if the name isn’t your own.
3. Get a CRA business number, and register for GST and QST with Revenu Québec now or when you approach $30,000.
4. Apply for the occupancy permit (certificate of occupancy) in your Montreal borough, or check your municipality’s rules.
5. Buy commercial general liability insurance, and tell your auto insurer you drive to jobs.
6. Set prices from your costs, with GST and QST added on top if you are registered.
7. Set up booking, reminders and payments in French (and English where allowed), then go find clients.
8. When you hire, register with the CNESST within 60 days and open payroll accounts with the CRA and Revenu Québec.

If you are still choosing a name, the cleaning business name generator gives you options; pick or adapt a French one. The cleaning business plan template turns your startup costs and prices into a 12-month forecast before you commit.

Step 1: register with the Registraire des entreprises (structure and name)

Most solo cleaners start as a sole proprietorship, which Quebec calls a natural person operating an enterprise, or a self-employed worker. You must register it with the Registraire des entreprises only if your business name does not include your surname and given name. Registration gives you a Quebec enterprise number (NEQ).

Sole proprietorship (self-employed worker)

Quebec’s page on legal forms describes the sole proprietorship as an enterprise operated by a single person, often called a self-employed worker, with no legal existence separate from its owner. You keep all the profit and carry all the liability. The Act respecting the legal publicity of enterprises (section 21) requires registration from natural persons who operate a sole proprietorship in Quebec “under a name that does not include their surname and given name”. So “Marie Tremblay” can work without registering, but “Entretien Tremblay” or “Ménage Pro Laval” must register.

Registration is done online with the Registraire, which charges a registration fee set by regulation and then requires an annual updating declaration; check the Registraire’s current tariff before you file. Quebec’s page on the Québec enterprise number explains that the NEQ is assigned when you register, that your enterprise information becomes public and free to search, and that a person can hold only one NEQ for a sole proprietorship. Revenu Québec, the CNESST and banks will ask for it.

General partnership or corporation

Two or more owners can register a general partnership (S.E.N.C.), which the Act also requires to register. Write down who owns what and who decides prices before your first client. A corporation gives limited liability but costs more and needs annual filings: you can constitute a Quebec business corporation through the Registraire, or incorporate federally through Corporations Canada for $200 online and then register the federal corporation in Quebec. For a one-person cleaning business, insurance, not incorporation, is what pays a client when you break something.

Step 2: get a business number and decide on GST and QST

Quebec charges 5% GST plus 9.975% QST on cleaning services, and Revenu Québec administers both. You must register once your taxable sales pass $30,000 over four consecutive calendar quarters; until then you are a small supplier and can register voluntarily. Unlike most provinces, Quebec does not hand you a CRA business number when you register with the Registraire.

Your business number

The CRA’s page on when you need a BN lists Quebec among the provinces where you do not receive a business number with your provincial registration and must register for one separately. In practice, you get the BN when you open your first CRA program account, and you register for GST and QST through Revenu Québec, which also issues your QST number.

When you must register for GST and QST

The CRA’s rules on when to register for and charge GST/HST apply to the GST side, and the QST follows the same small supplier threshold:

• Under $30,000 over four consecutive calendar quarters: you are a small supplier. You don’t have to register, but you can.
• Over $30,000 across several quarters: you stop being a small supplier at the end of the month after that quarter, and must register and charge GST and QST from your next sale.
• Over $30,000 in a single quarter: you charge tax starting with the sale that took you over.

The CRA’s rate table shows Quebec at 5% GST and 9.975% QST, so a registered cleaner adds 14.975% to every invoice. Both taxes are calculated on the price before tax, not one on top of the other. Registering early lets you claim back the GST and QST you pay on supplies, a vehicle and software (input tax credits and input tax refunds), but it raises your price to homeowners by almost 15%, which they can’t claim back. Many solo cleaners serving homes wait until they get close to the threshold; commercial clients don’t mind, because they claim both taxes back.

Do you need a licence to clean houses in Quebec?

There is no provincial cleaning licence. Quebec municipalities don’t issue a general business licence the way Calgary or Surrey do, but Montreal requires an occupancy permit for the place you run the business from, even a home office, and other cities have their own version.

Montreal: the occupancy permit

Montreal’s page on the occupancy permit for commercial, industrial or professional activity says you must get a certificate of occupancy to conduct a commercial activity in a building, or to use part of your home for professional purposes such as a home office, and that individuals who work from home also need one. The permit is tied to both the premises and the operator, so a move means a new permit. Fees depend on the borough: examples on the City’s page range from $100 for a home-based business office in one borough to $420 in another. Check zoning with your borough’s permit counter first, because some boroughs limit what a home occupation may do.

Laval, Québec City, Gatineau and others

Each municipality publishes its own rules for a home-based business (“entreprise à domicile” or “usage complémentaire”), often as a zoning permit rather than a licence. Search the city’s site for “permis d’occupation” or “entreprise à domicile”, and expect limits on signs, on-street parking of work vehicles and storage of supplies. If you only clean in a city and don’t base the business there, you usually need nothing from it, but confirm with the permit counter.

The general version of this question for US readers is in our guide to what licenses are needed to start a cleaning business, which explains why “licensed, bonded and insured” means registrations plus insurance, not a cleaning credential.

What do the French-language rules mean for a cleaning business?

Your business name must be in French, your signs and advertising must be in French (another language is allowed if French is markedly predominant), and your quotes, brochures, order forms and website must be available in French. The Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) enforces these rules, which Bill 96 tightened in 2022.

The Charter of the French language sets the rules that matter for a small service business:

• Name (sections 63 and 68): “The name of an enterprise must be in French.” You may add a version in another language, but when both are used the French version must appear at least as prominently. A registered trademark in another language is the main exception, and even then French must be markedly predominant on signs visible from outside.
• Signs and advertising (section 58): public signs, posters and commercial advertising must be in French; they may be bilingual if French is markedly predominant. That covers your vehicle lettering, flyers and social media ads.
• Documents (section 52): catalogues, brochures, order forms and “any other documents of the same nature that are available to the public” must be drawn up in French, regardless of medium. Treat your price list, booking page and quote template as covered.
• Francization (Division II): enterprises employing 25 or more persons must register with the OQLF and work toward a francization certificate. A solo cleaner or a crew of five is far below that, but it matters if you grow.

In practice: pick a French name (“Entretien”, “Ménage”, “Nettoyage” all work), lead with French on your website and booking page, and offer English as a second version rather than the default. Quotes and receipts should go out in French unless the client asks otherwise in writing. Keep this simple from the start; renaming a business after you have reviews and vehicle lettering is expensive.

What insurance does a cleaning business need in Quebec?

Start with commercial general liability (CGL), which pays when your work injures someone or damages a client’s property. Add a bond or crime coverage once you have staff in clients’ homes, and make sure your auto insurer knows you drive to jobs. Condo syndicates and property managers in Montreal ask for a certificate of insurance before you start.

The Insurance Bureau of Canada’s overview of types of business coverage lists commercial general liability and crime coverage among the common commercial policies, and notes that auto insurance is mandatory across Canada with optional commercial vehicle coverage on top. In Quebec, bodily injury from car accidents is covered by the public SAAQ plan, but the private policy you buy for property damage and liability still needs the right business-use class.

• Commercial general liability: the core policy. Ask whether it excludes damage to items in your “care, custody or control”, which is exactly what you handle while cleaning.
• Bond or employee dishonesty (crime) coverage: pays a client back if an employee steals. It matters once you send cleaners into homes without you.
• Auto: tell your insurer you drive to clients’ homes with supplies. A personal policy may not cover business use.
• Your home policy: if you store supplies at home, ask whether your home insurance covers business use.

We did not find a public, verifiable source for typical Quebec premiums, so we don’t quote a price. Ask two or three brokers for quotes with the same details: services, expected revenue, number of cleaners, and whether you drive. Our guide to cleaning business insurance explains each policy in more depth; its prices are American, so use it for the coverage, not the costs.

Hiring in Quebec: CNESST, minimum wage, QPP and EI

When you hire your first cleaner, register with the CNESST within 60 days, pay at least Quebec’s minimum wage of $16.60 an hour, and open payroll accounts with both the CRA (income tax and EI) and Revenu Québec (Quebec tax, QPP and QPIP). Quebec is the one province where payroll runs through two agencies.

CNESST

The CNESST’s employer registration page (in French) says you have 60 days from the first day of work of your first worker to register, and that you can register up to 30 days before they start. Register late and you pay a late registration fee. Once registered you pay premiums based on your payroll and your classification. Cleaning is not an excluded activity, so plan on registering with your first hire, whether full-time or part-time.

If you work alone, the CNESST’s page on self-employed workers says you are not automatically covered for a work accident or occupational disease, and that you can apply for optional personal coverage. Price it against private disability insurance.

Minimum wage and vacation

Quebec’s general minimum wage is $16.60 an hour, in effect since May 1, 2026; it changes each May 1. It applies to workers paid by the piece or by the job too, so a flat rate per clean still has to work out to $16.60 for the hours worked. Employees earn annual vacation: two weeks with a 4% vacation indemnity until three years of service, then three weeks and 6%.

Payroll: QPP, QPIP and EI

Register for a CRA payroll account before your first remittance due date, normally the 15th of the month after you start withholding, and for the equivalent Revenu Québec account. For 2026:

• QPP and QPIP: Quebec employees contribute to the Quebec Pension Plan rather than CPP, and to the Quebec Parental Insurance Plan. Rates and maximums are published by Revenu Québec, and your payroll service applies them.
• EI: because QPIP covers parental benefits, the Quebec EI rate is lower: $1.30 per $100 of insurable earnings from the employee, and 1.4 times that (about $1.82) from you, up to $68,900 (CRA EI rates).

Employee or contractor?

Paying cleaners as contractors doesn’t make them contractors. The CRA’s guide Employee or self-employed? (RC4110) explains that in Quebec the test follows the Civil Code, looking at subordination: who controls the work, the schedule and the method. A cleaner on your schedule, with your supplies, for your clients, is an employee, and the CNESST and Revenu Québec will treat them as one.

How should you set prices around Quebec wages, GST and QST?

Work out what an hour of a cleaner’s time really costs you, then price each job from the hours it takes plus supplies, driving, overhead and profit. At Quebec’s minimum wage, an employee’s hour costs about $17.60 before the employer’s QPP share and CNESST premiums, so your real floor is higher than that.

The pay floor, worked out

Here is the math for one hour at the $16.60 minimum wage, using the 2026 rates above:

Add the employer QPP (6.30%) and QPIP (0.602%) shares (Revenu Québec’s principal changes for 2026) and the Health Services Fund contribution (1.65% for a service business with a payroll of $1 million or less; see Revenu Québec’s rate table), and a minimum-wage hour reaches about $19.05 before your CNESST rate. A three-hour clean then costs roughly $57 in wages and payroll costs before supplies, driving, insurance, software or your profit. Treat it as the floor, not the target.

Adding GST and QST to a price

If you are registered, both taxes go on top of the pre-tax price. A $150 clean carries $150 × 5% = $7.50 of GST and $150 × 9.975% = $14.96 of QST, so the client pays $172.46. Show both lines and both registration numbers on receipts. Say clearly on your website and quotes whether prices include tax, in French. If you are a small supplier and not registered, you charge neither.

Building the price list

The house cleaning pricing guide compares hourly, flat and per-room pricing and shows how to build each one from your costs. The house cleaning price calculator does the math for each home size: enter your Quebec hourly cost and it gives you a flat price list you can publish.

How do you find clients in Quebec and run the bookings in French?

Start with people you know and a free Google Business Profile in French, then add a booking link so strangers can book you without a phone call. Montreal’s July 1 moving day creates a yearly rush of move-out cleans, and condo syndicates are a steady source of common-area work once you can show insurance and a CNESST compliance certificate.

The full playbook for referrals, local partners, flyers and reviews is in how to get clients for a cleaning business. For showing up on Google Maps and search in your city, read cleaning company SEO, and write the French version of each page first, since that is what most of your clients search (“femme de ménage Laval”, “entretien ménager Montréal”).

Running it with Broombook

We make Broombook, a scheduling, online booking and crew app for residential cleaning businesses, so here is how it fits a Quebec business, including what it doesn’t do:

• French booking pages. Clients get an instant price from bedrooms, bathrooms, type of clean and extras, and pick an open time, in French or English. You can limit your service area by distance or postal codes.
• Canadian dollars. Canadian businesses charge clients in CAD through Stripe, by card on file after each clean, or mark cash, cheque or e-transfer at checkout. Broombook takes no cut of payments.
• GST and QST preset. Sales tax is off until you turn it on, so small suppliers don’t charge it by mistake. Pick Quebec and it fills in 5% GST and 9.975% QST, shown on receipts.
• Your crew in their language. Job notes can be translated into French, Spanish or Portuguese for each cleaner, and each cleaner gets a private link with their jobs, checklists and clock in and out, with no app download.
• Payroll export. Hours from clock-ins, tips and commission go into a CSV for your payroll service. Broombook does not calculate QPP, QPIP, EI or income tax deductions.

Broombook is free for an owner with up to 2 cleaners, or $39 a month on Pro for a bigger crew, billed in US dollars, with no credit card to start. See how scheduling works on our cleaning scheduling software page.

Pick something other than Broombook if

• You need jobs and payments to sync into QuickBooks or Acomba automatically. Broombook doesn’t sync with accounting software.
• You bill condo syndicates by invoice with net terms. Broombook charges cards after the job and sends receipts, not invoices.
• You want a native app from the App Store or Google Play. Broombook runs in the phone’s browser.
• You mainly bid on commercial janitorial contracts, or run a multi-trade field service company.

What does it cost to start in Quebec?

A solo cleaner in Quebec can start for the Registraire’s registration fee (or nothing under your own surname and given name), a borough occupancy permit, insurance and supplies. Government fees only grow if you incorporate. Insurance is the biggest unknown, so get quotes before you set your prices.

Government fees below were checked on official pages on October 28, 2026. Rows marked “estimate” are our own rough ranges, not quotes, so replace them with your real numbers.

A realistic minimum for a solo sole proprietor using a business name: the Registraire fee, your borough’s permit, roughly $200 to $500 for supplies (our estimate), and your first insurance payment. Everything else can wait until clients are paying you.