Guide series · Building in Canada
The Canadian
Founder Maze
A practical guide to registration, tax, CRA accounts, GST/HST, funding, grants, and government programs — and plain-spoken survival — for founders building in Canada.
The guide at a glance
Programs, amounts, and deadlines change constantly — always confirm the fine print on the official source linked in each guide. Education, not investment, legal, tax, or immigration advice.
The Founder Maze Kit · 6 checklists · 8 sources
The route — six stops, all live.
Tick things off inside any checklist article — progress saves in your browser, and every worksheet prints clean. Verified June 2026.
Set Up
Structure, registration, and banking — what you’re legally creating.
Enter →023 liveCRA & Tax
Business numbers, GST/HST, payroll, and the first-year tax calendar.
Enter →034 liveFunding & Programs
Grants, loans, tax credits, R&D support, and accelerators.
Enter →044 liveHiring & People
Contractor vs employee, offers, hiring, and ending it right.
Enter →053 liveGovernment & Institutions
How Canadian institutions buy, fund, and pilot innovation.
Enter →062 liveImmigrant Founder
A lens over every stage — what changes with your status.
Enter →Begin here
Where are you,
right now?
Pick the line that sounds like your week. We’ll point you to the right stop to start.
The guide, stage by stage
Six stops, from first registration to belonging.
Every stop is live, and every guide carries its reading time and links its official sources. Work the maze in order, or drop in at the stop that’s blocking you today.
Stand it up
Set Up
Choose your business structure, register properly, open the right bank account, and understand what you are legally creating before you start operating.
Sole Proprietorship vs Corporation in Canada
The real trade-offs — liability, tax, cost, and credibility — and how to choose before you start operating.
Business Banking & Credit
Open the right account, keep money separate, and build credit from zero.
How to Register a Business in Canada
Names, registrations, and the federal-vs-provincial fork, step by step.
Starting a Business in B.C.
The B.C.-specific path: registry, PST, WorkSafeBC, and local permits.
CRA & Tax
Business numbers, CRA program accounts, GST/HST, payroll, bookkeeping, and the tax calendar — before the paperwork starts chasing you.
Business Number, CRA Program Accounts, GST/HST, and Payroll Explained
What a BN is, which CRA program accounts you actually need, and how they fit together.
GST/HST for New Founders
When you must register, when you shouldn't yet, input tax credits, and the filing rhythm.
First-Year Tax Calendar for Canadian Founders
Every deadline that will otherwise chase you — instalments, remittances, returns.
Fuel the build
Funding & Programs
Grants, loans, tax credits, accelerators, R&D support, and founder programs — without weeks lost in the wrong portals.
The Founder's Field Guide
StormIt's running map of the grants, accelerators, compute credits, and pathways Canadian founders actually use.
Grants vs Loans vs Tax Credits vs Equity
The four money shapes, what each really costs, and which fits your stage.
SR&ED, IRAP, Mitacs, and R&D Funding in Canada
Canada's R&D support stack — eligibility, how they stack, and where founders leave money on the table.
How to Use Canada's Business Benefits Finder
Turn the official firehose into a short, ranked list without losing a weekend in portals.
Hiring & People
Bring people on without stepping on a legal landmine — employee versus contractor, the offer letter, hiring properly, and ending employment the right way.
Contractors vs Employees
How the CRA decides, what misclassification costs the payer, the personal services business trap, and how to get it right.
Hiring Your First Employee in Canada
Confirming employee status, the offer letter, payroll and WorkSafeBC registration, first-day paperwork, and the B.C. minimums you must meet.
Offer Letters & Employment Agreements
What to put in writing, the termination clause that decides everything, signing before the start date, and why US templates are dangerous.
Terminating an Employee in Canada
Notice and pay, with vs without cause, final wages, the ROE, and the bad-faith and layoff mistakes that cost founders.
Sell & belong
Government & Institutions
How Canadian institutions buy, fund, pilot, evaluate, and support innovation.
Selling to Government in Canada
How public buyers actually buy — registration, thresholds, and the unglamorous paperwork that wins.
How Procurement Works for Small Businesses
CanadaBuys, set-asides, and the realistic on-ramps for a small or new vendor.
DND IDEaS and Innovation Challenges Explained
Challenge-based programs that fund pilots and proofs — what they want and how to respond.
If you're an immigrant founder
A lens that sits over every stage — what changes with your immigration status, what doesn't, and the owning-versus-working distinction that catches founders out.
Immigrant Founder in Canada: What Changes, What Doesn't, and What Nobody Explains
Building without an inherited network or a familiar institutional map — the parts no guide states plainly.
How New Canadian Founders Build Trust Without a Local Network
Concrete ways to earn credibility — references, proof, and the doors that open others.
Verification · reviewed June 2026
The official sources behind every guide.
Eight primary sources sit under this maze. Every guide links back to them — and to your province, where the registrations actually happen.
Programs, amounts, and deadlines change constantly — always confirm the fine print on the official source linked in each guide. Education, not investment, legal, tax, or immigration advice.
StormIt maps the founder maze the way it’s actually walked — Canada-first, source-checked, and honest about the paperwork nobody warns you about.
Education — not investment, legal, tax, or immigration advice. Every guide links its official sources and shows its own review date.