There are several legitimate ways you can make money without leaving your home in Canada. In fact, more and more Canadians are making extra income each month since working from home has become more of the norm.
No longer having to commute has opened up so many more free hours and that means more opportunity to make money.
Be warned, you won’t see surveys or mystery shopping ideas on this list. Those are terrible ways to make money online, as the payouts are so little in comparison to your time spent.
Here are some legit ways you can make money from home in Canada, and you can even expect to make up to an additional $1000 per month if you don’t limit yourself.
Think I’m full of it? I recently quit my cushy government job of 10 years to go full-time into making money online – because the money I earn online is more than double than what I made in the corporate world.
Here are the best ways to make money online in Canada.
Remember, I’m not recommending anything that isn’t legitimate. Almost everything on this list is something I’ve done in the past, or continue to make money from.
This post contains affiliate links, meaning if you click through and make a purchase I may make a small commission. I only share information about things I know, love and trust!
Start a Blog
This work from home income stream is the most laborious, but it’s also the most lucrative. There is plenty of room for more new blogs, and earning an income from blogging is going nowhere, so you might as well start now!
If you have a topic that you’re passionate about or knowledgeable in – you can start a blog.
This can be food/recipes, travel, parenting, immigrating to Canada, lawn maintenance, crafting, outfit styling, anything.
If you think you could write 20 pieces of content about something you love or know a lot about, you should start a blog.
Trust me, the hardest part is choosing your topic. Once you’ve made your decision, you can have a blog up and running within a couple of hours.
In full transparency, you won’t make money overnight, or in a few weeks.
But if you’re serious about it, you can expect to be making hundreds of dollars per month after the 6-8 month mark. The best part? When the money does start rolling in, it’s largely passive income at that point.
Be a Ghostwriter for Twitter
Many companies use Twitter to heavily market their products and services. But coming up with several tweets a day is almost a full time job in itself.
Use copywriting software like Jasper.ai and you can come up with a month’s worth of tweets in under one hour.
Record Audio Books on Amazon
Audiobooks become more and more popular everyday. New titles are being added to the Amazon inventory all the time, and anyone can apply to record the voice for the audiobook.
Most authors pay anywhere from $40 to $100 per completed hour of recorded audio. Or some also choose to pay via book royalties.
Visit the ACX website to start browsing over 2000 titles that need narrators.
You may want to sign up for an audible trial first to see how things sound and what to expect.
Create User Generated Content
User Generated Content (UGC) is one of the fasted growing ways to make money from home. And the best part is that you don’t need any online social media following.
By developed UGC, you can immediately start making money online without building up an audience.
Start a Youtube Channel
Similar to blogging, if you start a YouTube channel with the intention to monetize it and start earning passive income, it won’t happen overnight.
However, the barrier to entry with a YouTube channel is lower than blogging.
If you have a smart phone with a decent camera, you can easily start a YouTube channel – you really don’t need any type of fancy equipment to get started.
To start making income online using YouTube, you need to get 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time. At this point you will start receiving a cut of the advertising revenue.
If you’re Canadian, starting a YouTube channel is a great idea. People love our accents, think we’re friendly and we have a great sense of humour. This is the perfect recipe for a channel.
Buy a YouTube Channel
You can run an income making YouTube channel without ever having to edit videos.
There are thousands of YouTube channels that are underperforming and making no money.
Search for channels that have a good amount of videos but very few views. Then revise all the titles and thumbnails for each video and watch the views roll in.
Get yourself a product like VidIQ to help you search for target keywords, and then use those keywords to create catchy and intriguing titles.
Work for Other YouTube Channels
Do you have skills or an interest in video production?
There are hundreds of jobs available on YT Jobs.
You can get hired to work remotely for other YouTube content creators if you have any of the following skills:
- Video editing
- Scriptwriting
- Thumbnail Design
- Channel manager
- Sponsorship outreach
Many of these jobs are either salaried ranging from $50,000 to over $90,000 per year, or pay a a competitive hourly rate.
Stream on Twitch
Twitch is a live streaming platform. Think of it like YouTube, but live channels only.
It’s primarily a video game streaming website, however, in recent years they’ve expanded categories to include cooking, fitness, travel, gardening, tech, art, music and much more.
So, if you play video games anyways, you can stream them and make a few extra dollars.
I stream my workouts and travel content on Twitch and make a few hundred dollars per month by stream a few hours each week.
You can make money on Twitch when people ‘subscribe’ to your channel for a few dollars each month.
When they subscribe, the don’t see ads and they get to use your channel’s personalized ‘emotes’ (Twitch’s version of emojis). Views can also tip streamers a few dollars here and there, and you can even make money through affiliate marketing.
You can recommend products or services to your viewers and if they make a purchase through your links, you will make a commission.
Streaming on Twitch is one of the quickest ways to make money from home because, in comparison to YouTube (or even blogging) no editing or post production is required, because it’s all live.
Rent Your Stuff
You can make extra money on the side without doing anything!
Visit FriendWithA (friend with a) and start listing items to rent out to people. It’s a peer to peer rental marketplace.
You can list items like bicycles, SUP boards, musical instruments, clothing, cameras, drones, tools, sports equipment and more.
Use my referral code to get $10 towards your first transaction.
P.S. – using this website as a renter is a great way to SAVE money, especially for home renovation projects or renting items when you’re traveling.
Become a Virtual Assistant
Virtual Assistants are on the rise as one of the most in-demand online jobs. Canadians are a hot commodity because many companies and employers are seeking native English speakers as well as those within a North American time zone.
A virtual assistant is exactly what it sounds like. Someone in this role performs administrative tasks for an online business.
Do you have a certain skillset that can be performed online? If so, many Virtual Assistants charge $40-50 per hour, so this is a fantastic ways to start earning money from home immediately.
Here are some examples of skills employers are looking for in a Virtual Assistant:
- Bookkeeping
- Social media marketing
- Graphic design
- Editing
- Scheduling
- Photoshop
- Transcribing
- Data entry
- Much more
UpWork is one of the largest platforms for freelance services to get started on.
Professional Dog Walker
Have you heard of Rover? This Canadian app connects you with pet parents who need dog walking and pet sitting services.
You can sign up and earn money by taking neighborhood dogs for walks, run a ‘doggy day care’ in your home or offer drop-in visits.
You can make up to $40 per walk and even more if you offer boarding/pet-sitting services.
Dog walking and pet-sitting services is one of the fastest ways to earn money, as you get paid 2 days after the service is complete.
Sign up for Rover here.
Teach English Online
The need for online English teachers continues to grow, and Canadians are a prime target because native English speakers are always in demand.
There are a few platforms out there, but VIPKid is one of the largest online English education spaces, with more than one million students around the world.
According to VIPKid, the number of students continues to grow, and therefore demand for teachers will too.
There are a few requirements to be accepted, and the biggest one is that you need to have a 4-year Bachelor’s Degree from a University. However, it doesn’t matter what field it’s in.
Learn more about VIPKid here.
Sell Digital Products Online
Are you savvy in graphic design? Or maybe you’re just organized and like doodling – you can create digital products and sell them online.
Here are some ideas:
- Journal templates
- Photo presets
- Infographic templates
Become a Search Engine Evaluator
Search Engine Evaluators are real people who review and provide feedback about how accurate and relevant search engine results are.
Evaluators must speak fluent English, and you can work up to 20 hours per week earning an average of $16 per hour. Companies like Lionbridge post Search Engine Evaluators.
Write on Medium
If you enjoy writing or story telling, you can publish your work on Medium.com and get paid for it!
How much you make depends on how many people read your work, how long they read for, and how many free accounts you convert to paid accounts.
The average writer can expect to make about $50 per month, but once you publish your articles, it’s passive income.
And of course, the more work you publish and the better it is, the more money you’ll make.
Become a Professional Proofreader
Do you have an eye for grammar? If so, you can get paid to proofread online, from the comfort of your home. This is one of the best online jobs, especially if you’re an introvert!
Proofread Anywhere is one of the best courses you can take to get started.
In this course you will quickly learn skills you need to become a professional proofreader as well as how to start finding jobs and making a career out of proofreading from anywhere! Depending on how much your work, you can make thousands of dollars per year.
Take Caitlin’s course and learn how she made over $40,000 one year proofreading part-time from the comfort of her home.
Transcribe Services
Another great way to make money online is by providing transcribing services.
Transcriptionists can make anywhere from $15 – 25 per hour, all while enjoying the freedom to work your own hours and at your own pace.
With video media becoming more and more popular, the need for transcription services is more than ever.
I recommend taking a quick course that will show you how to be a proficient transcriptionist so you can score higher paying jobs.
Transcribe Anywhere offers the highest rated courses online, and specializes in legal and medical transcription skills, which pay the highest rates.
Rent out Your Parking Space
If you have a parking space that goes unused you can rent it out on Spot Hero and make money by doing nothing!
This can be especially lucrative if you live in high traffic area or close to a place that hosts events.