These guides are written so that an Ontario owner can do real planning work in an evening, with nothing more than last year's numbers and an honest look at the business. Each one is long enough to be useful on its own, with worked examples, checklists and templates. If you want help after reading, the relevant service is linked at the end of each guide, but you don't need us to put them to work.
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Choosing your next Ontario market: a scoring method
Before you expand to a second Ontario city, score the candidates on five factors, test the winner with a capped budget, and decide on the results. This guide shows how, with a worked example.
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Marketing rules every Ontario business owner should know
Three federal rule sets shape how Ontario businesses can market: anti-spam law, privacy law and the Competition Act. Here is what each covers, where to read the official text, and the habits that keep you on the right side of them.
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How to write a one-page growth plan for your Ontario business
You can write a useful growth plan in an afternoon with last year's numbers. This guide walks through the six steps we use, with a worked example and a blank template.
How to write a one-page growth plan
This guide turns last year's numbers into a plan that fits on one sheet. It walks through six steps: split revenue by line, work out margin and owner time per line, find where your best customers are, choose three to five targets, schedule the actions by quarter, and set a monthly review.
What you'll learn:
- how to calculate margin per owner hour, the number that most often changes an owner's priorities
- the difference between a weak target ("grow sales") and a strong one (a number, a line, a place and a date)
- why every good plan includes at least one thing you'll stop or shrink
- a fill-in-the-blanks template you can copy
The worked example uses a fictional Ottawa-area interiors firm, and the arithmetic is shown so you can check it. Read How to write a one-page growth plan.
Marketing rules every Ontario owner should know
This guide explains the three federal rule sets that most often catch growing businesses out. It covers anti-spam law for emails and texts, federal privacy law for customer data, and the Competition Act's rules on misleading advertising, including drip pricing and environmental claims. It also points to Ontario's own consumer protection resource.
What you'll learn:
- what a commercial electronic message needs before you send it
- why PIPEDA matters if you serve customers in Quebec or BC, or store data outside Canada
- how the 2026 changes to the environmental-claims provisions affect what you can say about "green" products
- an eight-question checklist to run before any campaign goes live
Every rule is linked to its official source and dated, and the guide is clear that it isn't legal advice. Read Marketing rules every Ontario owner should know.
Choosing your next Ontario market
This guide helps you decide where to expand, and whether to expand at all. It sets out a five-factor scoring method, demand size, buyer fit, reach, competition and existing signal, then shows how to design a capped 60- to 90-day test with go and stop thresholds agreed in advance.
What you'll learn:
- the three checks to pass before you consider any expansion
- how to use free census data on population and housing to compare Ontario towns
- why the closest or biggest market isn't always the right next step
- the Ontario-specific factors people forget, from rush-hour drive times to seasonal towns and two-tier regional governments
The worked example compares Cambridge, Guelph and Waterloo for a Kitchener business, with real 2021 census figures and the scoring shown in full. Read Choosing your next Ontario market.
How the guides connect to our services
Each guide maps to a service, if you want help putting it into practice.
| Guide | Related service |
|---|---|
| One-page growth plan | Growth diagnosis and 12-month plan |
| Marketing rules | Local search and marketing and website and conversion |
| Choosing your next market | Second-market expansion |
You can also see how the planning differs across the province on the areas page, and what each format costs on the pricing page.
A note on sources and dates
Where a guide cites a law, program or statistic, it links the official source and lists it with a date. Census figures come from Statistics Canada's 2021 Census Profile. Federal rules come from the CRTC, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner and the Competition Bureau. Rules and programs change, so confirm current details with the official source. If something looks out of date, call, text or email and let us know; you'll find the details on the contact page.
Frequently asked questions
Are these guides really free to use?
Yes. Read them, copy the templates and use them in your business. They're written so an owner can act on them without hiring anyone.
Do the guides give legal or tax advice?
No. The marketing rules guide summarises official federal and provincial sources and links to them, but it isn't legal advice. For your own situation, speak with an Ontario lawyer or CPA.
Which guide should I read first?
Start with the one-page growth plan. It forces the questions every other decision depends on: what makes you money, where your best customers are, and what you'll stop doing.
How often are the guides updated?
We review them when official sources change, and each guide shows its last updated date. Rules and programs change, so always confirm details with the official source before relying on them.