50 Side Hustle Ideas to Make Money in 2025

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1. Rideshare Driving

Thousands of Canadians do side work as rideshare drivers for Uber or Lyft. If you own a vehicle and enjoy driving, it’s an easy way to bring in extra cash while working when you want. However, some Canadian cities prohibit ridesharing, so check with your municipal government to see if you can and what’s required to become a rideshare driver.

2. Food Delivery Driving

If being a ridesharing driver carting people here and there isn’t an option but you enjoy driving, delivering food from Instacart, Skip, DoorDash, and fast-food restaurants or grocery stores to people might appeal to you. Furthermore, food delivery has been a mainstay in society for decades, and you can extend your services by delivering medical prescriptions from pharmacies to residents.

3. Junk Removal Service

If you own a pickup truck, hauling junk, trash, and discarded items from homes, offices, or construction sites may not be glamorous, but it can be profitable. Hauling away unwanted items for others and sparing them the hassle of doing it can provide you with a steady part-time income. In some cases, you may be able to refurbish and sell what your customers regard as trash to earn a few extra bucks.

4. Snow Removal Service

Another option for pickup truck owners to consider in the wintertime is offering snowplowing and snow removal services. Investing in a snowplow that can be attached to your pickup is necessary, but depending on where in Canada you live, it can be a lucrative gig. In the summer months, you can pivot to offer lawn care services.

5. Virtual Assistant

Virtual assistants are independent, self-employed contractors who typically work out of their homes, providing their clients with administrative, customer service, technical, and other support services remotely. You’ll need a high-quality laptop, mobile phone, and internet access. Still, there’s always demand for professional problem solvers who can help businesses manage many essential tasks to keep their clients’ businesses running smoothly.

6. AI Consulting

If you’re tech-savvy and know how to effectively use artificial intelligence (AI) tools for more than content generation, working as a freelance AI consultant for businesses that want to learn how to safely and effectively use AI to achieve their goals is in high demand. Showing business owners how to leverage AI for deeper insights, data analysis, automating some operations, and enhancing how their employees work could lead to more than occasional gig work.

7. SEO Consulting

SEO (search engine optimization) consultants help their clients improve their website’s visibility on search engines like Google and Bing. They perform audits of websites to analyze their speed and mobile adaptability, conduct keyword research to identify what their clients’ customers are looking for online, and build quality backlinks

8. Graphic Design Freelancing

Yes, artificial intelligence (AI) platforms can help people with no artistic or graphic skills produce some flashy images, but when a business owner wants a unique, professionally designed logo, flyer, advertisement, document, or digital content to use online, hiring a skilled freelance graphic designer can’t be beaten. Using a site like Fiverr, you can solicit your services locally to business owners and others worldwide.

9. Dog Walking

Initially, it might seem doggone funny, but if you love dogs, being a professional dog walker can be lucrative and is often in high demand. Dog walkers are paid to take other people’s dogs on outdoor escapades and provide companionship for a set period. They ensure the animals get fresh air, exercise and socialize with other dogs and people.

10. Pet Sitting

Maybe you’re not a ‘dog person’, but you love other furry creatures like cats. Pet sitting other people’s cats, feathered, or finned friends may be the side gig for you. You could expand your services into a pet daycare.

11. Animal Grooming

Animal or pet groomers maintain an animal’s hygiene and overall appearance. Their services involve bathing, brushing, trimming nails, haircutting, and cleaning a pet’s ears. It’s a service commonly offered for dogs.

12. House Cleaning

There’s no shortage of demand for those with an eye for keeping things neat and tidy. Working part-time as a professional cleaner servicing residential and commercial customers by maintaining the cleanliness of their interior properties – scouring bathroom fixtures, cleaning kitchen surfaces, vacuuming and mopping floors, dusting furniture, polishing shelves and picture frames – can lead to a steady stream of income and repeat customers.

13. Commercial and Office Cleaning

Cleaning offices, retail stores, and other commercial establishments after hours can also provide a steady income. Offering your services to clean up employee breakrooms, bathrooms, and retail display areas at businesses or to property management companies to clean apartment complexes is always in demand.

14. Niche Cleaning Services

Specializing in a specific type of professional cleaning side hustle is also worthwhile. For example, carpet and upholstery cleaning, window cleaning, or pressure washing driveways, home or building siding, patios and decks, and fences.

15. Car Washing and Detailing

If you love automobiles and have a passion for making them sparkle inside and out, you could offer hand-washing and auto detailing services to vehicle owners in your community at a fixed location (like your home) or by visiting their properties.

16. Handyman, Handywoman, or Handyperson

Odd-jobber, jack or jill of all trades, or handyperson; if you’ve got the skills and tools to do domestic repairs, maintenance, and minor renovations for homeowners or landlords, you can earn a pretty penny on the side. Homeowners will always seek help from qualified help to do fixes and renovations to improve their living environments.

17. Outdoor Property Repairs

Whether for residential or commercial customers, offering exterior repair services can line your pockets with extra income. There are many types of repair jobs to tackle, such as offering backyard or patio deck repairs, fixing fences and gates, cleaning and fixing gutters and eavestroughs, or providing garage installations like installing shelves, hooks, and panels inside an auto garage.

18. Restore Furniture

Furniture upcycling – refurbishing, restoring, and selling older or used furniture – is another way to make a good buck on the side. If you possess the skills and tools to take a piece of furniture that’s been discarded or appears to be worn out and beyond repair and transform it into something beautiful and valuable again, it’s a great avenue to earn money. It also may help reduce the amount of furniture that otherwise may be destined for a trash dump. 

19. Bike Repair

If you’re handy with tools and know your way around a bicycle, a side gig as an independent bike repair technician or working part-time in a bike repair shop can be satisfying and financially rewarding. You’ll be helping people keep their two-wheelers on the road while fixing up unwanted bikes for resale. Also, it’s fun!

20. Fitness Instructor

Are you in good shape and love to exercise? People striving to improve their physical health and achieve fitness goals often turn to fitness instructors or personal trainers to help them transform their lives and bodies. Whether you offer fitness instruction in person, online, or both, it can be a rewarding side gig, and you get to work out with others regularly.

21. Yoga Instructor

Yoga’s popularity has surged among health-conscious Canadians due to a growing awareness of its mental and physical benefits.  

Yoga instructors or practitioners lead classes and sessions in person and online that guide individuals toward improved physical, mental, and spiritual well-being.

22. Meditation Instructor

Meditation instructors lead individuals and groups in meditation practices to enhance mental clarity, emotional stability, and overall well-being.

They create a calm environment conducive to relaxation, self-reflection, and a feeling of Zen, and teach meditation techniques to suit individual needs.

23. Selling products on Amazon or Etsy

Selling products online is a straightforward way to make a few extra bucks, and using third-party marketplaces like Facebook Marketplace, Amazon, eBay, Temu, and Etsy makes it easy to find customers. Whether you make custom-designed products or simply sell unique items you find and resell, it can be a fun and easy way to bring home the bacon.

24. Custom T-Shirt Designing

Everyone has t-shirts in their clothing drawers, but not everyone has original, attention-grabbing t-shirts. If you have design skills and a vision for coming up with funny, cool, or stylish designs for t-shirts, making custom t-shirts to sell online and offline is a great way to pad your income.

25. Mystery Shopper

Many retailers hire mystery shoppers to pose as real customers wandering around their shops, pretending to browse goods. These mystery shoppers can serve two purposes: as undercover store detectives to watch for shoplifters and evaluate a store’s cleanliness and the quality of customer service the retailer’s employees provide. It’s a simple way to earn extra cash and help a retailer improve customer service and prevent theft.

26. Security Guard

Working as an occasional or part-time security guard in retail stores, construction sites, office buildings, condominiums, and public gatherings can provide a steady income with flexible hours. It doesn’t require much technical knowledge, but it requires being visible, observing and reporting on events, or resolving conflicts between others.  

27. Short-Term Property Rentals on Airbnb or VRBO

Instead of going to where your customers are, you could have them come to you by offering short-term rentals of your house or a room to vacationers or community visitors. 

It’s easy to advertise your short-term rental on home-sharing websites like Airbnb and VRBO, and according to data, an Airbnb or VRBO host earns an average revenue per guest of around $366. That’s not too bad!

28. Landlord

If you’re looking to earn extra income without leaving home and have a dwelling ideal for housing tenants, being a landlord might be for you. 

It takes work, of course, but if you have a basement apartment, room in your house, or a secondary property like a condo, leasing or renting a living space to students or working professionals is a terrific money-making venture (and you’ll be providing people with a comfortable place to live). 

29. Property Management Services

Another excellent side hustle or second source of income is that of a property manager. They manage rental properties on behalf of owners from residential homes to apartments or vacation rentals. 

They oversee daily operations of properties, maintaining them, conducting inspections, screening potential tenants, and handling tenant or guest relations.

30. Trivia Host

Are you a gamer? Do you love board games and trivia? Set yourself up as a trivia and games host at local pubs and community centres. 

Trivia hosts can also work private parties and special events by offering customized games and trivia contests. If you’re comfortable speaking in front of groups of people and have a knack for socializing as a host of an event, it’s a fun and easy way to bring in extra money.

31. Event Planner or Coordinator

Another great side hustle idea is offering your services as an event planner or coordinator to help people plan, organize, and host parties and events. 

It can also be a lucrative job, since most folks who hire event planners have the budget to do so. It’s a lot of work and requires creativity. But if you love socializing and being the architect of memorable events that others enjoy, there’s an opportunity to get new clients consistently.

32. Restaurant Hosting

Scoring a part-time side job as a restaurant host or hostess is an easy way to earn more and in a busy but fun working environment. 

Taking reservations, welcoming diners to the venue and seating them, organizing the seating chart, handling wait lists and coordinating with servers, bus and kitchen staff to ensure the dining room runs smoothly is an important role. 

You might even earn tips from customers or get a free meal once in a while.

33. Disc Jockey (DJ)

No party or social gathering is complete without music, and everyone loves a disc jockey (DJ). 

So if you’ve got a diverse and large music collection, the lights, speakers, and equipment to get everybody in the house up and dancing while creating a fun atmosphere for your clients, being a part-time or occasional DJ can reap rewards. 

You can solicit your services for weddings, corporate events, and bars and restaurants looking to make their venues hot destinations on weekends.

34. Food Truck Operator

The food truck industry is a growing sector with increasing popularity and revenue, offering a creative and dynamic opportunity for those who have a flair for cooking and want to be their own boss.

The food you offer should be portable, handheld, and easy to eat on the run. You’ll need to determine what cuisine to offer that has mass appeal.

35. Teaching Art or Music Lessons

If you’re the artistic or creative type with the skills to paint, sculpt, or play a musical instrument, you could share your love for the arts by teaching youngsters and adults how to do what comes to you naturally. For example, if you’re musically inclined, offer private lessons on learning to play a musical instrument or give singing lessons.

36. Teaching Assistant

For the academically minded, there are always opportunities to work as a teaching assistant to secondary and post-secondary students who need help reaching their academic goals. Some teaching assistants also support classroom teachers with grading, organizing teaching materials, and leading study groups.

37. Private Tutoring

Are you enthusiastic about education and have experience and knowledge to share? A side gig working as a private tutor to students of different ages with academic instruction and support can reap rewards.

There are many different types of tutors – math, English, science – and they have autonomy on what students to assist, and when and where to work.

38. Proofreading and Essay Writing

Digital content and word processing platforms like Office 365 or Google Docs typically include spelling and grammar-checking features, but these tools aren’t flawless. 

If you’ve got experience and knowledge in producing and reviewing written content, offering your services for hire as a proofreader can be a great way to make extra funds. 

Specializing in a particular proofreading field can help you stand out. For instance, if you live in a city with a university or college, you could promote your services locally to students seeking help reviewing and improving their essays and project assignments.

39. Social Media Manager

If you have experience in digital marketing and communications, you could moonlight as a freelance social media coordinator or offer your services as one part-time to businesses that don’t have an employee or team dedicated to the role. You could promote your services independently and through platforms such as Upwork to make extra money while helping organizations increase their brand awareness.

40. Podcasting

If you love broadcasting and interviewing subject matter experts on different topics, podcasting can be a way to make money through advertising or being paid directly by clients to produce an episode that features them. 

You’ll need to be digitally savvy, have a quality laptop and USB plugin microphone, and use a podcasting platform to produce episodes (there are plenty of affordable podcasting platforms available), but the money is there for the taking. Data from Statista shows Canada has a high podcast listenership, and the podcast advertising market in this country is projected to be worth more than US$67 million in 2024.

41. Freelance Writing and Editing

If writing and editing content is more to your liking and experience, freelance writing for various clients to produce original, uniquely crafted content (blogs, advertisements, social media posts, ghostwriting articles) is a viable side job, even in the age of generative AI.  Use your professional network to solicit your services, find jobs, and use platforms like Fiverr and Upwork to attract clients.

42. Photographer or Videographer

If you’ve got an eye for taking great photos or producing videos and have the equipment and expertise, offering your services on the side can be profitable. 

What’s great about photography and videography work is the wide range of jobs you can get – weddings, corporate events, real estate, portraits, landscape shots, product photography or videography.

43. Social Influencer

Social influencers are experts at sharing engaging content across social media networks, typically focusing on a specific industry, like fashion, health, gaming, or lifestyle.

If you’ve got a large following on social networks like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube, and can influence your followers’ purchasing decisions through curated and engaging original content, you can monetize your efforts through sponsored posts, brand partnerships, and hosting events.

44. Craft Fair Vendor

If you create unique handmade items, gifts, artwork or homemade foods, selling your merchandise at local street festivals, craft fairs, and farmers’ markets seasonally or throughout the year may be for you. It can be a worthwhile part-time venture or something you do occasionally on weekends.

45. Parking Attendant

Another part-time or side job role could be managing parking lots, parking garages, and assisting motorists with parking and payment. Whether in an established parking garage or a temporary site for special events (like lots near concerts and sporting venues), it’s an easy way to help people safely park their vehicles while picking up a few dollars.

46. House Sitting

A trustworthy person may be needed to look after someone’s home while they are away on holiday or out of town for a few days. This person can ensure that the home is secure, collect mail and deliveries, and call for help if there is an unexpected problem, such as a burst water pipe.

There are even online platforms you can join to offer your services, like TrustedHousesitters, that allow homeowners with pets to hire a house sitter to stay in their digs and care for their dwellings and their animals.

47. Garage Sale Organizer

Another low-stress but worthwhile side hustle to explore is that of a garage sale organizer to help homeowners who want to sell items they no longer want but may be of value to others organize and run garage sales, yard sales, or estate and moving sales. 

You’ll need to help homeowners prepare for and decide what to sell, set up display tables, price items, and tackle the marketing of an upcoming sale online and in the local community. You can also run the sale and clean up afterwards. It can be lucrative. You can charge a flat rate for your services or a percentage of sales commission fee.

48. Seasonal Worker

Taking on seasonal jobs is a time-honoured tradition for many hard-working people and students home from school for a few weeks. Plus, there are plenty of opportunities to earn extra money throughout the year, such as working at a Christmas tree lot, a boutique pop-up shop during the festive season or in the runup to Halloween, or at an amusement park in the summertime.

49. Business Consultant

You don’t have to be an AI expert to get hired as a business consultant. With your knowledge, experience, and expertise in practically any field or industry, you can launch your side hustle as a consultant for hire.

50. Translator

Yes, we have Google Translate and other digital tools to help us translate text in different languages into one we understand, but these tools are no comparison to the knowledge and experience of a bilingual or multilingual human being.

Translators or language interpreters are always in demand, especially in Canada, which has two official languages (English and French) and a thriving multicultural community. You can find ample work with companies, community groups, and government agencies independently, or you can work part-time for a translation agency.

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