The gig economy in Canada just crossed a threshold worth paying attention to: new research from Employment Hero and Securian Canada finds that roughly 7.3 million Canadians — 22% of all adults — are now doing some form of gig work. Even more striking, the share of participants’ income that comes from gig work has more than doubled in 18 months, from 15% to 38%. If you hire people to clean, fix, move, or maintain things around your home, this shift is already changing who shows up at your door.
The Gig Economy in Canada Is No Longer a Side Story
A few numbers from the Employment Hero report stand out:
- Nearly three-quarters of gig workers also hold a traditional full-time or part-time job. About four million Canadians are moonlighting on top of regular employment.
- Gig income has gone from pocket money to a pillar: 38% of participants’ take-home pay, on average, up from 15% just a year and a half ago.
- One in eight gig workers carries no insurance of any kind, and most of the rest rely on coverage provided by someone else — often a spouse’s or a day job’s plan.
The researchers describe the motivation as shifting from “passion project” to “make-or-break.” With grocery bills, mortgages, and rents where they are in 2026, side work is how a lot of households close the gap.
What This Means for Homeowners
For anyone hiring home services, the boom cuts two ways.
More availability, more flexibility
More people offering services means shorter wait times and more evening and weekend availability — a moonlighting electrician’s apprentice or a weekend house cleaning pro can often take the jobs that established companies won’t schedule for three weeks. Given Canada’s ongoing skilled trades shortage, that extra capacity is genuinely good news for smaller jobs like TV mounting, furniture assembly, junk hauling, and yard work.
But vetting matters more than ever
The flip side: when 22% of adults are doing gig work, the range of skill and professionalism you’ll encounter is wider than it used to be. And that insurance gap is real — if an uninsured worker is injured on your property or damages something, sorting out liability can land on you. We covered how bad actors exploit trusting homeowners in our look at contractor fraud in Canada, and the same defences apply here:
- Ask directly whether the provider carries liability insurance, and for licensed trades (electrical, plumbing, gas), verify the licence — no exceptions.
- Check reviews and completed-job history on the platform you’re booking through, not just a Facebook Marketplace profile.
- Keep payment inside the platform or get a written invoice. Cash-only, off-the-books deals leave you with no recourse.
- Match the job to the worker. A side-hustler is a great fit for assembling a wardrobe; rewiring your panel is not a side hustle.
What It Means for Local Pros
If you’re on the other side of this — offering services — the numbers are a signal that the market is crowding. Standing out in 2026 means doing the things casual gig workers skip: carrying insurance, responding quickly, showing up when you said you would, and building a review history in one place. The report also notes that platforms now report gig income to the CRA, so treating your side work like a real business (records, invoices, declared income) isn’t optional anymore.
For skilled trades especially, the side-hustle wave is a recruiting pipeline: plenty of moonlighters discover the work pays well enough to go full-time, which is exactly what a country short on tradespeople needs.
The Bottom Line
Canada’s gig economy is now structural, not seasonal. For homeowners, that means more choice and faster booking than the classifieds era ever offered — as long as you hire through channels that verify who you’re dealing with. Platforms that check credentials, hold reviews in one place, and keep payments documented turn the gig boom from a gamble into an advantage.
Need a hand around the house? Whether it’s a weekend furniture assembly job or a licensed trade, you can compare vetted local pros and their reviews in one place.
