How to Buy a Franchise in Canada: The Eight Steps

You make contact. Someone calls you back.

This first conversation should be short and should go both ways. A good franchisor is trying to work out whether you are worth spending time on, and you should be doing exactly the same.

What you want to learn: is the territory you care about actually available, what is the realistic capital requirement, and is this a business you would want to run every day.

What they want to learn: do you have the capital, the temperament and the time.

A series of conversations and webinars covering the business model, the economics and the support structure.

The word that matters here is mutual. This is not a sales process with you as the target. It is an evaluation running in both directions, and if it does not feel that way, that is worth noticing.

Most systems lose a significant proportion of candidates here, and that is healthy. People discover they want a business that runs itself, or that they do not want to talk to customers, or that the capital is further away than they thought. Better now than after signing.

A formal application, followed by a criminal background check.

We check every prospective owner, and every craftsman who works in the system. It is a non-starter if it comes back wrong. Homeowners are letting these people into their houses; there is no flexible version of this.

A structured conversation with the operations side of the business — in our case, with Brian Honeyman, our Executive Vice President.

This is where a franchisor probes the things a form cannot capture. Have you managed people before? How do you handle an angry customer? What happens when a craftsman lets you down on a Friday afternoon?

The trait that correlates most strongly with success, in our experience, is having had ten to twenty people working for you before. Not trade skills. Leadership.

Historically an in-person visit; now frequently a video session. Ours is roughly four hours with the CEO, the VP of Marketing, the VP of Operations and the technology lead.

Come with questions. The best candidates arrive with a written list and work through it. The ones who ask nothing are usually the ones who withdraw later.

Questions worth bringing:

• How many units opened and how many closed in the last three years?
• What does the first twelve months of revenue realistically look like?
• What is the split between corporate and local marketing?
• Which territories are genuinely available, and which are “available” but weak?
• What happens if I want to sell in five years?

There are fifteen questions worth working through before this meeting, with what a good and a bad answer sounds like for each.

In the seven provinces with franchise legislation — Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and, since 30 June 2026, Saskatchewan — the franchisor must give you a compliant Franchise Disclosure Document at least 14 days before you sign anything or pay anything.

Use those 14 days properly. They are the most protective fortnight in the entire process.

Take it to a franchise lawyer. Not your family solicitor. Someone who reads these for a living.

Take it to an accountant. Particularly the fee structure and anything resembling a financial performance representation.

Make the validation calls. You should receive a list of existing franchisees and be free to call any of them. When we hand over that list it includes successful, happy owners and grumpier ones, and candidates are told to talk to both. A franchisor who selects your references for you has told you something important.

If the disclosure document is non-compliant, you generally have 60 days from receiving it to rescind. If you were never given one, that extends to two years. What sits inside the document, section by section, is covered separately.

Most buyers use a combination: personal capital, a bank loan — frequently through the Canada Small Business Financing Program — and sometimes a vendor or family arrangement.

Two things worth knowing. Franchises are generally easier to finance than independent start-ups, because the lender can assess an established system rather than an untested idea. And since the 2022 modernisation, franchise fees are eligible intangible assets under the CSBFP, within a $150,000 sub-limit.

Lenders will want a business plan, and a good franchisor will help you build it — though it helps to understand the financing routes available in Canada before that conversation.

For us: five weeks of structured at-home training by webinar and conference call, then five days in person at an operating office, then launch. Around eight weeks from signing to operating.

You are not idle during that period. You are recruiting craftsmen, setting up your office, arranging insurance and starting local marketing. The training runs alongside the setup, not before it.

Three to four months end to end is normal. Faster than that usually means a step was skipped.

Rushing the 14 days. It is a floor, not a target. Take longer if you need it.

Only calling the referred franchisees. Call the ones nobody suggested.

Underestimating working capital. The business will not pay you properly in month two.

Buying the category they like rather than the job they want. You will spend your days managing people and customers, not doing the thing the brand is known for.

Assuming leads will arrive. See step 6, and ask the marketing split question directly.

If you want to know what is available before you start, the current territory list is the place to look.