How do you incorporate a personal services, maintenance or other services business in Quebec?
You form a business corporation, then declare the CAE code of your main activity, chosen among the 36 codes for personal services (9711 to 9799) and other services (9911 to 9999).
Hair salon, dry cleaner, housecleaning business, shoe repair, funeral home, equipment rental, photography, welding, pest control, travel agency or parking: incorporation follows the same steps as for any other business. What is specific to your activity is the economic activity code (CAE) you enter in the corporation’s initial declaration.
For the rest of the process:
- the incorporation steps;
- the cost of incorporating;
- the right time to incorporate;
- choosing a legal structure;
- after incorporation, your GST and QST numbers.
Which CAE code fits a personal services business?
The “Personal services and maintenance” sector has 18 CAE codes, from 9711 to 9799: personal care, laundry and dry cleaning, funeral services, shoe repair and other personal and household services.
The codes fall into these groups:
- 9711 to 9715: hairdressing, beauty, personal care and tanning;
- 9721 to 9729: laundry, dry cleaning, garment care, linen and carpets;
- 9731 to 9732: funeral homes, cemeteries and crematoriums;
- 9741: exact label “Ménages” (households);
- 9791 to 9799: shoe repair, furs and other personal and household services.
Here are all 18 codes, with the exact labels of the Registraire des entreprises:
| Code | Official label (French, as filed with the Registrar) | In English |
|---|---|---|
| 9711 | Salons de coiffure pour hommes | Men’s hair salons (barbershops) |
| 9712 | Salons de beauté pour femmes | Women’s beauty salons |
| 9713 | Salons de coiffure et de beauté pour hommes et femmes | Unisex hair and beauty salons |
| 9714 | Autres services de soins personnels | Other personal care services |
| 9715 | Vente de services de bronzage artificiel | Sale of artificial tanning services |
| 9721 | Blanchissage ou nettoyage à sec mécanisés | Power laundries and dry cleaners |
| 9722 | Distributeurs ou agents de nettoyeurs à sec | Dry cleaning distributors or agents |
| 9723 | Blanchissage ou nettoyage à sec libre-service | Self-service laundries and dry cleaners |
| 9724 | Entretien, pressage ou réparation de vêtements | Garment care, pressing or repair |
| 9725 | Fourniture de linge | Linen supply |
| 9726 | Nettoyage de moquettes | Carpet cleaning |
| 9729 | Autres services de blanchissage et de nettoyage à sec | Other laundry and dry cleaning services |
| 9731 | Salons funéraires | Funeral homes |
| 9732 | Cimetières et crématoriums | Cemeteries and crematoriums |
| 9741 | Ménages | Households |
| 9791 | Cordonneries | Shoe repair shops |
| 9792 | Nettoyage, réparation et entreposage de fourrures | Fur cleaning, repair and storage |
| 9799 | Autres services personnels et domestiques | Other personal and household services |
No code in the sector carries an asterisk: none is restricted to members of a professional order.
All 18 codes are also in our CAE search tool, filtered on personal services. Rental, repair, building services, travel and parking belong to a second sector, presented right after.
Which CAE code fits a rental, repair or other services business?
The “Other services” sector has 18 CAE codes, from 9911 to 9999: rental, photography, repair, building services, travel, parking and the fallback code 9999.
The codes fall into these groups:
- 9911 to 9921: rental services (machinery, audiovisual equipment, office furniture and machines, equipment and tools, cars and trucks);
- 9931: photographers;
- 9941 to 9949: electric motor repair, welding and other repairs;
- 9951 to 9959: building services (pest control, window cleaning, janitorial services);
- 9961 and 9962: travel agencies and tour wholesalers;
- 9991: parking;
- 9999: other services.
Here are all 18 codes, with the exact labels of the Registraire des entreprises:
| Code | Official label (French, as filed with the Registrar) | In English |
|---|---|---|
| 9911 | Location de machines et matériel industriels | Industrial machinery and equipment rental |
| 9912 | Location d'appareils audiovisuels | Audiovisual equipment rental |
| 9913 | Location de meubles et de machines de bureau | Office furniture and machine rental |
| 9914 | Location d'équipement, de matériel et d'outils | Equipment, supplies and tool rental |
| 9919 | Autres services de location | Other rental services |
| 9921 | Services de location d'automobiles et de camions | Car and truck rental services |
| 9931 | Photographes | Photographers |
| 9941 | Réparation de moteurs électriques | Electric motor repair |
| 9942 | Soudage | Welding |
| 9949 | Autres services de réparation | Other repair services |
| 9951 | Services de désinfection et d'extermination | Disinfection and pest control services |
| 9952 | Services de nettoyage de vitres | Window cleaning services |
| 9953 | Services de conciergerie et d'entretien | Janitorial and maintenance services |
| 9959 | Autres services relatifs aux bâtiments et aux habitations | Other services to buildings and dwellings |
| 9961 | Agences de voyages et de vente de billets | Travel and ticket agencies |
| 9962 | Grossistes et commerçants en voyage | Tour wholesalers and operators |
| 9991 | Parcs et garages de stationnement | Parking lots and garages |
| 9999 | Autres services | Other services |
No code in the sector carries an asterisk: none is restricted to members of a professional order or to holders of a brokerage permit.
All 18 codes are also in our CAE search tool, filtered on other services.
Which CAE code should a hair or beauty salon choose?
The hairdressing and beauty labels differ by clientele: 9711 for men, 9712 for women, 9713 for a salon that serves both.
The code is chosen according to the activity that brings in most of your revenue:
- a unisex salon that cuts, colours and styles declares 9713 — Salons de coiffure et de beauté pour hommes et femmes (unisex hair and beauty salons);
- a salon that mostly sells tanning sessions declares 9715 — Vente de services de bronzage artificiel (sale of artificial tanning services);
- a personal care service with no label of its own falls under 9714 — Autres services de soins personnels (other personal care services).
Do you offer two services, for example hairdressing and tanning? Declare first the one that brings in more, then the second. Has your offering changed? The code is corrected with an updating declaration.
Which CAE code fits a dry cleaner, alterations shop or shoe repair shop?
Garment cleaning falls under codes 9721 to 9729, alterations under 9724, shoe repair under 9791 and fur work under 9792.
Within the laundry group, the label depends on how you serve the client:
- a cleaner that processes the garments itself on its premises: 9721 — Blanchissage ou nettoyage à sec mécanisés (power laundries and dry cleaners);
- a counter that takes in garments for a cleaner: 9722 — Distributeurs ou agents de nettoyeurs à sec (dry cleaning distributors or agents);
- a laundromat where clients do their own washing: 9723 — Blanchissage ou nettoyage à sec libre-service (self-service laundries and dry cleaners);
- an alterations or pressing service: 9724 — Entretien, pressage ou réparation de vêtements (garment care, pressing or repair);
- linen supply: 9725 — Fourniture de linge (linen supply).
If nothing matches, 9729 — Autres services de blanchissage et de nettoyage à sec (other laundry and dry cleaning services) or 9799 — Autres services personnels et domestiques (other personal and household services) are the sector’s “Other…” codes.
Which CAE code fits a housekeeping or cleaning business?
Cleaning is split between 9726 carpet cleaning, 9952 windows, 9953 janitorial and maintenance, 9959 other building services and 9741, whose exact label is “Ménages” (households).
Cleaning overlaps both sectors on this page:
- 9726 — Nettoyage de moquettes (carpet cleaning) (personal services);
- 9741 — Ménages (households) (personal services);
- 9952 — Services de nettoyage de vitres (window cleaning services);
- 9953 — Services de conciergerie et d'entretien (janitorial and maintenance services);
- 9959 — Autres services relatifs aux bâtiments et aux habitations (other services to buildings and dwellings).
The label of 9741 is just the word “Ménages” (households), with no further detail: before choosing it for a housekeeping business, check in the CAE search tool that it really describes your activity, and compare it with 9953 — Services de conciergerie et d'entretien (janitorial and maintenance services).
Choose the one whose label best describes the activity that brings in most of your revenue.
To go further, our guide to opening a cleaning business in Quebec covers:
- the decree on public building maintenance, which applies once you hire a first employee;
- the difference between working alone and subcontracting for another cleaning company;
- calculating your cost price before bidding;
- choosing between a franchise and an independent incorporated business;
- the startup steps, in order.
When should you choose code 9999 “Autres services”?
Choose 9999 only when no code, in any sector, describes the activity that brings in most of your revenue, and no more specific “Other…” code fits.
Code 9999 is the most general fallback in the whole list. Before settling on it, check in this order:
- Is there a specific code? Search the CAE tool by your trade, not only by your product or sales channel.
- Is there a closer “Other…” code? On this page: 9919 Autres services de location (other rental services), 9949 Autres services de réparation (other repair services), 9959 Autres services relatifs aux bâtiments et aux habitations (other services to buildings and dwellings), 9714 Autres services de soins personnels (other personal care services), 9729 Autres services de blanchissage et de nettoyage à sec (other laundry and dry cleaning services), 9799 Autres services personnels et domestiques (other personal and household services). Elsewhere: 7799 Autres services aux entreprises (other business services).
- Nothing fits? Then 9999 is the right choice: “Other…” is not a failure.
Example: a costume rental business has no code of its own; 9919 Autres services de location describes it better than 9999, because it already says “rental”.
Has your activity become clearer after start-up? The code is corrected with an updating declaration.
Which CAE code applies if your activity belongs to another sector?
Renovation, vehicle or computer repair, rental with driver or with operator, video production: these activities have their own code in another sector, which comes before 9949, 9919 or 9999.
Some common cases:
- Maintenance that becomes renovation, equipment rental with operator: 4013 Rénovation de bâtiments résidentiels (residential building renovation), 4024 Rénovation de bâtiments non résidentiels (non-residential building renovation), 4215 Location d'équipement (avec opérateur) (equipment rental with operator) — “Construction” sector, which has 66 codes, from 4011 to 4499; see our guide How do you incorporate a construction business in Quebec?
- Vehicle, appliance, furniture or jewellery repair: 6351 Garages (réparations générales) (general repair garages), 6223 Ateliers de réparation d'appareils ménagers (household appliance repair shops), 6213 Ateliers de réparation de meubles (furniture repair shops), 6562 Ateliers de réparation de montres et de bijoux (watch and jewellery repair shops) — “Retail” sector, see our page on retail.
- Computer repair, staffing, business services: 7722 Réparation et entretien de matériel informatique (computer equipment repair and maintenance), 7712 Services de location de personnel (staffing services), 7799 Autres services aux entreprises (other business services) — see our page on consulting services.
- Carrying clients with a driver, aircraft rental, transportation services: 4581 Taxi (taxi), 4575 Services de limousine aux aéroports et aux gares (airport and station limousine services), 4522 Location d'aéronefs (aircraft rental), 4599 Autres services relatifs aux transports (other transportation services) — “Transportation, storage and communications” sector, see our page on transportation.
- Video production, boat rental: 9615 Production de films et de vidéos (film and video production), 9654 Location de bateaux et ports de plaisance (boat rentals and marinas) — “Culture, entertainment and leisure” sector, see our page on culture and leisure; photography, on the other hand, stays in this guide (9931 Photographes, photographers).
If one of these activities becomes the one that brings in most of your revenue, your first code is in its sector.
For public funding, our directory of business grants lists the programs open to Quebec businesses.
Ready to start your business?
Complete online incorporation: articles of incorporation, initial declaration with the REQ and your NEQ — $497 all-in, government fees included.
Frequently asked questions about personal services and other services businesses
Does a CAE code without an asterisk mean no permit is required?
No: the asterisk only flags a code restricted to members of a professional order. The CAE code describes your activity; it is neither a permit nor an authorization. Permits specific to your activity are checked with the relevant body.
Does a hairdresser who rents a chair in a salon declare the same code as the salon?
If hairdressing is also her main activity, yes: the code describes what your business does, not where you work. She chooses 9711, 9712 or 9713 according to her clientele, like the salon that hosts her.
Do you need a CAE code to work on your own account without incorporating?
Yes, if you register a sole proprietorship, whether for a salon or for housecleaning on your own account: the economic activity code is requested at registration, just as in a business corporation’s initial declaration. The differences between the two structures are compared on our legal structures page.
Is car and truck rental part of the transportation sector?
In our CAE tool, no: vehicle rental falls under code 9921 “Services de location d'automobiles et de camions” (car and truck rental services), classified in the “Other services” sector. If you drive your clients or their goods yourself, see instead the transportation codes presented among the neighbouring sectors.
Does an online travel agency declare a retail code?
Generally not: the code is chosen by trade, not by sales channel. An agency that sells trips and tickets, online or in a storefront, fits code 9961 “Agences de voyages et de vente de billets” (travel and ticket agencies).
Which code does a photographer who also sells photo equipment declare?
The code of the activity that brings in most of the revenue, then the second one: 9931 “Photographes” (photographers) if shoots and contracts dominate; 6571 “Commerce de détail d'appareils et de fournitures photographiques” (retail of photographic equipment and supplies) if equipment sales come first.
Is a parking lot run on my own land a real estate business?
It depends on where your revenue comes from: parking fees paid by users match code 9991 “Parcs et garages de stationnement” (parking lots and garages); rent paid by building tenants belongs rather to the “Real estate” sector.