Start a small adult learning centre with your own space

Adult learners, local employers, and sometimes funding bodies or settlement agencies that pay for places in approved courses.

Course fees from learners, contracts for group training, and room hire when classrooms are free. Instructors are usually paid per class.

• Running a small business and managing budgets
• Hiring and coordinating instructors
• Marketing and building local partnerships

• Zoning, occupancy and fire code rules for a classroom use, check with your municipality before signing a lease
• Provincial regulation of private career colleges if you offer career training, which may require registration or approval
• Commercial general liability and property insurance, plus WCB/WSIB coverage once you hire (rules vary by province)
• Treating instructors as employees or contractors correctly, check CRA and provincial guidance
• Lease commitments and slow enrolment seasons, especially in summer and holiday periods
• Quebec has French-language requirements for signage and materials, check if you operate there

Estimates put startup costs typically around $8,000 to $40,000, depending on the unit, the fit-out and how many classrooms you set up. Lease commitments are a major factor, and slow enrolment seasons such as summer and holidays can add pressure.

Monthly revenue is typically estimated at around $3,000 to $15,000, depending on your course timetable, pricing and enrolment. Running a centre usually takes at least around 30 hours a week, depending on how many instructors you hire.

Check zoning, occupancy and fire code rules with your municipality before signing a lease. Also check provincial private career college registration or approval, insurance, WCB/WSIB coverage once you hire, employee versus contractor rules with CRA, and French-language requirements if you operate in Quebec.