Rising costs push more Canadians toward side hustles

Strong began working as a lash technician while attending nursing school after becoming pregnant with twins. When she later left school to care for her children, what started as a side hustle became her full-time career.

Today, she teaches others how to become lash technicians and estimates she has helped more than 100 people launch side businesses of their own.

“With the people I’ve talked to and helped, including myself, I feel like it all starts with necessity for sure, because at the end of the day, you wouldn’t work extra hard for nothing, right?” Strong said.

“Unless, of course, it brought some sort of fulfillment to your life. So for me and for a lot of the people that I’ve helped, it starts out for extra income, in my experience, to help them get ahead, but also the likelihood of it succeeding is based on it being enjoyable to the person.”

Strong said the majority of people she has worked with are looking for additional income, but financial pressures are only part of the equation.

Some are seeking more flexibility in their schedules, while others are hoping to spend more time with family or eventually leave traditional employment behind.

“I was grieving my nursing career, right? So I knew that I needed to do something that I enjoyed already, but also something that helped me stay home with my kids also,” she said.

“That’s the other thing too, a lot of people do side hustles for more freedom in their life. They want to be able to do more things, they want more time with their kids.”

Strong believes side hustles can provide an important financial safety net at a time when many people feel increasingly vulnerable to economic uncertainty.

“So at the end of the day, I think it is important that every person in today’s society should have some sort of side hustle or multiple sources of income,” she said.

The growth of side hustles comes amid continued financial strain for many households. According to an MNP Consumer Debt Index survey, nearly one-third of Canadians say they are living paycheque to paycheque, while more than one-third report feeling anxious about their finances. The survey also found 23 per cent are putting major life goals on hold because of economic pressures.

Research from Omnisend found 72 per cent of Canadians with a side hustle say financial need was the primary reason they took on additional work, while a Job Skills report found 45 per cent started one specifically to help make ends meet.

In some cases, those side ventures eventually become full-time careers.

Strong estimates roughly 30 per cent of the people she has helped start side businesses have since made them their primary source of income.

“Some of them leave their degree jobs to go towards this because the side hustle in turn gives them so much more money, but more fulfillment too,” she said.

“When you’re able to create for yourself, that’s really what the side hustle is.”

Strong cautions that success does not happen overnight. Building a customer base and generating meaningful income can take months or even years, and many ventures never gain enough traction to become sustainable.

Still, she believes the growing number of Canadians pursuing side hustles reflects a broader reality: many households are looking for new ways to improve their financial stability while creating more flexibility in their lives.

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nick.nielsen@pattisonmedia.com

by Nick Nielsen

Rising costs push more Canadians toward side hustles

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