What to charge
The going rate on the big apps in Toronto is about $20 for a 30-minute walk. Independent walkers with references and a full roster charge more, typically $25 to $33. Group walks price lower per dog, usually $17 to $25, but the math changes entirely when you're walking several at once:
Two pieces of advice from watching what works:
- Don't compete on price. A $15 walk signals desperation, not value. Owners paying for a stranger to enter their home care about trust, not saving $5.
- Charge for what owners actually worry about. Walkers who send photos, keep small groups, and mention first aid training in their ads book faster at higher rates than walkers who just say "reliable and punctual."
What you'll actually keep
Rough math for a part-timer doing ten walks a week at $22: about $950 a month before costs. Your real costs are transit or gas, weather gear, treats and waste bags, insurance (below), and the big one people forget: taxes.
Taxes: the part nobody tells you
Dog walking income is self-employment income. The CRA expects you to report it even if it's cash, even if it's casual. The short version:
- You report it on form T2125 with your regular return.
- You can deduct business costs: transit to clients, gear, insurance, a portion of your phone.
- Once you pass $30,000 in revenue over four consecutive quarters, you must register for and charge HST. Most part-time walkers stay under this; full-timers cross it faster than they expect.
- Set aside 25 to 30 percent of what you earn, and lean toward more if walking stacks on top of a day job, because every walking dollar lands at your highest rate. Future you, at tax time, will be glad.
I'm a founder, not an accountant, so treat this as a map rather than advice. A one-hour session with an accountant who knows self-employment is worth it the year you start.
Insurance
If a dog bolts, bites, or gets hurt on your watch, you're personally liable. Liability insurance for pet-care professionals starts around $100 a year in Canada for a basic $1 million policy and runs to roughly $600 depending on coverage. Canadian options to get quotes from: Zensurance, PROfur, BrokerLink. It's the single clearest signal that you're a professional, and serious clients ask about it. Get a quote before your first paid walk, not after your first scare.
A pet first aid course is the other credential worth having. It costs less than a day's walks, and "first aid certified" in your ad does real work.
Finding your first clients
The honest playbook, in the order I'd do it:
- Your own building and block. Condo notice boards, the neighbourhood Facebook group, the dog park you already go to. Your first three clients are probably within 500 metres of your door.
- Vets and groomers. Ask if you can leave a card. Clinics get asked for walker recommendations constantly and rarely have an answer.
- Kijiji. Still where Toronto owners look. A good ad names your neighbourhood, your group size limit, and your training or first aid credentials. Ads that read like a person beat ads that read like a flyer.
- One dog, walked brilliantly. Photos after every walk, a note about what the dog did, total reliability. Toronto's dog community is a village. One delighted owner tells five more.
What I'd skip early: paid ads, a website, business cards beyond the basics. None of them beat a happy first client.
The safety basics
Non-negotiables that separate professionals from dog-holders:
- Meet every dog with its owner before the first walk.
- Fixed-length leash, never retractable, in the city.
- Small groups, and know the bylaw: in Toronto parks, greenspaces, and waterfront areas you can't control more than 3 dogs at once without the city's Commercial Dog Walker Permit (about $306 a year, $2 million liability insurance required, City named as additional insured). Even with the permit, 6 dogs is the hard cap.
- Water in summer, paw checks in winter salt season.
- Know where the nearest emergency vet is for every route you walk.