50 Best Small Business ideas in Winnipeg in 2023

Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. As of 2021, Winnipeg had a city population of 749,607 and a metropolitan population of 834,678, making it the sixth-largest city, and eighth-largest metropolitan area in Canada.

Winnipeg is Manitoba’s largest city and Canada’s seventh-largest city. Furthermore, the city represents 54.9% of the population of the province of Manitoba, the highest population concentration in one city of any province in Canada.

In recent times, this city was ranked as the third-fastest growing economy among Canada’s major cities and is still renowned as one of the most diversified places in the whole country. While the city is noted as one of the most isolated in North America, its appeal among immigrant communities from across the world helped it become a diverse and multicultural city.

Winnipeg is a great place for startups because you will enjoy low corporate taxes, low skilled labor rates, low energy costs, low healthcare premiums, low transportation costs, and government support. If you are looking towards starting a business in Winnipeg and you have not made up your mind on what business to start, here are 50 best business opportunities you can choose from.

What Business Opportunities Exist in Winnipeg in 2023?

  1. Table of Contents

    Immigration Consulting Services

If you are a lawyer or you have a background in immigration matters, and you intend to start a business in Winnipeg, then you should consider starting an immigration consulting firm. Many migrants are trapped in Canada simply because they don’t know who to talk to when they have immigration challenges.

Being an immigration consultant or attorney means that you will help your clients handle all their immigration concerns, and help defend those who have deportation cases. You can also help your clients obtain work permits and equally help them start a business, etc.

  1. Cloud Computing Company

If you are ICT inclined and you are looking for a business to start as an aspiring entrepreneur in Winnipeg, then you can start a cloud computing company. Cloud computing is an emerging paradigm computing concept that enables both information technology infrastructure and software to be delivered directly over the Internet as a service.

This is an arrangement that enables companies to expand their network capacity, and run applications directly on a vendor’s network. The lower budgetary requirements and commitments allow even smaller companies to piece together an IT project without spending on purchasing a legacy server, and storage systems.

  1. Start an Ice-Skating Rink and Family Recreational Facility 

Interestingly, the longest skating rink in the world – that freezes naturally is found in Winnipeg and skating is a thriving sport in Winnipeg. If you have enough cash to invest in a thriving business in Winnipeg, then you should consider starting an ice-skating rink business. Ice rinks offer ice skate rentals and ice-skating classes but also provide other amenities including indoor sports and concessions.

  1. Cyber Security Company

Another good and profitable business venture that an entrepreneur can start in Winnipeg is a cyber security company. Cyber security companies or IT security consulting firms manage IT security services, such as firewalls, intrusion prevention, security threat analysis, proactive security vulnerability, penetration testing, and incident preparation and response, which includes IT forensics.

  1. Web Hosting Services Company

Web hosting services are yet another good business opportunity an entrepreneur can start in Winnipeg. Web Hosting companies provide internet hosting services to third-party service providers.

These services most commonly take the form of website hosting, where industry operators provide leased server space and internet connectivity to individuals and organizations to make their websites accessible over the internet. Players in this industry also provide application-specific services, such as e-mail application hosting, game hosting et al.

  1. Computer Consulting Company

Another line of business that you can start in Winnipeg is computer consulting and you can leverage government support to start your own computer consulting company. As a computer consulting firm, your core responsibility is to improve your client’s business by effecting changes in response to your analysis; you should be able to change the fortune of the business within an agreed timeline.

Corporations are willing to pay expensive fees as long as they are going to get results. No business person will be willing to pay you for an IT consulting service if you don’t have a track record that shows that you know what you are doing. It is one thing to convince a client to patronize your IT consulting service and another thing for you to deliver solutions as agreed.

  1. Software Apps Developing Business

There is indeed a pretty large market for software apps not only in Winnipeg but all across the globe and Canada is a great platform to launch a software app developing company. So as an entrepreneur in Winnipeg, you can leverage the vast market for software apps to launch your own software apps developing company. You are sure going to make headway in this line of business if you partner with some of the IT geeks in the city.

  1. Digital Marketing Services

Another business that an entrepreneur can start in Winnipeg is a digital marketing service company; there is indeed a large market for digital marketing companies in Canada. Digital marketing is the process of leveraging modern digital technology to market goods or services or the process of pulling website traffic or attention through social media sites; they achieve this by creating content that attracts attention and encourage readers to share it across their social network platforms.

One of the major purposes of leveraging social media in marketing is that it covers a wide range of target markets compared to other marketing tools. It is a cool way of making money from the comfort of your home as long as you can produce measurable results for your clients.

  1. Bitcoin Mining Company

Bitcoin mining is yet another business that is doing pretty great in Winnipeg and you can join them by starting your own bitcoin mining company. Bitcoin mining in its simplest term is the practice of adding transaction records to Bitcoin’s public ledger of previous transactions or blockchain.

This ledger of previous transactions is called the blockchain as it is a chain of blocks. Mining is indeed an important and integral part of Bitcoin that ensures fairness while keeping the Bitcoin network stable, safe, and highly secured.

  1. Crowdfunding Website/Business

As a social entrepreneur in Winnipeg who has IT skills and wants to become your own boss, one of the thriving and profitable social enterprises that you can launch is a crowdfunding website. Crowdfunding websites are a funding method where common people can raise funds to fund personal, charity, or business projects with the money raised from people all over the world via cyberspace. There’s a term that is commonly used to describe this type of giving; it’s called a donation.

  1. Nanny Agency Business

The nanny agency business is yet another thriving and profitable business that an entrepreneur can start in Winnipeg. Starting a nanny agency business is one sure way an aspiring entrepreneur who has the required skills and qualifications can earn cool cash in Winnipeg.

The truth is that the nanny agency services business is one of the businesses that an entrepreneur can successfully start small and perhaps with a functional home office without breaking the bank for cash. All you need to do is to ensure you supply reliable and hardworking nannies when you get requests from clients. You can run this type of business with just phone calls and the internet.

  1. Travel and Tour Agency

Canada is one of the preferred destinations for travelers and immigrants all across the world. This goes to show that there is a large market for travel and tour agencies and as an entrepreneur, you can leverage this vast business opportunity to start your travel agency in Winnipeg.

Travels and tours agencies render services that cover all aspects of traveling. They help their clients in securing visas (especially transit visas), purchasing flight tickets, booking hotels, booking taxi cabs, and of course making arrangements for site seeing amongst other services.

They work in conjunction with service providers such as airline companies, car rentals companies, cruise lines companies, hotels, railways, tourist site managers, and perhaps interpreters and security agencies (supply of bodyguards et al for celebrities and other VIP clients).

  1. Micro Money Lending Business

A micro money lending business is another good business an entrepreneur can start in Winnipeg. Starting a micro money lending business can be demanding and risky at the same time, but if you have done your due diligence before venturing into the business, you are likely not going to run at a loss.

First and foremost, you are expected to have experience in the financial industry. It will pay you to study accountancy or banking and finance if indeed you want to venture into this line of business.

  1. Mortgage Brokerage Firm

As a professional in the financial services industry, one of the thriving businesses you can start is a mortgage brokerage firm; there is indeed a large market for this service in Winnipeg. Mortgage Brokerage firms are established with the sole aim of providing a convenient platform in form of long-term loans to those who want to buy their own property.

With the loan you get from the bank via a mortgage brokerage firm, you can finance any property of your choice as long as you pass the screening and evaluation process. The screening and evaluation are put in place to ensure that due process is followed before issuing a loan and the person receiving the loan must be creditworthy.

  1. Educational Consultancy Business

It is a fact that Canada is one of the most sought after countries for international students as they have some of the best universities in the world. As an entrepreneur in Winnipeg, you can leverage this business opportunity to start your own educational consultancy business. Being an educational consultant means that you will help your clients handle all their educational concerns.

  1. Bicycle Shop

Opening a bicycle shop is a way to launch a business in Winnipeg. No doubt, the industry has fared well overall as cycling has gained popularity for its health and environmental benefits in Canada, and rising disposable income has encouraged consumer purchases.

Nevertheless, despite rising consumer demand, external competition for bicycle sales from mass merchandisers, which can provide less expensive bicycles from low-cost brands, has steadily increased. While this competition is expected to continue to temper sales somewhat over the next five years, as consumers earn higher incomes and are better able to afford luxury items like specialty bicycles, sales are expected to grow.

  1. Fast Food Restaurant

If you have a unique recipe and you are an entrepreneur living in Winnipeg who is looking for a profitable business to start, then you need not look further but quickly open a fast-food restaurant. Fast food restaurants might be seen in major locations all across Winnipeg, but that does not mean that you cannot start a successful fast food restaurant in Winnipeg. The business is open to fair competition especially if you are good with the meals and snacks on your menu list.

  1. 3D Printing Services

Another thriving and profitable business an entrepreneur living in Winnipeg can start is to go into 3D printing. A 3D printing and prototyping service is the automatic construction of physical objects using additive manufacturing technology.

The process includes melting or softening material to produce layers, laying liquid material thermosets that are cured, and cutting thin layers to shape that are then joined together. There is indeed a growing market for 3D printing and prototyping services in Winnipeg.

  1. Liquor and Spirits Store

Starting a liquor and spirit store is yet another thriving business opportunity you can start in Winnipeg. It is important to state that starting a liquor and spirits store business requires that you obtain the required license to operate such business, and you are only allowed to sell liquor to people above 18 years.

  1. Handyman (Plumbing) Services

The handyman services business is yet another business that an entrepreneur in Winnipeg with technical background can start. A handyman business provides a wide range of services needed for the maintenance of buildings and properties. The services provided by a handyman include plumbing, electrical works, carpentry, painting, heating, and cooling services, and other building and property maintenance and repair works.

  1. Aerial Drone Photography Company

Drone technology is rapidly gaining prominence in the globe beyond the military circuit and Winnipeg is one city with a large market for aerial drone photography services. So, if you are an entrepreneur in Winnipeg who is looking towards leveraging an emerging market to start a viable business, then you should look towards starting an aerial drone photography company.

  1. Automobile Repair Garage

Auto repair business is amongst the highly thriving, profitable, and easy to setup auto services related business. In Winnipeg and of course all over Canada, car repair is one business that never goes into extinction. This is because daily, fleets of cars are being added to the garages of people and so whether it is a brand-new car or a fairly used one, you can be sure that sometime in the future car repair would be inevitable.

  1. GPS Car Tracking Company

GPS Car tracking is yet another good business that an aspiring entrepreneur in Winnipeg can successfully start. The demand for GPS car tracking devices is on the increase but just like any other businesses, the demand for such devices usually decline during recession/economic downturn due to declining household spending.

As the economy grows, and income increases, there will be a corresponding increase in the demand for security cum automobile-related services such as the installation of GPS car tracking devices.

  1. Non–Emergency Medical Transportation Company

Another highly thriving business opportunity that an entrepreneur in Winnipeg can start is non – emergency medical transportation company. The Non-Emergency Medical Transportation Services industry comprises both private and municipal operators that provide transportation alongside medical care for patients either by ground or air. The ambulances or vehicles as the case may be are usually equipped with lifesaving equipment operated by medically trained employees i.e., nurses and doctors et al.

  1. Real Estate Agency Business

Trust me, real estate is a booming business in Canada, and as an entrepreneur in Winnipeg, you can start your own real estate agency. The real estate industry involves the buying, selling, or renting of lands, buildings, or housing facility et al.

Real estate agency or a real estate agent (broker) is a person who acts as a middleman between the sellers and buyers of real estate / real property. They are involved in searching for sellers who sell properties and buyers who buy properties.

  1. Coffee Shop Business

As an entrepreneur who is skilled in making good coffee, one of the business opportunities you can start in Winnipeg is to open a coffee shop. This business will never go out of fashion in Winnipeg and you can be rest assured to always generate sales daily. It is easy to open chains of coffee shops in Winnipeg if you know how to go about it.

  1. Maple Syrup Production Business

Amongst the many businesses that can be started legally in Winnipeg is a maple syrup manufacturing business. This is so because the vegetation in the Winnipeg area was originally temperate rain forest, consisting of conifers with scattered pockets of maple and alder and large areas of swampland (even in upland areas, due to poor drainage).

Maple syrup is a syrup that is prepared from the sugary sap of a maple tree. Please note that maple syrup is classified as maple syrup only when it reaches a sugar concentration level of 66 percent. A maple syrup manufacturing business is indeed profitable due to the fact that maple syrup contains higher levels of beneficial nutrients, antioxidants, phytochemicals amongst others.

  1. Start Bread and Breakfast Business

If you have an interest in the hospitality industry in Winnipeg but you lack the start-up capital for a hotel or motel, then you should consider starting a bed and breakfast. A typical bed and breakfast is a small lodging accommodation that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast to guests that lodge there.

Aside from breakfast, they usually do not offer other meals (whether dinner or lunch). Normally, people that run bed and breakfasts make use of their private homes or their family homes. The average bed and breakfast has 6 rooms, but generally, bed and breakfasts operate 4 to 11 rooms within a facility.

  1. Start a Car Rental Business

A car rental business is yet another thriving business that can be started in Winnipeg. The car rental industry is very competitive and any entrepreneur who intends to go into this business should ensure that they carry out thorough feasibility studies and market research so that the risks in the business can be greatly minimized.

The first thing to consider before launching this business is the niche of the car rental business you intend to operate. You will have to know the niches available – contract hires and daily hire et al, and decide which you want to go on. Contract hire is usually for business customers who hire the vehicles for a set period, while daily hire is for individual customers who hire the vehicles usually for a shorter period.

  1. Start Equipment Leasing Business

One of the businesses you can successfully start in Winnipeg is an equipment leasing business. There are several types of equipment that people can rent to accomplish the task they have at hand. Equipment such as mower, hand drillers, heavy-duty drillers, welding machines, forklifts, light construction equipment,

Medical equipment, audiovisual equipment, industrial energy equipment, pumps, theatrical and motion picture equipment, power saw, filling machine, scaffolding, and virtually any equipment that is needed to get any task done. So, your responsibility is to look for such equipment and ensure that you have them in your store.

  1. Start Hardwood Flooring Installation Business

If you perchance studied building engineering or any related course and you are keen on owning a business in Winnipeg, then you should consider starting a hardwood flooring installation business. This is one business that you can successfully start on a small scale and if you are good with what you do, it won’t be too long before you become a household name in Winnipeg.

In Winnipeg, you will notice that a good percentage of homes have wood flooring. This goes to show that there is indeed a large market for the hardwood flooring installation business.

  1. Start Property Maintenance and Renovation (Property Management) Company

Another profitable business that can be started in Winnipeg is a property maintenance and renovation business. As a property manager, your core business responsibility is to maintain and renovate building facilities and to liaise with landlords, tenants, and in some cases various contractors.

For you to effectively conduct your business, you are expected to have a full grasp of the law when it comes to landlord and tenant relationships. As a property manager, it is your responsibility to create efficient and effective protocols that will make you relate well with your clients (landlords, tenants, and contractors).

  1. Start a Solar Water Heater Installation Business

If you studied electrical engineering or any related course and you are keen to own a business in Winnipeg, then you should consider starting a solar water heater installation business. This is one business you can successfully start on a small scale and if you are good with what you do, it won’t be too long before you become a household name in your city.

In Winnipeg, you will notice that a good percentage of homes and offices have solar water heater, so there is indeed a large market for solar water heater installation.

  1. Open a Flower and Gift Shop

If you have eyes for colors and designs, as well as have a penchant for beauty and decoration, then you may want to open a flower and gift shop in Winnipeg. The market for both fresh and artificial flowers in Winnipeg has continued to soar as long as we still have weddings, burials, and other special events taking place around us.

The fact remains that as insignificant as most people think the flower is, it is still a major requirement for weddings, burials, love gatherings and even worship centers.

  1. Start Hotdog and Sausage Cart Business

Starting a hotdog and sausage cart business is yet another business that can be started in Winnipeg. The hot dog and sausage cart business are one of the businesses that an entrepreneur can successfully start in the corner of a busy street or on a mobile shop without breaking the bank for cash.

  1. Open a Bar & Grill Business

A bar and grill restaurant might not be entirely easy to start, but one thing is certain, it is a straight-forward business that can generate huge and steady profits if well positioned and properly managed.

People often think that starting a bar and grill restaurant does not require any professional skills since it is a small-scale business; in as much as it is true, you would still need to learn how to prepare tasty barbeques cum grills, have good business, and customer services skills if indeed you want to build a profitable business.

  1. Open a Beauty Supply Store

Another business that can be started in Winnipeg is a beauty supply store. It is important to point out that the beauty supply store business is one of the businesses that can’t go out of fashion because of the role it plays in society.

Depending on the scale you want to start, the startup capital for this type of business can be considered to be moderate. You can start your beauty supply store and then grow it big within a short period by reinvesting your profits back into the business.

  1. Open a Body Piercing Studio

If you are looking towards launching a business in Winnipeg, one of your best bets is to launch a body piercing studio business. The right time to start such a business is now simply because the body piercing and tattoo industry is presently at its growing stage.

  1. Start a Dryer Vent Cleaning Business

As an aspiring entrepreneur who intends to start a business in Winnipeg, you can comfortably start a dryer vent cleaning business without much stress. The truth is that you don’t necessarily need to own a fully functional dry-cleaning business before you can make money from your dryer vent cleaning business.

You can start a dryer vent cleaning business and your services won’t just be restricted to dry cleaners but also to homes and offices where dryers are used. Most people find it difficult to clean the vents of their dryers; hence they require the services of professionals to help do it.

  1. Open a Gourmet Shop

Gourmet popcorn shops can be located in any part of town as long as there are children and even adults who love gourmet popcorn around the location. Generally, gourmet popcorn shops are located in schools, parks, shopping malls, hotel lobbies, railway stations, bus stations, campuses, and sports centers, and any public facilities as long as you have permission to locate your gourmet popcorn shop there.

On the other hand, if you operate a mobile gourmet popcorn shop, there won’t be any restriction on the places you can sell your product.

  1. Start a Graffiti Removal Business

A graffiti removal business is another business that can be started in Winnipeg. If you choose to start this business, you must analyze the existing graffiti removal companies in and outside of your area. You would be required to check the existing competition, as well as know their strength and weaknesses. Knowing the weaknesses of the existing graffiti removal companies will help you learn from their mistakes.

  1. Start a Grocery Delivery Business

Another business that can be started in Winnipeg is a grocery delivery business. A grocery delivery business involves helping your clients shop groceries and get them delivered to them in their homes or any location they want it delivered.

With this type of business, you can choose to own a grocery store if you have the financial capacity to. The bottom line is that you should know how to source groceries and how to get them delivered to your customers.

  1. Open a Juice and Smoothie Bar

A juice and smoothie bar is yet another business that can be started in Winnipeg. Juice and smoothie bars make and retail smoothies and fresh-made juices. Juice drink is one commodity that is consumed in all parts of the world and those that are in the business of producing juice drinks are known to generate sales all year round if the business is properly managed.

  1. Start a Party Planning Business

Party planning just like event planning is all about helping corporate organizations, groups, and individuals plan and execute their parties whether formal or informal from start to finish. A party planner ensures that they work with the stipulated budget of the organization or individual they are to work for and ensure that they deliver a successful party.

In some cases, it is the responsibility of the party planner to draw up a budget for the host of the party once they get a brief of the nature of the party; it could wedding, birthday, end of year party, or baby shower, et al.

  1. Start a Party Rental Business

A party rental business is one business that requires good capital start. This is so because all that is required of you is to purchase tables, chairs, flatware, linens, centerpieces, stages, tents, canopies, and other items for public and private parties. You will also need a warehouse facility or a well-secured space to keep your items and also a truck to take them to and from event venues.

  1. Start a Pet Cremation Business

The Pet cremation business is rapidly gaining prominence in recent times, especially in developed countries and cities, and Winnipeg is not left out. Some people who own pets would rather prefer that their dead pets be cremated as against burying them. Cremation of pets is convenient and generally accepted by pet owners if they are given the option.

  1. Start a Post-Construction Cleaning Business

Another business that can be started in Winnipeg is post-construction cleaning business. Post-construction cleaning as the name implies is a form of cleaning that is carried out on a newly constructed building or structure.

It is expected that after construction and before the facility will be put to use, a thorough post construction cleaning will be carried out to clear the debris, clean the floor, railings, toilets, windows, roof, and the entire compound. No construction work will be commissioned if post-construction cleaning is not carried out.

  1. Start House Flipping Business

Another business that you can start in Winnipeg is a house flipping business. House flipping is all about purchasing a property that is put up for sale, renovating the property, and then reselling the property with the sole aim of making profits. Usually, house flippers sell the home at a price that will cover all the expenses incurred and provide enough profit to compensate for the time invested in the deal.

  1. Open a Sex Toy Shop

If you are looking for a business to start as an entrepreneur in Winnipeg and you know you have an interest in the adult stores industry, then you should consider starting a sex toy business. Although you don’t need a college degree to establish a sex toy store, you would need some form of informal training.

You may have to work as an apprentice with someone who owns a sex toy shop or adult store. It makes it easier for you to learn how to manage your sex toy shop when you get started.

  1. Electric Charging Station Business

Lastly, the fact that the world is fast evolving means that business ideas such as electric charging station is one of the best business opportunities that an investor should consider starting in Winnipeg.

According to Wikipedia, an electric vehicle charging station, also called EV charging station, electric recharging point, charging point, charge point, and EVSE (electric vehicle supply equipment), is an element in an infrastructure that supplies electric energy for the charging of electric vehicles. No doubt, this type of business will attract customers, investors, and partners.

More on Manitoba
How to Register a Business in Manitoba in 2023
10 Best Places to Live in Winnipeg in 2023