- Register as a sole proprietor or incorporate with BC Registries (~$40–$380)
- File your Surrey business licence (~$85/yr)
- Get general liability insurance
- Set your rates ($40–$65/hr, or flat rates from $150–$600+ per job)
- Build a brand, website, and online booking
- Set up card payments and simple bookkeeping
- Launch a Google Business Profile focused on Surrey
To clean in Surrey is to work inside the fastest-growing housing stock in BC — new townhome complexes, big suburban lots, and thousands of new builds a year — and that mix decides your niche. Post-construction and new-home cleans are Surrey's signature niche — builders and first owners both pay well for spotless handovers. The skills are the easy part; the business wrapper — registration, a Surrey licence, insurance, a real brand, and online booking — is what wins the job.
Why Surrey specifically
Surrey builds more new homes than anywhere in BC — and every one of them needs a post-construction clean and a first-owner deep clean. Builder relationships turn that into repeatable contract work, with the region's cheapest licence (~$85) as a bonus.
For a cleaner specifically, that translates to builder relationships: post-construction cleans are the repeatable contract most cleaners never chase.
Where the work is: Post-construction and new-home cleans are Surrey's signature niche — builders and first owners both pay well for spotless handovers. Neighbourhoods like Fleetwood, Cloverdale, South Surrey each have their own client base — your Google Business Profile and local pages should name them.
What it costs to start in Surrey
| Item | Typical range |
|---|---|
| BC business registration (sole prop) | ~$40 |
| Name request fee | ~$30 |
| Surrey business licence | ~$85/yr |
| General liability insurance | $500–$1,200/yr |
| Equipment & supplies | $300–$800 (vacuum, kit, supplies) |
| Branding, website & booking setup | $0 DIY – $3,000+ agency |
Government fees change — confirm current amounts with BC Registries and the City of Surrey. Surrey's business licence is among the region's cheapest (~$85/yr) and is filed through the city's online services portal.
What you can earn
Cleaning rates in Metro Vancouver commonly run $40–$65/hr, or flat rates from $150–$600+ per job. A solo operator with a steady calendar can realistically build toward $4,000–$8,000+ per month solo with a recurring roster — results vary with your niche, your area, and how established you look. No trade certification required in BC.
Let's name it
The thing that stops most Surrey starters isn't cost — it's this. “What if something breaks in a client's home, or a client refuses to pay?” Solved with paperwork, not luck: a service agreement, liability waiver, insurance, and card payments — all included in every Prontco launch.
Talk it through on a free callCleaning Pricing Calculator
Work out what to charge before you quote your first job in Surrey. Set the job size, condition and the hourly rate you need to earn, and get a defensible number in seconds.
Open the calculator →Your first clients in Surrey — the cleaning playbook
- Contact 5 home builders in Fleetwood and Cloverdale about post-construction cleans — recurring builder work fills weeks.
- Offer new-home packages (builder-dust deep clean + 30-day follow-up) priced as a bundle.
- Join Surrey community Facebook groups by neighbourhood — Newton and Guildford groups regularly ask for cleaner recommendations.
The shortcut
You can do all of this yourself over a few weeks of evenings. Or Prontco does the whole thing in about 10 business days — registration, your Surrey licence filing, brand, website with booking, payments, accounting setup, and 30 days of launch support. You own every account. From $997.
Related guides
How to start a cleaning business in BC · How to start a business in Surrey · The complete BC startup guide · Free calculators & checklists