Imagine walking through your front door at the end of the day to a spotless house. The floor has been swept and mopped, the dishes are clean, your stainless appliances are sparkling, and all of the clutter has been cleared.
Sounds like a dream come true, right? Well, all you have to do is hire a professional cleaner.
On average, the cost to hire a maid in Canada will be between $20 and $30 per hour. However, prices can vary depending on the size of your home, who you hire, and how often you want your house cleaned.
Below, I’ll explain how much it costs to hire a maid in Canada, give you an overview of your options, explain what to look for before you hire a maid, and whether or not professional cleaning is worth the investment.
How Much Does House Cleaning Cost In Canada?
A recent study performed by the survey group IPSOS i-Say (which I mentioned in my list of the top paid survey sites in Canada) revealed that 54% of Canadians enjoy cleaning their homes.
There’s a lot to be said about having a clean space where your ideas can flow, and you can entertain friends and family.
Personally, I find that I tend to be more productive in a clean, clutter-free environment, and numerous studies show that this is true of most humans.
Although the term “maid” is thrown around a lot, the professional term you should use when hiring an individual or a company is “house cleaner,” as the individual is just as likely to be a male who might not appreciate the assumption.
According to salary data from Indeed, the average Canadian house cleaner earns between $19 and $20 per hour. This number merely reflects the employee’s salary, though.
If you’re working with a professional cleaning company that’s licensed and insured, you’ll likely pay upwards of $25 per hour or more.
On the higher end of the scale, I’ve heard of some offices and high-end homeowners who pay $40 to $50 per hour for professional cleaning services.
One-Time Cleaning vs. Monthly Contract
When hiring a cleaner in Canada, you’ll typically be able to select between two payment options:
- One-time cleaning service: Single charge based on the size of your home, specific cleaning requests, or based on an hourly rate
- Monthly contract: Recurring fee that’s charged on a weekly or monthly basis for routine cleaning
If your house has gotten a bit cluttered and you need some help tidying things up, then hiring a cleaner to perform a single service is a great option.
It can massively reduce your workload and make an otherwise daunting task seem much more manageable. I’ve used this on several occasions if I need to clean up after a large gathering or if I’m about to entertain guests.
If you’re looking for a more regular cleaning service, then you may want to sign up for a monthly cleaning contract. Depending on the contract, the cleaner will usually come at least a couple of days per week and clean for a specific amount of time.
The benefit of a monthly contract is that you’ll usually save a bit compared to the base hourly rate charged for a single cleaning service. It’s a good option for those who want their home or office regularly cleaned on a set schedule.
How Much Does It Cost To Hire A Live-In Maid In Canada?
Although it’s not very common, some homeowners hire full-time live-in maids. These cleaners are typically given living quarters within the house, paid a weekly salary, and are contracted to work for a specific number of hours per day, with weekends off.
The cost of hiring a live-in cleaner is comparable to the cost of hiring a full-time employee to work for a small business. In-home cleaners must be paid at least minimum wage in your province, although it’s not uncommon for them to earn more.
Assuming that you’re paying your live-in cleaner $15 per hour for 40 hours of work per week, you could expect to pay $600 a week or $2,400 per month for a full-time cleaner.
What Are Your Options To Hire A Maid In Canada?
When hiring a maid in Canada, you’ll have several options to choose from, including:
- Hiring an individual cleaner
- Hiring a professional cleaning company
- Hiring a full-time live-in cleaner
1. Hire An Individual Cleaner
If you want to save money, your best bet is to hire an individual cleaner. These cleaners typically work for themselves and have a lower overhead compared to a professional cleaning company.
You can usually find and hire individual cleaners by looking through online classified ads on Facebook Marketplace, Facebook Groups, Kijiji, and other online groups. I’ve even found paper ads for individual cleaners posted at my local cafe and community bulletin board.
If you do choose to hire an individual cleaner, I recommend using somebody who was referred to you or who can provide good references. Since these self-employed individuals don’t have to report to a service manager, there’s more room for untrustworthy behaviour.
2. Hire A Professional Cleaning Company
If you don’t mind paying a bit more, you may prefer to pay a professional cleaning company for maid services.
The main advantage of a professional cleaning company is that you’ll typically receive better customer service, and you can rest easy knowing that the company is fully licensed and insured in case any accidents occur.
3. Hire A Full-Time Live-In Maid
Last but not least, you could hire a full-time cleaner to live in your home. Hiring a full-time cleaner can be rather expensive, though, and the majority of Canadians aren’t in a position to do this.
However, if you have a large estate, have a high income, and don’t feel like cleaning ever again, it’s worth considering.
Before Hiring A Cleaner In Canada…
Before you hire a maid or cleaner in Canada, there are a few safety measures that you should take to ensure that you’re getting the best service. Whether you’re hiring a professional company or an individual cleaner, you should always:
- Perform a background check
- Check out their reviews
- Ask about liability insurance
Perform A Background Check
Most maids working for a professional cleaning company must undergo a criminal background check. However, this is not the case with individual cleaners.
While you should never assume the worst about a potential employer, it’s still a good idea to perform a routine background check on the cleaner, especially if you have children or valuables and especially if they’re going to be cleaning your home regularly.
Look For Reviews
Before buying any product or service, I always try to look for reviews to see what other people are saying about the service. If you’re hiring an individual cleaner, you may not be able to find reviews online, but you can ask for personal references.
Unless you’re the cleaner’s first client, they should be able to provide you with one of their previous client’s phone numbers so you can call and ask about the quality of their work.
Check For Insurance
Last but not least, I don’t recommend hiring a cleaner or cleaning company unless they’re insured. All cleaners, including individual cleaners, should at least have basic liability insurance.
This not only covers them if they’re injured or hurt on the job, but it also covers the cost of anything that might be accidentally damaged in your home while they’re cleaning.
Is The Cost To Hire A Maid In Canada Worth It? Key Considerations
Hiring a cleaner for a single cleaning is one thing. However, before you sign up for a routine cleaning service, you should make sure to consider the following.
How Much You Earn
I recommend that most people follow the 50/30/20 rule, which states that expenses should be divided as follows:
- 50% of your money should cover necessities (food, rent, utilities, etc.)
- 30% of your money can be allocated for wants (such as hiring a cleaner)
- 20% of your money should be invested or saved (stocks, GICs, and more)
If you can afford to hire a cleaning service without going over 30% of your income set aside for “wants” (non-essential expenses, including everything else you spend money on), then go for it.
If not, then you may be better off hiring a cleaner once or twice a month for a deep clean and cleaning your home yourself for the rest of the month.
How Much Free Time You Have
If you find that you never have enough free time to keep your home clean, then it may be time to hire a cleaner to help out with the burden.
As long as the expense is justified (i.e., you’re earning enough), then hiring a cleaner can free up more time for work, allowing you to focus on earning money instead of cleaning your home.
For example, if you could complete an extra $200 worth of work from your side hustle in a day but are unable to due to the time you have to spend cleaning, it may be worth paying $100 to a cleaner. In this example, you would be able to earn an extra $100 that you wouldn’t otherwise have been able to make time for.
Conclusion – Should I Hire A Maid In Canada?
If you find that cleaning is taking up a significant amount of time that you could otherwise devote to profitable activities, and you can afford the cost of cleaning within your 30% budget for non-essential expenses, then hiring a maid in Canada could relieve stress and allow you to earn more.
Alternatively, you could pick up a side hustle to help cover the additional cost of hiring a cleaner. Keep on reading to see my list of the best side hustles for Canadians!
