The best free business plan template in Canada depends on who will read your plan. For a bank loan or a general startup plan, use BDC’s template or the Province of British Columbia’s Word template. If you’re 18 to 39 and applying to Futurpreneur, use Futurpreneur’s own Business Plan Writer. For a farm or food business, use FCC’s business plan bundle. Whichever you pick, add the Canadian details a US template won’t ask for: your business structure, your business number, your GST/HST status and your permits and licenses.

Below are seven free templates and guides from Canadian lenders and governments. For each one you’ll see who it suits, its format and what sets it apart. After that comes a checklist of the Canadian details to add, and an outline you can copy.

Business plan templates in Canada at a glance

Template Publisher Best for Format Sign-up needed
Business plan template BDC Any small business, bank or BDC financing Download (template, guide, glossary, example plan) Yes, a contact form
Business Plan Writer Futurpreneur Futurpreneur applicants aged 18 to 39 Online tool, plus a shorter downloadable plan Login for the online tool
Business plan bundles FCC Farms, food and beverage businesses Download bundle Not stated on the page
Business Plan Builder RBC Anyone who wants to answer questions step by step Online, downloadable as a document Not stated on the page
Business plan template TD A simple fill-in plan in Word Word (.docx), plus a startup costs spreadsheet Not stated on the page
Business plan template Province of BC Any business; a plain, editable plan Word (.docx), plus cash flow and sales forecast spreadsheets No
Planning for success guide ACOA (Government of Canada) Writers who want an explained, section-by-section guide Web page with sample financial statements No

“Not stated on the page” means the template’s official page didn’t say either way when we checked it.

The seven free templates, one by one

BDC business plan template

BDC’s business plan template is the one the Government of Canada’s own planning a business page points to for templates and examples of a business plan and financial plan.

  • Who it suits: Most small businesses, especially if a bank or BDC will read the plan.
  • Format: A free download made up of several documents: the template, an instruction guide, a glossary and an example business plan.
  • What’s distinctive: The example plan and glossary help if you’ve never written a plan before. You have to fill in a form first (name, email, phone, company details). The box to receive BDC marketing emails is optional.

BDC’s site also has a strategic planning toolkit if your business is already running and you need a growth plan rather than a startup plan.

Futurpreneur Business Plan Writer

Futurpreneur’s Business Plan Writer is an interactive online tool that walks you through each section with tips and examples. The same page offers the Focused Business Plan, a shorter version you download and fill in on your own device, and an example business plan.

  • Who it suits: Anyone applying for Futurpreneur financing. Futurpreneur’s eligibility rules say you must be 18 to 39 when you apply, be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident living in Canada, and “produce a complete and viable business plan and cash flow by the end of the application process.”
  • Format: The online writer needs a login. The Focused Business Plan is a download you edit offline.
  • What’s distinctive: It’s built for Futurpreneur’s own application, so the plan you write is in the shape its reviewers expect. If you aren’t applying to Futurpreneur, the Focused Business Plan is still a quick, plain starting point.

FCC business plan bundles

FCC’s business plan bundles are, in FCC’s words, “designed specifically for Canadian producers, food and beverage entrepreneurs or anyone involved in Canadian agriculture and food.” FCC’s own articles describe the bundle as a guide, a template and resources.

  • Who it suits: Farms, ranches, and food and beverage processors, especially if you’ll borrow from FCC (Farm Credit Canada).
  • Format: A downloadable bundle.
  • What’s distinctive: It’s the only template here written for agriculture. The same section of FCC’s site has cash flow planning resources, calculators and a financial glossary, which help with the money side of a farm plan.

RBC Business Plan Builder

The RBC Business Plan Builder is an online template. RBC says it “will guide you through a series of questions, resources and tips to help you write your plan.” You can complete it online and download it as a document at any time, so you can stop and come back.

  • Who it suits: People who find a blank template hard to start and would rather answer questions. RBC says it suits businesses of any size.
  • Format: Online, downloadable as a document.
  • What’s distinctive: The question-by-question approach. RBC’s create a business plan page also links free PDFs for a cash flow forecast, a SWOT analysis and startup costs.

TD business plan template

TD’s writing a business plan page offers a free business plan template in Word, organized around an executive summary, a market analysis and financial projections.

  • Who it suits: Anyone who wants a short, editable Word file to fill in.
  • Format: Word (.docx). The same page offers a startup costs spreadsheet.
  • What’s distinctive: It’s simple. TD’s guidance asks for projected income statements and balance sheets for three to five years, which tells you how far ahead a bank may expect you to plan. Our guide to estimating startup costs shows how to fill in the costs part.

Province of British Columbia business plan template

The BC government’s write a business plan page has a Word business plan template (also in French), a cash flow forecast spreadsheet and a sales forecast spreadsheet. It suggests seven sections: executive summary (one to two pages), business description, market research, marketing and sales strategy, operations plan, financials, and additional information.

  • Who it suits: Any business, in any province. Nothing in the template stops you using it outside BC.
  • Format: Word (.docx) and Excel (.xlsx). No sign-up.
  • What’s distinctive: It’s the only option here with a matching sales forecast and cash flow forecast in spreadsheets, and the page gives one piece of advice worth repeating: “If you are using your business plan to apply for funding, check if the funder has a business plan template for you to use.”

ACOA’s Planning for success guide

The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency publishes Planning for success: your guide to preparing a business and marketing plan on canada.ca. It walks through nine sections: cover page, table of contents, executive summary, industry description, business description, opportunities, production plan, marketing plan and financials.

  • Who it suits: People who want each section explained before they write it. It’s published for Atlantic Canada, but the content works anywhere.
  • Format: A web page, with sample layouts for a cash flow forecast, income statement, balance sheet, market share analysis and breakeven analysis.
  • What’s distinctive: The sample financial statements and its length guidance: the guide says a plan should “ideally be between 10 to 40 pages.”

What about Innovation Canada?

Innovation Canada doesn’t offer a business plan template. Its Business Benefits Finder gives you “a tailored list of everything government can do for your business,” which is useful once your plan is drafted and you’re looking for funding or support to name in it.

Which template should you choose?

Work through these questions in order and stop at the first yes:

  1. Is a specific lender or program going to read it? Use their template. Futurpreneur applicants use the Business Plan Writer, and our guide to a Futurpreneur business plan covers the rest of the application. FCC borrowers use the FCC bundle. For a Canada Small Business Financing Program loan, read our guide to the CSBFP business plan.
  2. Do you want to answer questions rather than face blank pages? Use the RBC Business Plan Builder.
  3. Do you want an editable file with forecast spreadsheets, and no sign-up? Use the BC government template with its cash flow and sales forecast files.
  4. Do you want an example plan to copy the style of? Use BDC’s template, which comes with one.

If you’re still unsure, start with the BC template. It’s free, editable and doesn’t ask for your email.

What Canadian lenders need that US templates miss

Many free templates online are written for the US and ask about things like an LLC, an EIN or state sales tax. Those don’t fit a Canadian business. A Canadian plan should cover the following instead. Lenders’ requirements differ, so ask yours what it wants, and check legal and tax questions with an accountant or lawyer.

Business structure

Canada.ca’s registration pages cover four business structures: sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation and cooperative. The Canada Revenue Agency notes that “the type of structure you choose for your business has a significant effect on the way you report your income.” Name your structure in the plan and, for a corporation, say whether it’s incorporated federally or provincially. Canada.ca’s registering your business page covers both, and the CRA’s setting up your business page explains how each structure is taxed.

Provincial registration

“Most businesses need to register with the provinces and territories where they plan to do business,” according to canada.ca’s page on registering a sole proprietorship or partnership. A sole proprietor working under their own name may not need to. Say in your plan where you’re registered, or when you will be.

Business number

A business number (BN) is the CRA’s identifier for your business. You need one if you incorporate, or if you need a GST/HST, payroll or other CRA program account, according to the CRA’s page on when you need a business number. If you’ll hire staff, mention the payroll account in your operations plan.

GST/HST status

You don’t have to register for GST/HST while you’re a small supplier, which generally means your taxable sales don’t exceed $30,000 over four consecutive calendar quarters. If you pass $30,000 over four quarters, you stop being a small supplier at the end of the month after the quarter in which you passed it. If you pass it in a single quarter, you stop being one right away. You can register voluntarily, and some businesses, such as taxi and ride-sharing drivers, must register regardless. The CRA’s page on when to register for and charge the GST/HST has the full rules.

In your plan, state whether you’re registered, and if not, when your sales forecast says you’ll pass $30,000. In your financials, show whether your prices include or exclude GST/HST, because sales tax you collect isn’t your income.

Permits and licenses

Permits come from municipal, provincial or territorial and federal governments. BizPaL builds “a personalized list of the business documents you need” for your location and activity. Run a search and list each permit or license in your plan with its status: held, applied for, or planned.

Canadian figures

Put every number in Canadian dollars and use Canadian sources for market data. Name any Canadian financing you’ll use, such as BDC, Futurpreneur or a CSBFP loan, in your funding request. Our guide to financial projections shows how to build the numbers a lender reads.

Example: the Canadian details for a made-up business

Example (made up): Northwind Mobile Bike Repair is a sole proprietorship in Kelowna, BC, run by its owner under a registered business name. Here’s its Canadian details section, with numbers for illustration only:

Item Status
Structure Sole proprietorship, business name registered in BC
Business number Will apply when registering for GST/HST
GST/HST Not yet registered. The sales forecast passes $30,000 in month 9, so the owner plans to register before then (timing to confirm with an accountant)
Permits and licenses BizPaL search done. Municipal business license applied for. Vehicle insurance for business use to be in place before opening
Funding $18,000 total: $6,000 owner’s savings plus a $12,000 loan requested

Check the funding line: $6,000 plus $12,000 is $18,000.

Canadian business plan checklist

Before you send your plan to a Canadian lender, check that it:

  • Uses the lender’s or program’s own template if it has one
  • Names your business structure and where you’re registered
  • States your business number, or when you’ll get one
  • States your GST/HST status and when you expect to register
  • Lists every permit and license from your BizPaL search, with its status
  • Shows all figures in Canadian dollars, with prices before GST/HST
  • Includes a monthly cash flow forecast (Futurpreneur, for one, requires a cash flow with the plan)
  • Names any Canadian funding programs you’re applying to
  • Has an executive summary of one to two pages

A simple Canadian business plan outline you can copy

Copy this into any document. It follows the sections the BC government recommends, with a Canadian details section added. For help writing each part, see our step-by-step guide to how to write a business plan.

  1. Executive summary (one to two pages)
    • What the business does, for whom, and where in Canada
    • How much money you need and what it’s for
    • When you expect to break even
  2. Business description
    • Products or services
    • Owners and their relevant experience
    • Goals for the first one to three years
  3. Canadian details
    • Business structure (sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation or cooperative)
    • Province or territory of registration, and federal or provincial incorporation if a corporation
    • Business number and CRA program accounts (GST/HST, payroll)
    • GST/HST status and expected registration date
    • Permits and licenses from BizPaL, with status
  4. Market research
    • Your customers and how many there are in your area
    • Competitors and how you differ
    • Sources (Canadian where possible)
  5. Marketing and sales strategy
    • Pricing (before GST/HST)
    • How customers will find you
    • Sales forecast by month for year one
  6. Operations plan
    • Location, equipment and suppliers
    • Staff and hiring plan
    • Insurance
  7. Financials (all in Canadian dollars)
    • Startup costs
    • Funding request and sources (savings, loans, programs)
    • Monthly cash flow forecast for at least 12 months
    • Projected income statement and balance sheet
    • Break-even point
  8. Additional information
    • Resumes, quotes, leases, letters of intent, permit copies

Fill it in, then compare it against the template your lender uses before you send it. If you’re going for a loan, ask the lender which financial statements they want and for how many years.