How to start a window cleaning business

Is window cleaning a good business to start?

For the right person, yes. Window cleaning has low start-up costs, short jobs, happy customers (clean windows are an instant before-and-after) and natural repeat business: most homes want it done once or twice a year, and storefronts want it every week or two.

It also has three real downsides, and you should plan for all of them before you buy a pole:

• Heights. Second- and third-storey windows are where the money is and where the injuries happen. Your safety setup is part of your business plan, not an afterthought.
• Weather and seasons. In most of Canada, exterior work slows sharply in winter. You need a plan for December to March (see the last section).
• Low price per job. A house is a few hundred dollars. You make money on volume and route density, not big tickets.

Most window cleaners mix three kinds of customer: homes (higher ticket, once or twice a year), storefronts (low ticket, every week or two, steady cash) and low-rise commercial buildings (bigger jobs, often quarterly). Storefront routes are a classic way to start, because a street of shops can fill a morning every week.

Window cleaning equipment: traditional kit or water-fed pole

There are two ways to clean a window professionally, and most companies end up using both.

The traditional kit

A strip washer (applicator) to wet and scrub the glass, a squeegee with spare rubber, a scraper for paint and stickers, a bucket, a belt or holster, and plenty of lint-free cloths for the edges. Add an extension pole for windows you can reach from the ground. This is how you clean interiors, storefronts and anything that needs a sharp, streak-free finish up close. It's cheap: a few hundred dollars gets you a professional set.

The water-fed pole

A water-fed pole (WFP) is a long, light pole with a brush at the top, fed with purified water through a hose. You scrub the glass and frame from the ground, rinse with pure water, and let it dry. Because the water has no dissolved minerals, it dries without spots. The purity is checked with a TDS meter; you want it close to zero.

Water is purified by deionization (DI) resin, a reverse osmosis (RO) unit, or both. RO costs more up front but cuts the cost of replacing resin in hard-water areas.

The big advantage of a water-fed pole isn't speed. It's that you're standing on the ground instead of a ladder. For a lot of second- and third-storey work, that's the safest setup you can buy.

Ontario's window cleaning rules (Regulation 859)

Ontario has a regulation just for window cleaning: Regulation 859 under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. If you or your workers clean windows in Ontario, these are the parts that matter most to a small company. The ministry's guidance adds detail, and where they conflict, the regulation wins.

• Fall arrest above 3 metres. A worker who isn't working from a ladder and could fall more than 3 m must use a fall arrest system, secured to a fixed support, set up so they can't fall freely more than 1.5 m. The system must limit the arrest force to 8 kN and let the worker hang safely for at least 30 minutes.
• Notice before suspended work. Before anyone uses a suspended scaffold, boatswain's chair or similar single-point equipment, the employer must notify a ministry inspector at the nearest office by telephone.
• A written work plan. Suspended equipment or sill work (standing on a sill or frame) needs a written plan based on the building's roof sketch, signed by the employer, with a copy to every worker. Nobody starts until they've received it.
• Training before equipment. Workers must be trained in the care and use of protective equipment before they use it. For rope access, the ministry recommends IRATA or SPRAT certification, with proof on site.
• Supervision and anchors. A competent supervisor must be appointed, and anchor points must be inspected at least once a year.

Most residential window cleaners never touch suspended equipment. Their risk is the ladder. Use ladders rated for the load, set them on level, firm footing, keep three points of contact, and use standoffs or stabilizers so the ladder rests on the wall, not the glass. Better still, clean upper floors from the ground with a water-fed pole.

On construction projects, Ontario's separate working at heights training rule can apply to workers who use fall protection. If you take post-construction window work, check whether the site counts as a construction project before you send a crew.

Other provinces have their own rules (WorkSafeBC's regulation in BC, for example). Check yours, and read them before your first hire, not after.

How to price window cleaning

Window cleaners price three ways. Pick one, publish it, and stick to it so customers get the same answer every time.

What customers pay in Canada: HomeStars' 2026 guide puts a typical detached house at $150 to $500: about $150 to $300 for exterior only and $250 to $500 inside and out. Large homes with 20 or more windows run $400 to $700. A condo interior is about $80 to $200, and high-rise units that need rope access start around $400. US pricing guides put residential work at about $10 to $18 a window or $4 to $8 a pane.

Charge extra for what takes extra time: screens, tracks and sills, hard-water stains, third-storey windows, skylights, post-construction paint and stickers (construction windows can take two to three times as long), and anything that needs a ladder you have to move a lot.

Register, insure and set up

The registration steps are the same as any cleaning business: register your name with your province (Ontario: $60 for 5 years), get a free CRA business number, and register for GST/HST once you pass $30,000. The start-up guide has the details.

City licences: check where you work. Calgary, for example, lists window washing among the cleaning businesses that need a municipal licence. Toronto doesn't license cleaning.

Insurance: tell your broker you clean windows and how high you go. Work above the ground floor, ladders and anything suspended change your premium, and a policy written for house cleaning may not cover it. Ask about coverage for tools and equipment too; a pure water setup in the back of a car is worth stealing.

Workers' comp: in Ontario, register with the WSIB within 10 days of your first hire. Window cleaning at heights is exactly the work the system exists for. The licence and insurance guide covers each province.

Run it as a route, not a list of jobs

The difference between a window cleaner who's busy and one who's profitable is usually the map. A $300 house twenty minutes from your last job earns less per hour than a $250 house next door to it. Build the business around areas, not individual bookings.

1. Book by area. Give each part of your city a day of the week. When someone in that area calls, offer them that day first. A short drive between jobs is worth more than a slightly higher price.
2. Fill the gaps with storefronts. A storefront route fits between houses on the same streets, in the early morning before shops open.
3. Sell plans, not cleans. Spring and fall on a set schedule, or monthly for storefronts. Customers on a plan don't need to be sold again, and you can plan staffing around them.
4. Set a weather policy and say it up front. Rain on a scheduled exterior clean means you'll move it to the next dry day in the same week, or the next visit to that area. Customers accept it when they've been told.
5. Ask customers to prep. Clear window sills, move furniture away from interior windows, and keep pets inside. Ten minutes of their time saves you twenty.
6. Take payment on the day, or a deposit to book. Chasing a $250 invoice costs more than it's worth. A card on file for plan customers is easiest.

A clean route also makes hiring easier: a new cleaner can learn one area and its regulars instead of a different city every day. More Knocks shows every booked address as a pin on the schedule's job map, and takes deposits and keeps a card on file when customers book.

Finding window cleaning customers

Window cleaning sells itself on sight, which makes local marketing unusually effective:

• Work the street. When you're on a ladder or a pole on a sunny Saturday, neighbours are watching. Leave a door hanger at the ten closest houses with a "while we're on your street" price.
• Storefront routes. Walk a commercial strip on a weekday morning and offer a weekly or every-two-weeks price for the front glass. Low tickets, but a street of them is a reliable morning.
• Spring and fall reminders. Email last year's customers before the season. Under CASL, implied consent from a purchase lasts two years, so last spring's customers are fine; get express consent on your booking form for the long run.
• Partners. House cleaners (who don't do exteriors), realtors (listing photos), property managers and painters all see customers who need clean glass.
• Google Business Profile and reviews. The same rules as any local service. Before-and-after photos of windows are some of the most convincing photos in the trade.

The full playbook is in the guide to getting cleaning clients.

Surviving winter: add-on services

Exterior window work in a Canadian January is short days, frozen water and cold hands. Plan the slow season before your first spring rush:

• Interiors and commercial. Office interiors, lobbies and storefront glass carry on all year.
• Gutter cleaning in the fall. Same ladder, same customers, booked right before winter.
• Holiday light installation. A common add-on for window cleaners in Canada: the same ladder skills, sold in October and November, removed in January.
• Pressure washing in spring and summer. Driveways, decks and siding for the same homeowners. See the pressure washing guide.
• Pre-booked spring. Sell next spring's clean in the fall with a small early-booking discount. You start the season with a full calendar.