[AB] Making ~$60k+ between freelance marketing and a part-time role in Alberta. Should I incorporate?
I'm in Alberta and my freelance marketing/content creation work has started growing quickly. I'm trying to figure out how I should structure it before it gets bigger.
Right now I have:
• $1,000/month client
• 2x $500/month client
• Other sporadic clients/projects
• $40k/year marketing role at ~25 hours/week
My clients currently just pay me directly and I invoice them personally. I'm not incorporated and haven't remitted any tax on my 2026 freelance income yet. I've started looking into setting money aside for income tax and the $30k GST threshold.
The $40k role would be much more like a regular part-time job, so I'm wondering if I should take that as employment income and keep my other marketing work as a separate business.
Would you:
- Stay a sole proprietor for now?
- Incorporate the freelance business, but take the $40k role as an employee?
- Have everything go through a corporation?
Also, is there anything tax-wise I should be doing right now rather than just setting money aside and dealing with it at tax time? Any potential expenses I could get covered?
I'm going to speak with a CPA before making any decisions, but I'd love to hear from people who've been in a similar position.