Kitchener-Waterloo based · Serving real estate teams and brokerages across Canada.
The answer depends on one thing: how much you do not spend.
Most agents are told there is an income level where you should incorporate. There is not one.
Only the green part can go into a corporation. Everything else you were going to spend anyway.
The bigger that green part is, the more incorporating is worth to you. If there is nothing left over, it does nothing for you at all.
Three questions. No email, no download, nothing to book. If incorporating will not help you, it will say so.
Commission income after your business expenses, before any tax.
Before tax. The amount you would take out of the corporation each year.
Before tax on money you later take out.
Against taking the same money personally.
Extra property from one year already worked.
| Sole proprietor | Corporation | |
|---|---|---|
| Net business income | — | — |
| Salary paid to you | Not available | — |
| Employer CPP on that salary | Not available | — |
| CPP, your half | — | — |
| Personal tax | — | — |
| Total personal tax and CPP | — | — |
| Corporate tax | Nil | — |
| Total tax and CPP | — | — |
| Capital available to invest | — | — |
Repeating this every year and earning 6% on what you invest.
| Personally | Through the corporation | |
|---|---|---|
| After 5 years | — | — |
| After 10 years | — | — |
| Difference | — | |
A simplified estimate using published 2026 rates, not tax advice. How the numbers were worked out is set out at the bottom of this page.
A 45 minute session on how to structure your PREC. Salary versus dividends, whether a spouse or family member belongs in the structure, what to do with income that swings year to year, and how property fits. You leave with a written plan, sent within 24 hours. $299 plus sales tax, credited in full against the incorporation or other services if you go ahead.
Book a Structure SessionThe calculator answers one question: what happens to the income you do not need to take out. That is the core of the decision. It is not all of it, and the rest is different for every agent.
Salary builds RRSP room and CPP. Dividends do not. Most agents end up with a mix, and the right one depends on what you already have.
A spouse, adult children, or a family trust can change the answer significantly. The rules are specific and they are not the same in every province.
A strong year followed by a quiet one is normal in this business. A corporation lets you smooth what you take out across both, which is worth planning deliberately rather than reacting to.
Property held inside a corporation is treated differently from property held personally. Financing, rental income and the eventual sale all work differently, and it is easier to set up correctly than to unwind later.
RRSP room, TFSA room, an existing corporation, a rental you already own, a mortgage you are trying to pay down. All of it changes the order things should happen in.
A corporation you plan to draw down over twenty years is set up differently from one you plan to wind up in five. Both are fine. They are not the same plan.
Two agents earning the same amount can end up with completely different structures. That is the difference between a calculation and a plan.
Run the numbers above, then book a structure session if you want the version built on your situation.
Tax deferred, not eliminated. Money you later take out of the corporation is taxed then. The advantage is that a larger amount is invested in the meantime.
Before tax on investment income. Investment income inside a corporation is taxed at a higher rate than active business income, and passive income above $50,000 starts reducing access to the small business rate.
A simplified estimate, not tax advice. Your own numbers will differ.