If you’ve been searching for side hustles for nurses in Canada, you’re probably in one of two places. Either you love nursing but your paycheque isn’t stretching the way it used to, or you’re tired and wondering if there’s a way to earn more without picking up yet another twelve-hour shift. I get it, because I’ve been in both places.
I trained and worked as a registered nurse back home, and here in Canada I work as a registered health care worker. Alongside that, I’ve built income from self-publishing, digital products, and content websites. Some of what I tried worked, and some of it was a waste of time. So this isn’t a list copied from American websites that forgets Canadian licensing rules or the CRA. It’s the honest version: what nurses in Canada can realistically do on the side, what to check before you start, and how to avoid burning out while you do it.
Why So Many Canadian Nurses Are Looking for Side Income
Nursing in Canada is a stable career, but stable isn’t the same as comfortable. Rent in cities like Vancouver and Toronto has climbed faster than most wage increases, and many nurses work casual or part-time lines that don’t guarantee hours.
There’s also another reason people rarely talk about: control. When your schedule, your unit, and your workload are decided by someone else, building something of your own feels good. A side hustle can be a financial cushion, a creative outlet, or a slow bridge to a different kind of work down the road.
If you’re still figuring out the bigger picture of growing your income, my guide on income growth strategies that actually work is a good companion to this article.
Before You Start: 4 Things Every Canadian Nurse Should Check
This is the part most lists skip, and it’s the part that can protect your licence.
1. Your Regulatory College’s Standards
Nursing in Canada is regulated provincially. In B.C. that’s the British Columbia College of Nurses and Midwives (BCCNM); other provinces have their own colleges. Any side work that involves nursing practice, such as giving vaccines, doing foot care, or offering health advice, falls under your professional standards. That means your scope of practice, documentation, and privacy rules still apply, even when the setting is informal.
2. Your Employer’s Policies
Many health authorities and hospitals have conflict-of-interest policies. Working a second nursing job is usually fine, but running a business that overlaps with your employer’s services, or using work time or resources for it, can create problems. Read your policy or ask HR before you launch anything nursing-related.
3. Liability Protection
Many registered nurses in Canada have liability protection through the Canadian Nurses Protective Society (CNPS), often through their provincial association or union. Don’t assume it automatically covers self-employed work. If you’re starting an independent nursing business, confirm what’s covered and whether you need extra insurance.
4. Your Own Energy
Nursing is physically and emotionally heavy. The best side hustle is one you can sustain for a year, not one that looks exciting for two weeks and then drains you completely. Keep that in mind as you read the list below.
Side Hustles That Use Your Nursing Licence
These options pay well because they depend on your credentials. They also come with the most responsibility.
1. Casual Shifts Through an Agency
The simplest side hustle for Canadian nurses is also the most obvious: picking up casual shifts, either through your own health authority’s casual pool or through a private staffing agency. Agencies often offer flexibility in where and when you work, and some pay premium rates for hard-to-fill shifts.
The downside is that it’s more of the same work. If burnout is your problem, extra shifts won’t fix it. But if you want reliable income with zero startup cost, this is hard to beat.
2. Immunization Clinic Nurse
Every fall, pharmacies, public health units, and workplace clinics need nurses to help with flu and other vaccination campaigns. These roles are often short, seasonal, and on evenings or weekends, which makes them easy to fit around a regular schedule.
It’s also a nice change of pace. You see many people quickly, the work is focused, and most clients are healthy adults. Check your provincial immunization competency requirements first, since some employers ask for a specific course.
3. Event, Camp, and Retreat Nurse
Summer camps, sports tournaments, music festivals, and corporate retreats often need a nurse on site. Camp nursing in particular can be a fun way to spend part of the summer, especially if you enjoy working with kids.
Look for these roles on job boards in the spring, and ask your nurse friends. Many are filled through word of mouth.
4. CPR and First Aid Instructor
Once you’re certified as an instructor through a recognized organization, you can teach CPR and first aid classes to community groups, daycares, workplaces, and new parents. Classes usually run on weekends, and demand is steady because many jobs require up-to-date certification.
If you like teaching and want a break from bedside care, this is one of the most rewarding options on the list.
5. Foot Care Nursing
This one is very Canadian and very underrated. Nurses with advanced foot care training provide nail and skin care to seniors, people with diabetes, and anyone who can’t safely care for their own feet. Many work as mobile foot care nurses, visiting clients at home or in retirement residences.
You’ll need a recognized foot care course and the right equipment, and you’ll be running a small business, with booking, sterilization, charting, and invoicing. But the demand is growing as Canada’s population ages, and some extended health plans cover the service, which helps clients say yes.
6. Tutoring Nursing Students
Since Canada adopted the NCLEX-RN (outside Quebec), nursing students have been looking for help preparing. If you explain things well, you can tutor for the NCLEX, help with pharmacology or clinical reasoning, or support internationally educated nurses working toward Canadian registration.
You can do this online, in the evenings, from anywhere, and all you need is your knowledge and a video call link.
Side Hustles That Use Your Knowledge (Without Clinical Work)
These options don’t involve hands-on patient care, which means lower risk to your licence and more flexibility. They take longer to build, but they can grow into something bigger.
7. Health and Medical Writing
Health websites, clinics, health tech companies, and education companies all need content that’s accurate and easy to understand. Nurses are excellent at explaining complicated things simply, because we do it for patients every day.
Start by writing a few sample articles on topics you know well, then pitch small health businesses or look for freelance writing platforms. Be careful never to present general health information as personal medical advice, and always stay within your expertise.
8. Paid Healthcare Surveys and Research Panels
Market research companies pay healthcare professionals for their opinions on products, workflows, and patient care trends. It won’t replace a shift, but it’s easy money you can earn on your phone during a quiet evening. Stick with well-known research companies, and never share confidential patient or employer information.
9. Digital Products for Nurses and Students
This is where my own side income started growing. Think about what nurses and nursing students actually need: shift planners, medication study sheets, care plan templates, NCLEX study schedules, or new-grad survival guides. You create them once as PDFs and sell them again and again.
I walk through the full process in my guide on how to sell digital templates online. The key is making something genuinely useful, not just pretty.
10. Self-Publishing
If you have a story, like surviving night shift, your first year as a new grad, or caring for aging parents, or practical knowledge to share, self-publishing on Amazon KDP is a real option. It won’t make you rich overnight, and I’m honest about that in is self-publishing passive income? But a helpful book can keep earning small royalties for years.
11. Nurse Content Creator
Some nurses build audiences on TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube by sharing study tips, career advice, or honest day-in-the-life content. Brand deals and digital products can follow once you have an audience.
A big caution: never share anything about patients, even details you think are harmless. Privacy breaches can end careers, and your college will treat online behaviour seriously.
12. A Non-Nursing Side Hustle
Sometimes the best side hustle for a nurse has nothing to do with nursing. If you want your days off to feel completely different, consider something like virtual assistant work, pet sitting, or selling on marketplaces. My guide on how to become a virtual assistant with no experience is a good starting point, and nurses already have the organization and calm-under-pressure skills clients love.
Quick Comparison: Which Side Hustle Fits Your Life?
| Side Hustle | Uses Licence? | Startup Cost | Flexibility | Burnout Risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Casual agency shifts | Yes | None | Medium | High |
| Immunization clinics | Yes | Low | Seasonal | Low–Medium |
| Camp/event nurse | Yes | None | Seasonal | Medium |
| CPR instructor | Partly | Medium | High | Low |
| Foot care nursing | Yes | Medium–High | High | Medium |
| Tutoring | No | None | High | Low |
| Health writing | No | None | High | Low |
| Digital products | No | Low | Very high | Low |
| Self-publishing | No | Low | Very high | Low |
How Taxes Work on Side Income in Canada
This part isn’t exciting, but ignoring it can turn a good side hustle into a stressful April.
All side income is taxable. Whether you’re paid through an agency (with tax deducted) or you run your own small business, the CRA expects you to report it.
Self-employed income goes on form T2125. If you’re running your own business, like foot care, tutoring, or digital products, you report your income and expenses on the Statement of Business or Professional Activities when you file.
You pay both sides of CPP. Self-employed people pay both the employee and employer portions of CPP contributions on their net business income, which surprises many first-timers.
Watch the GST/HST threshold. Once your taxable business revenue passes $30,000 over four consecutive calendar quarters, you’re generally required to register for GST/HST. The CRA’s GST/HST registration page explains the details.
Set money aside. A simple habit is moving a portion of every side hustle payment into a separate savings account for taxes. If you need help organizing that, my guide on how to start a budget plan from scratch walks through it.
Keep your receipts. Courses, equipment, software, and part of your phone bill may be deductible business expenses. A good accountant usually pays for themselves in your first year.
If You’re an Internationally Educated Nurse in Canada
This section is close to my heart, because I’ve lived it. Many nurses who trained abroad arrive in Canada and discover that their licence doesn’t transfer right away. Getting registered usually means going through the National Nursing Assessment Service (NNAS) and then meeting your provincial college’s requirements, which can take a long time.
In the meantime, many of us work as health care assistants or care aides, and that’s honest, valuable work. But it can also feel like your knowledge is sitting on a shelf. The good news is that several side hustles on this list don’t require a Canadian nursing licence at all.
You can tutor nursing students in subjects like pharmacology or anatomy, write health content, create study guides and digital products, or self-publish a book about your journey. Just be careful never to present yourself as a Canadian registered nurse, or to provide nursing care, until you’re actually registered here. Honesty about your credentials protects both you and your readers.
If this is your situation, your story is an asset. Other internationally educated nurses are searching for exactly the guidance you wish you’d had.
How to Choose the Right Side Hustle for You
Ask yourself these four questions before you commit:
- How much time do I really have? Be honest about your rotation, your family, and your recovery time after shifts.
- Do I want more nursing, or less? If you love clinical work, licence-based hustles make sense. If you need a break, choose something completely different.
- Do I want fast money or long-term income? Shifts pay right away. Digital products and writing are slower but can keep earning while you sleep.
- What do people already ask me for help with? If friends always ask you about meds, study tips, or career advice, that’s a clue.
If you’re still undecided, my list of 10 side hustle ideas that actually pay covers more options outside healthcare.
Protecting Yourself From Burnout
I’ll be honest: the biggest risk of a side hustle for nurses isn’t money, it’s exhaustion. A few rules that help:
- Protect at least one full day off every week that belongs to you and no one else.
- Start small. Try one side hustle for three months before adding another.
- Batch your work. Write, create, or tutor in focused blocks instead of squeezing it into every spare minute.
- Check in with yourself monthly. If your side hustle is making your main job harder, scale it back.
Extra income only helps if you’re well enough to enjoy it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can nurses in Canada legally have a side hustle?
Yes. Most nurses in Canada can take on side work, as long as it follows their regulatory college’s standards and doesn’t break their employer’s conflict-of-interest policies. If the work involves nursing practice, your professional obligations still apply.
What is the easiest side hustle for nurses in Canada?
Casual shifts and seasonal immunization clinics are usually the easiest, because they use skills you already have and need little setup. For something outside clinical work, tutoring nursing students is simple to start.
Can internationally educated nurses have a side hustle before getting registered in Canada?
Yes, as long as it doesn’t involve providing nursing care or calling yourself a registered nurse. Tutoring, health writing, digital products, and self-publishing are all good options while you work toward Canadian registration.
Can I start a nursing business in Canada?
Yes. Many nurses run independent businesses such as mobile foot care, education, or consulting. Check your college’s requirements for self-employed practice, confirm your liability protection, and register your business where needed.
Do I have to pay tax on my side hustle income?
Yes. All side income must be reported to the CRA. If you’re self-employed, you’ll report it on form T2125, pay both portions of CPP, and may need to register for GST/HST once you pass $30,000 in revenue.
What side hustles can nurses do from home?
Tutoring, health writing, paid surveys, creating digital products, self-publishing, and some telehealth roles can all be done from home.
Conclusion
The best side hustles for nurses in Canada aren’t about squeezing every last hour out of yourself. They’re about using what you already know, whether that’s clinical skills, teaching ability, or simply years of experience, to build income on your own terms.
Pick one option from this list that fits your energy and your goals. Check your college’s standards, sort out your taxes from day one, and give it a fair three months. Small, steady steps have taken me further than any “get rich quick” idea ever did, and I think they’ll do the same for you.
Disclaimer
This article is for general educational purposes only and isn’t legal, tax, financial, or professional practice advice. Nursing regulations, employer policies, and tax rules vary by province and change over time. Always confirm requirements with your provincial nursing regulatory college, your employer, the Canada Revenue Agency, and a qualified accountant before starting a side business.
