Side-hustle success Many turn to extra gig jobs to improve financial fortunes amid rising costs, with some using it as step to new full-time work By: Gabrielle Piché Posted: 5:15 PM CDT Friday, Jul. 21, 2023

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Upon returning home after the workday, Sydney Critch might tint a client’s eyelashes or create a wedding sign — two side hustles she’s launched in the past two years.

“For me personally, it’s always about being able to have the financial freedom,” Critch, 25, said.

Earlier this year, an H&R Block Canada survey revealed 28 per cent of Canadian adults — around 8.7 million people — had taken on gig jobs to supplement their incomes.

The most popular side hustle in Manitoba is social-media management, according to newly released data from BonusFinder, a casino bonus website.

It tracked Google searches and found, nationally, social media management, virtual assistant jobs and selling handmade crafts were the most common side hustles.

Critch started selling homemade wedding signs, glasses and other decor last December. It followed her esthetics venture: she began eyelash lifts and tints in July 2021.

“I (felt) really broke,” Critch said of the time. “I felt like I had… not a lot to my name.”

She was working at a car dealership and carrying debt. Inflation began accelerating early in 2021; in July 2021, gas prices rose 30.9 per cent compared to the year prior.

Critch said she funnelled her savings into online esthetician courses. Part-time jobs — minimum wage and scheduled hours — after full-time shifts didn’t appeal to her.

“I definitely killed myself in the beginning, but now I’ve got a steady group of regulars,” the Lifted by Sydney owner said.

Her extra income has allowed her to care for her border collie and pay for others’ coffee.

“My goal was really to be living comfortable,” Critch said. “(The side hustles are) definitely for financial gains, but not all for myself.”

She now works a full-time credit union job and spends up to eight hours on evenings and weekends taking clients and decorating items.

“It’s very difficult to just get by, especially as a single person,” Critch said. “I definitely think if I was only doing one job, I would be in a very tight financial situation.”

Nearly half of Manitoba and Saskatchewan residents reported being $200 or less away from not being able to meet their financial obligations, a June survey from Ipsos and accounting firm MNP Ltd. found.

Last week, the Bank of Canada announced another increase in its key interest rate, bringing the rate to five per cent. A year ago, the rate was 2.5 per cent.

Manitoba’s inflation rate cooled to 2.1 per cent year-over-year in June, but the year prior, June saw a year-over-year increase of 9.4 per cent. The gap between rich and poor has widened at its fastest pace on record, according to a July Statistics Canada report.

Tanya Reynolds, an insolvency trustee with MNP Ltd., regularly suggests second jobs and side hustles to clients.

“It’s something we will throw out to those coming to seek assistance as a possibility, to try to make things a little bit more manageable,” Reynolds said. “The mounting weight of household expenses and food prices has certainly heightened some Manitobans’ financial anxieties.”

Sixty-eight per cent of Manitoba and Saskatchewan Ipsos respondents felt their weekly spending on essentials had increased by at least $100. Ipsos and MNP conducted its survey between June 1 and 6 with 2,000 Canadians.

Businesses have felt the squeeze too, noted Iqbal Brar.

He started IQ Safety Solutions as a side hustle years ago — not necessarily for more money, but to lay the foundations of a consulting career. The health and safety practitioner took clients on evenings and weekends; three months ago, he made IQ Safety Solutions his full-time job.

“Recent economic conditions have definitely led to a growth in my specific business,” Brar said.

Over the past year or two, companies have described strained budgets and an inability to hire a full-time safety specialist, Brar said. They turn to him for piecemeal work.

Meantime, people within his network are increasingly starting side hustles, among other things, for financial security.

“I think you’re going to see it more and more… unless something changes,” Brar said.

Side hustles are not for everyone: taking on a second job is especially hard for Manitobans with families, noted Reynolds from MNP Ltd.

“There’s going to be implications as far as, say, an increase in taxes,” she added.

Nearly a quarter of gig workers polled by H&R Block Canada didn’t understand the tax implications; almost half of polled gig workers said they’d be willing to hide some of their side-hustle income.

Futurpreneur began its own side-hustle program, nationally, in 2017. The program offers collateral-free loans up to $15,000 and two years of mentorship.

Just seven Manitoba side hustlers have used the program, outlined Caroline Ksiazek, Futurpreneur’s regional lead for Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the North. Entrepreneurs built part-time jobs in e-commerce, marketing, roofing, accounting and spice selling.

“Really anything you do full time, you can do in a part-time capacity,” Ksiazek mused.

Brar took the side-hustle program, as did Meaghan Marks — it’s how she began her private therapy practice.

“When I worked for an organization, I could work really, really hard, but I’d still make the same amount of money,” said Marks, who has a master’s degree in social work.

She began seeing clients on top of working full time, sometimes working 60 hours a week. Eventually, she dropped her day job; her private practice side hustle became her main work, which was her initial goal.

She was looking to set her own hours and pay scale — two things she’s accomplished, she said.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com