An outsourced growth team costs from $2,500 to $12,000 a month on retainer, depending mostly on how many roles are active and how much each one ships. Fixed-scope projects such as the growth audit run from $3,500 to $25,000, and hourly consulting is $175 to $350. All prices are in Canadian dollars before tax.
Hourly consulting
$175–$350 /hour
Strategy sessions and expert advice by the hour.
Project
$3,500–$25,000 per project
Defined-scope work such as a plan, assessment or launch, with milestone payments.
Monthly retainer
$2,500–$12,000 /month
Ongoing advisory and execution support.
Growth Partner Program
Custom
Performance-based partnership: Ali invests time upfront and is paid on measurable results. Limited partnerships available.
Free initial consultation · no lock-in. The initial 30-minute consultation is free, with no obligation.
Prices in Canadian dollars. Sales tax is added based on the client's province (as of October 2026, CRA rates): 5% GST in Alberta, BC, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Yukon, NWT and Nunavut; 13% HST in Ontario; 14% HST in Nova Scotia; 15% HST in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador and PEI; 5% GST plus 9.975% QST in Quebec. Provincial sales tax (BC, Manitoba, Saskatchewan) only where it applies to the service. See full pricing on businessconsulting.ca/pricing.
The four ways to engage
| Option | Price (CAD) | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Hourly consulting | $175–$350 per hour | A second opinion, a vendor review, a strategy session |
| Project | $3,500–$25,000 per project | The growth audit, a website conversion sprint, a launch plan |
| Monthly retainer | $2,500–$12,000 per month | The embedded growth team |
| Growth Partner Program | Custom | Performance-based partnership; limited partnerships available |
Projects are billed with milestone payments. Retainers are billed monthly. The initial 30-minute consultation is free, with no obligation.
The full published price list for the group's consulting work is on BusinessConsulting.ca's pricing page. Ontario.Team uses the same ranges.
What moves the price up or down
The retainer range is wide because businesses differ. Five things decide where you land:
- Active roles. Two roles (say, local visibility and follow-up) cost far less than five.
- Production volume. Four pages and two guides a month is a different job from twelve pages and eight guides.
- Locations and brands. Each extra location or brand adds pages, profiles, campaigns and scorecard lines.
- Languages. A bilingual or multilingual plan, common in Ottawa, Peel and York Region, needs fluent writers and separate campaigns.
- Starting condition. Untangling accounts owned by former vendors, rebuilding tracking or fixing a broken website adds work at the start.
As a rough guide, a single-location business with two or three active roles usually sits towards the lower part of the retainer range. A multi-location business with all roles running, multiple languages and heavy content production sits towards the top. Your written scope will list every role and deliverable, so you can see exactly what you're paying for.
A worked comparison with hiring
Here's a way to sanity-check any retainer, ours included. Add up what one in-house marketing hire would really cost you per year: salary, payroll costs, benefits, software, training, and the hours you or a manager spend supervising. Divide by 12.
Then ask what that one person can cover. Usually it's one or two of the six roles well. A retainer at a similar monthly figure should cover more roles, with no recruiting time, no vacation gaps and no restart when someone resigns. If it doesn't, the in-house hire may be the better deal, and we'll tell you so. Our guide on in-house versus outsourced growth teams lays out the full calculation.
The Growth Partner Program
For a limited number of businesses, Ali offers a performance-based arrangement: he invests time upfront and is paid on measurable results agreed in writing. It suits established businesses with clean records of enquiries and revenue, because the results have to be measurable. Terms are written for each partnership. Our sister site Ontario.Partners explains the program in detail for Ontario firms.
What's never included
So there are no surprises: media spend (paid directly by you), third-party software subscriptions you choose to buy, printing, and specialist professional advice such as legal or accounting work. If a plan needs any of these, the scope says so and gives you the choice.
How to choose
- Unsure what's working? Start with the growth audit.
- Know the problem, need it fixed? Start a project on that one role.
- Need weekly growth work with no internal owner? Choose the embedded team retainer.
- Want a quick expert view? Book an hour or two of consulting by call, text or email.
Taxes: Ontario clients add 13% HST (CRA rates, checked 2026-10-23). Questions about contracts and ownership are answered in the FAQ.
Frequently asked questions
Is ad spend included in the retainer?
No. You pay Google, Microsoft or Meta directly on your own account. The retainer covers the team's work; the media budget is separate and always visible to you.
Is there a contract term?
There's no lock-in. We suggest treating the first 90 days as one planning cycle, because that's when the numbers become readable, but you can stop with notice.
What taxes apply?
Prices are in Canadian dollars and exclude sales tax. Ontario clients add 13% HST, shown as a separate line on your invoice.
Is the first conversation really free?
Yes. The initial 30-minute consultation is free with no obligation. If we're not the right fit, we'll say so.
What is the Growth Partner Program?
A performance-based partnership in which Ali invests time upfront and is paid on measurable results. Partnerships are limited and terms are written for each business.