Buying or selling a business — start here.
One free library of guides, articles, videos and expert answers for buying, selling or brokering a small or medium business in Canada.
Are you a business broker? Visit our Free Broker Learning Center
Free playbooks, guides and courses on deal-structuring, valuation, due diligence, closing and Canadian M&A — made for brokers.
Browse broker guidesHowever you like to learn.
Five free formats, one plain-language approach. Pick your medium and dive in.
Articles
Short reads answering one Canadian business question at a time.Videos & podcasts
Deavo staff explaining the process in plain English — watch or listen.Courses
Self-paced tracks that follow the five Deavo stages, start to finish.Ask an expert
Search plain-language answers, or send us a question of your own.Browse by industry
Search for your sector or pick a featured collection below — each one is a curated set of guides for that industry’s deals.
Featured collections
Popular this month
Where are you in the journey?
Each path points you at the guides and articles in the library that actually apply to you.
Buying a business
Browsing listings, signing NDAs, financing and closing — every stage of buying a Canadian business.
Explore this path →Selling a business
Listing, managing NDAs, evaluating offers and handing over — every stage of selling.
Explore this path →For brokers
Onboarding a mandate, managing NDAs across your book, and closing the file.
Explore this path →NDAs explained: what buyers need to sign
Reading a Deal Report: what’s actually inside
Due-diligence checklist explained
“How long does the deal report take to appear after I sign?”
Working capital adjustments explained
Editor’s picks.
Due-diligence checklist explained
Understanding CSBFP financing
How to value a small business in Canada
Questions people are asking.
Answered by Deavo staff. Nothing here is a valuation, legal or financial opinion — a human reviews any number or document you rely on.
Not sure where to start?
Tell us if you’re buying, selling or brokering — we’ll point you to the right guides.
Browse by topic.
Nine subjects, each gathering every guide, answer, checklist and definition we have on it.
Sources
The standing authorities behind the Learning Center. Each industry hub and article cites the specific sources that apply to it; these are the references worth knowing wherever you start.
- 01Canada Revenue AgencyGovernmentSelling a business
- 02Business Development Bank of CanadaIndustryHow to sell your business
- 03Canadian Federation of Independent BusinessResearch dataSuccession Tsunami: Preparing for a decade of small business transitions
- 04Innovation, Science and Economic Development CanadaGovernmentCanada Small Business Financing Program
- 05Treadstone LawLegal commentaryBuying & Selling a Business
- 06Treadstone LawLegal commentaryBuying & Selling a Business — article library
- 07Treadstone LawLegal commentaryBuying & Selling a Business — Q&A
- 08Treadstone LawLegal commentaryMergers & Acquisitions
- 09Treadstone LawLegal commentaryCorporate Law
- 10Treadstone LawLegal commentaryTax Law
- 11Treadstone LawLegal commentaryBusiness Broker Commission and Fees in Ontario
- 12Treadstone AssociatesAdvisorySmall & Mid-Sized Businesses
- 13Treadstone AssociatesAdvisoryTreadstone Academy
Deavo is an advertising and listings platform, not a brokerage, law firm or valuation firm. This page is general information, not legal, tax, accounting or valuation advice, and rules differ by province. Confirm anything you rely on with a qualified professional before you act on it.