Business Succession Planning for Canadian Owners

Most business succession planning fails in the first 30 minutes.
Because it starts with tactics instead of judgment. This service flips that.

Most business succession plans collapse before anyone dies.
Not because the tax math was wrong.
Not because the lawyer missed something.
But because the plan didn’t fit the people. It wasn't built to survive real life.

If you're here, you already suspect something isn’t right. Maybe you’ve been told it’s time to freeze shares or shift ownership. Maybe you're trying to be fair to your kids but can't see how to make that work. Maybe you're thinking of selling to a long-time employee, or preparing for a third-party deal, but worried what the transition will do to your team or culture.

Or maybe you’ve already been handed a plan and you're stalling, because it doesn’t feel like it will actually hold.

This service exists for that moment—before anything gets locked in, signed off, or set in motion.

It’s not tax planning. It’s not legal work.

It’s business succession planning that starts with the real world, not the ideal model.

Strategic Succession Planning Before Legal or Tax Advice

This is a strategy-first planning engagement. It’s designed to bring clarity at the point where big decisions are forming—but before they’ve been committed to paper, structure, or tax logic.

You need clarity. And most traditional advisors aren’t set up to give you that. They’re trained to optimize what you ask for. 

You’re not hiring me to draft documents or model freeze outcomes. You’re hiring me to help you decide what actually makes sense to do—if anything at all.

This is pre-lawyer, pre-tax advisory strategy. Before you freeze. Before you draft. Before someone else’s diagram becomes your future.

This engagement is built to surface the structural questions most advisors don’t stop to ask. The ones that matter when the people—not just the paperwork—are what will make or break the plan.

We focus on what’s unfolding in your situation: the roles that exist in your business, the people who may or may not be ready to step in, and the timing that actually makes sense for your life and your exit. The goal is to surface what holds, flag what breaks, and map what’s actually viable—so you can move forward with confidence, or pause with intention.

Who Business Succession Planning Is For

A business succession planning engagement is for business owners who are facing succession not as an abstract idea, but as a real, approaching reality.

You may be starting to step back—or thinking about what happens if you can’t. You might have children involved, or avoiding involvement. You may be considering a sale to key employees, preparing for a third-party exit, or unsure if anyone is actually ready to take the reins. You may already have a freeze or trust proposal on the table, but no clear sense of whether the people around you can live with it—or whether you can.

It’s also for families where tensions are already surfacing. Where “equal” isn’t actually fair. Where your advisors don’t seem to be hearing what matters most. Where you need a clear, confident lens before you agree to anything irreversible.

This isn’t for everyone. It’s for decision-makers. Whether you’re just starting to think about succession—or you’ve already been handed a plan that doesn’t sit right—this is where we step back and make sure it actually holds.

What You Get From Business Succession Planning

Before we meet, I’ll send over a short set of questions to get a clear sense of the business—enough to flag what matters, where the friction is, and what decisions are heading your way.

From there, we talk. Not once, but over at least two strategy sessions. The first surfaces what’s actually going on—who’s involved, what roles are in motion, and what decisions are coming. The second builds on that. We test options, talk timing, and work through the tradeoffs.

You’ll receive a working strategy brief once the core sessions are complete. The strategy brief isn’t a technical plan for your lawyer or accountant. It’s a decision-ready summary—for you. It shows what holds, what doesn’t, and what actually makes sense to do next.

Some clients stop there, confident in the next steps. Others may continue with deeper work—like mapping phased exits, designing successor roles, or preparing for tough conversations that can’t be skipped. If that’s needed, we’ll figure it out together. No surprises. No pressure. Just clarity on what’s next.

Fees - Business Succession Strategy

This is a fixed-fee engagement, starting at $2,500 +tax. That includes the prep, at least two strategy sessions, and a tailored summary of what we’ve surfaced—what holds, what’s at risk, and what needs to be tackled next.

You’re not paying for hours. You’re paying for clarity at a critical decision point.

If more work is needed, we’ll talk about what makes sense. Some clients may stop after the core sessions. Others may keep going: working through phased planning, mapping out successor roles, or preparing for more complex transitions. There’s no pressure to continue. Just real help if the situation calls for it.

Sessions are typically held remotely to keep things efficient, but we’ll structure them around what actually makes sense for your situation.

And to be clear - this is not a legal engagement, but an advisory one.

Start Your Business Succession Planning Here

If you're thinking about succession but don't want to rush into a structure that won’t hold, this is where you start. Not with legal documents. Not with tax planning. With a clear strategy built around your reality.

This is where you get clarity before anything gets locked in.

If the link doesn’t work, just email me directly at blake@lifeplanninglaw.ca.