15.3% of commuters in Oshawa spent an hour or more getting to work in 2021, so many residents leave town every morning. For web design in Oshawa, it is a useful starting point: who is searching, and what they need to see. Our CA$119 plan covers the website or online store, your domain, email and hosting, ready within 3 business days on a temporary link.
No setup fee: you only pay the CA$119 monthly fee after you approve your website.
What makes Oshawa different
With 159,458 residents in 2016 and 175,383 in 2021, Oshawa keeps gaining households that look for local services online first. A clear page per service helps them find you.
Oshawa includes communities such as Cedar Dale, Columbus, Durham and Harmony. Naming the ones you serve on your website helps customers who search by their own community’s name.
Oshawa counted 3,926 businesses with employees in June 2026, and 57.0% of them had one to four employees. Most of your competition is small and local too, so a professional website is a real differentiator.
Oshawa businesses and what their websites need
Oshawa had 3,926 employer businesses in June 2026. The sectors below are more common here than across Ontario, with what each one’s website should show:
- Professional services such as accountants, lawyers and engineers, 632 in Oshawa: the site should show the team with qualifications and office address and hours.
- Clothing, shoe and accessory stores, 91 in Oshawa: the site should show an online shop for regular customers and sizes and prices.
- Restaurants, cafés and bars, 284 in Oshawa: the site should show opening hours and a map and the menu with prices.
- Furniture, electronics and home stores, 44 in Oshawa: the site should show the product range with prices and delivery areas.
- Grocers, bakeries and specialty food stores, 117 in Oshawa: the site should show opening hours and how to order for collection by email.
- Gyms, golf courses and recreation businesses, 37 in Oshawa: the site should show the timetable and how to get in touch.
In every one of these sectors, the website that wins is the one that answers questions before the customer has to ask.
The jobs residents hold are mostly in health care and social assistance (14.2%), retail trade (12.8%) and construction (9.2%).
Who is searching in Oshawa
88.1% of commuters drive to work. Drivers search on the way, so a tappable map link helps.
69.3% of residents were born in Ontario. A short story about the business goes a long way.
17.6% of the population is under 15. Show what a first visit looks like; parents plan ahead.
Around Oshawa
Within a short drive of Oshawa: Whitby (8.6 km), Ajax (15 km) and Clarington (18 km). Statistics Canada places it in the Oshawa census metropolitan area. Oshawa is part of Durham Region. If you work in Ajax or Pickering as well, the site can say so on a service area page.
Whitby has 138,501 residents and a median age of 40.0, against 39.2 in Oshawa. Median household income was $123,000 in Whitby and $119,000 in Ajax, compared with $86,000 in Oshawa.
Oshawa by the numbers
Household incomes in Oshawa are in line with Ontario: a median of $86,000 against $91,000. The municipality covers 146 square kilometres of land, about 1,203.6 people per square kilometre. The census counted 66,634 households in Oshawa, and 64.2% of them own their home.
More 2021 Census figures for Oshawa
- Apprenticeship or trades certificate holders: 6.1%
- Row houses: 9.7% of households
- Share of residents who are immigrants: 22.1%
- Employed residents working from home in 2021: 23.1%
- Residents per square kilometre: 1,203.6
- Couples with children, share of households: 26.1%
Oshawa against the provincial average
The share of employed residents working at home in May 2021 is 23.1% in Oshawa and 29.7% in Ontario. Commuters who drive: 88.1% in Oshawa, against 83.6% across Ontario. On home ownership, Oshawa (64.2%) compares with 68.4% for the province as a whole.
Oshawa added 15,925 residents between the last two censuses (10.0%). Across Ontario, the population grew 5.8% over the same period.
Getting an Oshawa business online: the steps
Aria has been building business websites and online shops since 2008, and every project runs online. Nothing needs to happen in person: you send what you have by email and see the whole website on a temporary link before it goes live.
- Complete the 5-minute sign-up and email us whatever material you already have.
- Within 3 business days, your website is ready on a temporary link, built with your brand on a proven professional template.
- Once you approve it, the first monthly fee is issued and the website goes live on your domain, together with your business email.
Hosting, the SSL certificate, daily backups and security updates stay with us, and content changes you email in are included.
- A business website or an online store, for the same monthly fee
- Your own domain: bring the one you have, or we help you pick one
- Email on your domain: unlimited accounts, 5 GB in total, webmail and spam filtering
- Hosting, an SSL certificate and a daily backup
- Text, photo and price updates whenever you email us
- Ready within 3 business days on a temporary link
Ontario rules for a business with a website
Some homework for Oshawa businesses before the website goes live:
- In Ontario, you need to register your sole proprietorship if you are not using your own name as your business name, and a business name registration is valid for 5 years. Ontario.ca: business names
- Since January 1, 2021, the AODA has required a business or non-profit organization with 50 or more employees to make its public websites accessible: web content posted after January 1, 2012 must meet the WCAG 2.0 Level AA success criteria, with some exceptions. Ontario.ca: accessible websites (AODA)
- Consent is at the heart of Canada’s anti-spam legislation (CASL): express consent means someone has agreed, verbally or in writing, to receive a commercial electronic message from you, and senders should be ready to provide proof of that consent. Canada’s anti-spam legislation
- Under Canadian competition law, it is against the law to make materially false or misleading representations to promote a product, service or business interest, and the law also prohibits the unauthorized use or distortion of tests and testimonials. Competition Bureau
Every business is different, so treat this as general information, not legal advice, and check the official pages linked above.
Oshawa website questions, answered
Will customers in Oshawa be able to use the site on their phones?
Yes. The layout adapts to phones, tablets and computers, and every page keeps the contact form and your details.
Do we need to meet?
Everything happens by email: you send material and change requests, and you review the website on a temporary link before it goes live.
How many email accounts do I get?
As many addresses on your domain as you need, sharing 5 GB in total, with webmail and spam filtering.
Can I update prices after the site is live?
Our team does it for you: email what needs changing and we take care of it, along with hosting, SSL and backups.
I also work in Whitby. Can the website show that?
Yes. Email us the towns you serve (say Whitby, Ajax and Clarington) and they go on a service area page.
What do I need to send?
A logo, some photos of your work or premises and a short description of what you offer, all by email. We build the pages and you approve every one.
Do I pay anything to get started?
No. No setup fee: you only pay the CA$119 monthly fee after you approve your website. No long-term contract. You can stop the service whenever you need to.
Start your Oshawa website today
The sign-up takes about 5 minutes. You only pay after you approve the website.
- Population, dwellings, land area, age, households, income, housing, language, place of birth, commuting, work and education: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population (tables 98-10-0002, 98-10-0022, 98-10-0057, 98-10-0193, 98-10-0240, 98-10-0307, 98-10-0400, 98-10-0456 and 98-10-0458). Reproduced and distributed on an 'as is' basis with the permission of Statistics Canada.
- Business counts for Oshawa: Statistics Canada, Canadian Business Counts with employees, June 2026 (tables 33-10-1176 and 33-10-1174).
- Distances to nearby places are straight-line, between points of the Canadian Geographical Names Database (Natural Resources Canada); contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada.
- Communities within the municipality: Statistics Canada, Standard Geographical Classification (SGC) 2021.
- Numbers come from the official sources above and are updated when new releases come out; distances are measured in a straight line.