This teacher quit his day job for TikTok. So can you make a living on social media?

Janani Whitfield · CBC News

· Posted: May 03, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

Before societal media creator Steve Boots was pumping retired contented full-time for his hundreds of thousands of followers, helium was a burnt-out simple teacher successful Regina.

The wear-and-tear of the regular grind prompted him to instrumentality a permission from teaching and crook his sights to making wealth from streaming channels full-time.

It's a acold outcry from going to school, teaching and penning study cards for the contented creator, who uses the past sanction Boots online successful lieu of his existent past name, Boutilier.

"I was conscionable truthful tired. I was utilized up, I was grumpy. My societal batteries were truthful depleted by the extremity of the day," helium said. 

Now he sets his ain hours, breaking down quality stories and happenings successful short, digestible videos connected platforms similar TikTok, YouTube and Instagram. The past period saw him thrust a roller-coaster precocious of being a authorities creator during a Canadian election, portion getting paid to bash so.

"I see what I bash present inactive teaching successful a antithetic format," helium said. "I benignant of deliberation of myself arsenic a societal studies teacher to the Canadian net successful a way."

So what does it instrumentality to beryllium a palmy contented creator successful Saskatchewan and enactment one's aforesaid done societal media? The latest occurrence of CBC's podcast This is Saskatchewan dug into this question, with the assistance of creators similar Boutilier. 

How to propulsion successful the dollars

There's a wide scope of compensation streams for creators. In Canada, nary of them come from TikTok. Its Creator Fund does not wage Canadian creators.

You can, however, gain wealth from YouTube. Boutilier said YouTube estimates his mean monthly net from the level are betwixt $1,000 to $3,000. On the higher end, there's Sierra & Rhia FAM, a household of YouTubers based successful Canada that features the antics of 2 sisters. The transmission earns them an estimated $2 cardinal dollars a month, according to Social Blade, a website that tracks creator statistics.

It's the benignant of wealth Boutilier utilized to perceive tons of his middle-school students daydream astir making.

"What I privation I could convey to them is that the lone mode you tin breakthrough is by moving ludicrously hard and not looking similar you're moving hard portion you're doing it," helium said.

WATCH | This teacher near the assemblage for societal media, and present says he's getting his beingness back: 

The good, the bad, the hustle

Agencies astir the globe person sprung up to assistance contented creators marque wealth by connecting them with marque partners.

"We facilitate partnerships successful the scope of a fewer 100 dollars to good into six figures. So it's a beauteous wide spectrum," said Doug Campbell, CEO of Moose Jaw-based Creatorade.

"We've seen it to beryllium sustainable for aggregate creators that are doing this full-time today."

There's a immense appetite from brands to get creators' support. Campbell pointed to estimates suggesting astir $33 cardinal volition beryllium spent in the creator system successful 2025.

It tin beryllium frustrating for Canadian creators to spot American creators raking successful much wealth conscionable by posting content, adjacent with less followers.

That's surely the lawsuit for Nick Myers, who posts nether Leroy & Leroy. He said getting connected with Creatorade took the load of however to marque wealth disconnected his shoulders, arsenic it's fixed him sponsored contented and marque concern opportunities.

"I don't person to sell, I conscionable get to conscionable radical and make with them," helium said.

His favourite portion of the occupation remains question — rolling up to tiny towns, talking to radical and ending with his signature line: "There's ever thing to do."

Myers has besides discontinue his full-time work in vigor and media relations to absorption connected societal media.

"It wasn't casual to locomotion distant from a relation similar that, but it was astatine a clip wherever I had to stake connected myself," helium said.

Rancher Dickson Delorme — amended known arsenic Quick Dick McDick online — said making a surviving arsenic a Canadian contented creator requires hustle.

"You request to beryllium capable to drawback that traction, you request to beryllium capable to get views, you request to beryllium capable to get clicks, you request to beryllium capable to get impressions," helium said. He noted there's an constituent of luck successful capturing people's attention.

When it comes to dollars and cents, Delorme said 1 palmy video with 200,000 views netted him $800 from YouTube. But connected the different hand, immoderate of his videos reflect hours and hours upon enactment — including 1 showing the beingness of a cattle that took 2 years of enactment capturing video and drone footage.

"It's conscionable a substance of however overmuch clip you're consenting to enactment successful to showcase what we do, and hopefully successful an elevating mode wherever radical laughter and chuckle a spot and larn thing on the way."

Boutilier said helium doesn't needfully person a program for the aboriginal of his Steve Boots societal media career. He's simply enjoying the thrust and seeing wherever it takes him.

"This is truthful evidently conscionable lightning successful a bottle and [I'm] conscionable trying to support with it, and trying to support up of it and turn with it."

This communicative is from the This is Saskatchewan podcast — your transportation to the stories Saskatchewan is talking about. Every week, we cover section issues that matter. Hear the voices that are creating change, shaping argumentation and fuelling creativity successful Saskatchewan.

Tune into This is Saskatchewan every Wednesday and Friday connected CBC Listen oregon wherever you get your podcasts.