On November 1 we sponsored a lunch at The Mustard Seed here in Calgary. Our team covered the associated costs and spent a good chunk of the day working with the staff and volunteers at The Mustard Seed to prepare and serve a meal for those in need.
It was an amazing and humbling experience that has helped us truly understand the effort, commitment, and passion the team at The Mustard Seed demonstrates every day.
Our day began at 9:30 am when we joined an extraordinary and caring Mustard Seed team in their beautiful and spotless commercial kitchen. They were incredibly organized and provided a specific role to each of us. The staff was so friendly and fun to work with while remaining focused and professional. The head chef, Gerardo Enriquez, could probably win if he went on the show Top Chef Canada. He clearly has a love for what he does, and said to us, “I try to come up with the absolute best meals possible, with the little money I have to work with.” The meal he came up with this day, without exaggerating, could have been served at a high-end restaurant.
At 11:30 am we were given a tour of the facility by the Shelter Volunteer Coordinator, Zenaida Etheridge. She discussed the importance of having a complete drug and alcohol-free building. Zenaida also explained how the majority of the people who come to the facility for food and shelter are men and many of them work in construction.
We were very surprised by the dormitory, which is made up of 370 mats that share a common space. While lacking privacy, this arrangement allows The Mustard Seed to help a larger number of people in need. These mats are cleaned and sanitized daily and then made ready for new occupants.
The focus on high occupancy really frames how important the Mustard Seed is while demonstrating just how large a need Calgary’s homeless have.
At noon, we came back into the kitchen and began serving food. We worked in an assembly line to serve our guests. As each guest came to the window they greeted us with gratitude and a sincere smile. It was such a humbling experience for all of us.
As an organization, we truly feel that we get a lot out of this type of work. Charitable work like this is not just the right thing to do, but it provides a powerful and humbling experience for our team. It brought us all closer together that day and made us realize we are not just a cleaning company, we’re also neighbours and friends you can call on when you need a helping hand.
As we have the manpower (time), and a little money (treasure), we have an extraordinary opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives and in our community.
We would like to extend a grateful and sincere thank you to everyone at The Mustard Seed, and especially a big thank you to Zenaida Etheridge and Jordan Hamilton (Corporate Development Officer) who helped coordinate this profound experience.
If you have the ability to bring your team to the Seed, not only will you do something great for our community, but you will also receive an invaluable and one-of-a-kind team building experience. We strongly recommend it.
What Is In-House Cleaning Really Costing You?
Adjust the four numbers below to see your true annual in-house cleaning cost, an estimated cost range with Picture Perfect Cleaning, and what you'd save by making the switch.
Your Cost Comparison
Estimates are based on average commercial cleaning rates across Alberta and typical management and coverage costs. Your actual quote depends on square footage, service frequency, facility type, and scope of work. Request a custom quote above for an exact number.
The Hidden Cost of In-House Cleaning
A wage comparison only tells part of the story. Here’s what usually gets left out:
Wages and Benefits
Payroll is usually the first number people look at when they think about cleaning costs, but it rarely tells the whole story. Supplies, equipment, manager oversight, scheduling headaches, and the inevitable sick days all add up over time. By the time you account for everything, the true cost of keeping cleaning in-house can look very different from what’s on the payroll report. That’s exactly what our cost comparison tool is designed to help you see, along with what outsourcing might save.
Supplies and Equipment
Cleaning products, paper goods, vacuums, floor machines, and the replacement parts that keep them running all add up over the course of a year. Businesses that clean in-house often buy retail-grade supplies at retail prices because they don’t have access to the commercial pricing that a cleaning company gets from its suppliers. Equipment also breaks down, and replacing a vacuum or floor buffer every few years is a cost that rarely gets planned for in advance.
Management Time
Somebody has to schedule shifts, check the quality of the work, order more supplies when they run low, and step in when something gets missed. That’s real time pulled from a manager’s actual job, and it rarely gets assigned a dollar value, even though it should. If a facilities manager or office lead spends even a few hours a week on cleaning oversight, that’s time not spent on the parts of their role that actually move the business forward.
Absenteeism and Coverage Gaps
Sick days and missed shifts are part of running any team. When they happen, the work still has to get done, which usually means paying someone else to cover the shift or accepting that some tasks will have to wait. Over the course of a year, those extra costs can become surprisingly significant. There’s another effect that’s harder to measure, too. When cleaning is inconsistent, people notice. Employees notice it, clients notice it, and visitors notice it, even if they couldn’t tell you exactly why the space feels different.
| Cost Category | What It Covers |
| Wages & Benefits | Annual pay for in-house cleaning staff |
| Supplies & Equipment | Products, tools, and machine upkeep |
| Management Time | Hours spent scheduling and supervising |
| Absenteeism | Missed shifts and last-minute coverage |
Why Outsourcing Often Comes Out Ahead
Once you’ve seen your own numbers, the reasons behind the gap start to make sense.
Predictable Pricing
A cleaning company quote covers labor, supplies, and equipment on a single line. You know what you’re paying before the work starts, and that number doesn’t shift because someone called in sick or a vacuum broke down. Budgeting gets easier when the cost of cleaning is a single line item rather than four separate ones scattered across payroll, supplies, and management time.
No Coverage Gaps
When a member of an in-house cleaning team calls in sick, someone on your staff has to figure out what happens next. With a professional cleaning service, that responsibility shifts to the provider. If a cleaner is unavailable, arranging a replacement is part of the service, so your team isn’t left scrambling to fill the gap.
Accountability Built In
Picture Perfect Cleaning holds COR certification and provides regular service reporting, so you can see what’s being done and when, without spending your own hours checking on it. That’s the management time most in-house teams never get back. Our team also uses EcoLogo- and Green Seal-certified products, so you’re not trading cost savings for a lower cleaning standard.
Get Your Custom Quote
Wages are only one line in what in-house cleaning actually costs. Once you add in supplies, the hours a manager spends overseeing the crew, and the gaps left by sick days, the real number is usually higher than what shows up on a payroll report and often higher than what a professional service would charge for the same work. That’s the gap the tool above is built to show you, along with what outsourcing could put back in your budget.
Our cost comparison tool gives you a reasonable estimate of what you could save by switching to a professional cleaning service, not a final number. Every building is different, and factors like your cleaning schedule, the size of your facility, and the services you need will affect the actual cost. If you’d like a more accurate quote based on your space, contact Picture Perfect Cleaning, and we’ll walk you through the options.
