Get your book ready to print. Your book will need to be in its final version. You will need to have it edited and formatted for printing. You will also need to have a cover designed. If you cannot do those things yourself, you can look for freelance professionals on a site such as Elance.com.
Register your copyright. You will want to make sure that your book is copyrighted before self-publishing in Canada. You can register your copyright with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office by filling out its copyright form. You will have to pay to register your copyright. The online cost for 2009 is $50 CDN and the by-mail cost for 2009 is $65 CDN. Your copyright application will be reviewed within 10 business days.
Get your International Standard Book Number, or ISBN, number. The ISBN is a unique number that tells booksellers and buyers the details of the book, including publisher. In Canada, ISBNs are free and can be gotten from the Library and Archives Canada. You will need to ask for the application for a new ISBN to get an ISBN for your book.
Get a bar code. If you do not already have a bar code for your book, you will need to get one. While there is software you can buy for this purpose, there is a free barcode generator at Tux.org that you can use. You will need to take the barcode file and have it put on the cover of the book. If you do not know how to do this, your printer will be able to help you.
Announce your book. Before your book is published you need to take care of your Cataloging-in-Publication, or CIP, data. This is simply the bibliographic details of your book. To do this you will need to contact the Library and Archives Canada with your CIP data to get listed in its New Books Service. This service announces your book to agencies in the industry.
Pick a printer. To self-publish your book in Canada you will need to find a printer that can publish your books for you. You can opt for a Print-On-Demand, or POD, printer or an offset printer. With a POD printer, such as Lightning Source, you pay a small up-front cost and books are printed as needed. With an offset printer, such as Trafford Publishing, you select an amount of books you want printed and pay for all of those to be printed up front. They are then printed and delivered to you in Canada. The industry standard for offset print runs is 3,000 copies.