Picture this: it's 4 p.m. on a Saturday. A wedding planner in Vancouver just got a text — two of her four servers cancelled. Three hundred guests arrive at six. She's making frantic phone calls, scrolling through old contacts, offering double pay to anyone who'll pick up. Sound familiar? For thousands of event organizers across Canada, this isn't a nightmare scenario. It's an ordinary weekend.
On the other side of that same city, an experienced bartender is sitting at home. He's available. He's certified. He'd happily take a five-hour shift tonight. But he has no idea that wedding planner exists — and she has no idea he does either.
That gap is the entire reason GigMe exists.
The old way is broken
Traditional staffing agencies take days to fill a role, charge enormous markups, and rarely tell you who's actually showing up. Group chats and word-of-mouth are faster but wildly unreliable. Meanwhile, the gig workers themselves — the bartenders, servers, stagehands, and event crew who make every event run — are stuck with unpredictable income and zero transparency about pay.
We kept hearing the same two complaints from opposite ends of the same problem:
- Hosts said: "I can never find reliable people on short notice, and when I do, I'm not sure they'll show up."
- Workers said: "I want to work, but I can't find consistent shifts — and I never know when I'll actually get paid."
What we set out to build
GigMe is an on-demand event staffing marketplace. Hosts post a gig — the date, the venue, the role, the hourly rate, and any certifications required. Verified workers nearby see it instantly, apply, and get hired. Everyone knows exactly who's coming, what they'll earn, and when.
We're not trying to replace the human side of hospitality. We're trying to remove the friction that gets in its way.
Payments run securely through Stripe with transparent fees shown up front. Worker payouts are sent shortly after a gig wraps — not weeks later. Identity and certifications are verified before anyone sets foot on site. And because it all lives in one app, a host can staff an entire event from their phone in minutes.
Built for Canada, built for real life
We're starting in Canada because we know it — the provinces, the certifications like Serving It Right and Smart Choices, the realities of a market where events happen rain or shine. Every detail of GigMe, from province-aware certification checks to instant-feeling payouts, is built around how this industry actually works here.
This is just the beginning. We're opening the waitlist now, rolling out city by city, and listening closely to the hosts and workers who join us early. If you've ever scrambled to fill a shift — or wished you could find one — GigMe was built for you.
