It's been a few years since I freelanced, but there's essentially two sides to this.
1) The CRA requirements for collecting GST (which is the $30k number other's have mentioned)
2) This specific company's requirements for contract/sole-proprietors
For the first one, getting a GST/Business number from the CRA is easy (or at least was when I did it) through their website. I don't recall paying for it, a colleague of mine got one last year and it took less than 48 hours if I recall.
For the second one, confirm with the person/group doing the photoshoot if there's anyway around requiring a GST number as she doesn't anticipate crossing the $30k threshold this year, or collecting GST on this transaction. But she's happy to provide them with an invoice for her services.
Some groups will 100% not work with a sole-proprietor that does not have a business number and/or GST number. Others can be more flexible.
When it comes to sole-proprietors there's a bit of confusion out there, in one instance I had invoiced a company (with my GST number and all), they paid the invoice. Then at tax season next year I got a nasty phone call from their payroll department claiming I had to provide them with my SIN number so they could issue me a T4... despite having not had any deductions made from them and having never been on the payroll.
If it helps, call the CRA help line and ask, I've found them to be quite helpful with questions of this nature.
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