What are the fees for Shopify in Canada?

Before you worry about card rates or app subscriptions, you need to know what Shopify itself charges each month — and the answer depends on which of the four plan tiers you choose and how you pay. Here's the breakdown in Canadian dollars, anchored to Shopify's official pricing page, because third-party sources conflict on the exact numbers.

Shopify offers Canadian merchants four main plans, with roughly a 25% discount if you commit to yearly billing instead of paying month to month:

• Basic — CA$37/month on yearly billing, or CA$49/month billed monthly. The entry point for new stores.
• Grow — CA$99/month yearly, or CA$132/month monthly. Adds 5 staff accounts and better card rates.
• Advanced — CA$389/month yearly, or CA$517/month monthly. Built for higher-volume sellers, with 15 staff accounts.
• Plus — from CA$3,400/month. Shopify's enterprise tier, with up to 200 inventory locations.

That annual discount is real money. On Basic, paying yearly works out to about $351 CAD a year versus $468 on monthly billing, according to EcomCalcTools' Canadian fee breakdown. If you're confident you'll still be selling in twelve months, the math favours annual billing.

There's also a low-risk way in: Shopify currently offers a 3-day free trial followed by CA$1/month for your first three months on most plans, per the official pricing page. And unlike some platforms, Shopify charges no setup fees on any plan — your first bill is just the subscription itself.

One caution on the numbers you see elsewhere: third-party blogs list Basic at $39 CAD/month and Grow at $105 CAD, which contradicts Shopify's own CA$49 and CA$132 figures (see Shero Commerce's analysis versus the official page). Pricing changes over time, so always verify against Shopify directly before budgeting.

It's also worth noting what these figures don't tell you. As Gentian Shero of Shero Commerce puts it, "the subscription is only the entry ticket" — processing fees, currency conversion, and apps are where the rest of the bill comes from. And per CPA-authored guidance from SAL Accounting, it's unclear whether Shopify's displayed prices even include GST/HST, so your actual charge may be higher.

This is the trade-off we see Canadian business owners weigh constantly at AI Business Sites: a low sticker price that grows with every fee layer, versus a single predictable monthly cost. Neither is wrong — but you should walk in knowing the sticker price is the floor, not the ceiling.

The subscription is only the entry ticket. That line from Shopify partner agency Shero Commerce captures what most merchants discover too late: the monthly plan fee is often the smallest line item on the real bill. Payment processing, gateway choices, and currency handling are where the costs compound — and where the numbers demand attention before you scale.

Shopify Payments online rates step down with each tier: 2.8% + 30¢ CAD on Basic, 2.6% + 30¢ on Grow, 2.4% + 30¢ on Advanced, and 2.15% + 30¢ on Plus. In-person Interac debit is a genuine Canadian advantage at 0% + 15¢ (10¢ on Plus). But step outside Shopify Payments and a third-party transaction fee layers on top: 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced, and 0.2% on Plus. On $10,000 in monthly sales, that's roughly $200 CAD extra on Basic before your external gateway even charges its own rate.

• Currency conversion adds another 2% for Canada when accepting payments in a currency different from your payout currency
• Shopify Tax calculation now applies at 0.35% per transaction (0.25% on Plus), capped at $0.99 per order and $5,000 per year
• Premium and international cards carry surcharges up to 3.5% + 30¢ on Basic, stepping down to 2.95% + 30¢ on Plus

These fees stack. A Canadian store selling to U.S. customers in USD on the Basic plan could see 2.8% card rate + 2% currency conversion + 0.35% tax calculation on every cross-border order — before any refunds, chargebacks, or app subscriptions enter the picture. Wise notes that card-processing and currency-conversion fees are not returned on refunds, which silently erodes margin on every return.

We see the same pattern with our clients at AI Business Sites: the platform subscription is visible, but the transaction layer is where profitability lives or dies. The merchants who protect margin aren't the ones chasing the lowest monthly fee — they're the ones who model the full stack, choose their gateway deliberately, and review the blended cost per order every month.

Selling in Canada comes with a genuine cost edge: in-person Interac debit runs at 0% + 15¢ CAD on every plan tier, a rate that disappears south of the border. That single line item can shave meaningful dollars off high-volume retail counters, especially on the Basic plan where standard in-person cards still sit at 2.6% + 0¢. But the savings stop at the terminal. Shopify bills its subscriptions in CAD, yet the CRA treats those fees as taxable supplies — GST/HST applies on top of the CA$37–CA$389 monthly price depending on your province, and the $30,000 small-supplier threshold means many new merchants must register, collect, and remit before they even hit stride.

The deeper trap hides in the app store. Most third-party apps price in USD, so a $19 USD subscription lands as roughly $26+ CAD on your card once the bank's conversion spread hits. Multiply that by five or six apps and the "cheap" stack quietly becomes a line item worth auditing monthly. Add-on fees compound the surprise: POS Pro runs CA$119/mo per location on Basic, Grow, and Advanced (Plus includes 20 locations), and Marketplace Connect charges 1% per synced order past the first 50 each month, capped at $99 USD. Currency conversion on non-CAD sales adds another 2% fee that isn't refunded when you issue a return, and the new Shopify Tax calculation fee of 0.35% (0.25% on Plus) applies per transaction where tax is calculated, capped at $0.99 per order and $5,000 per year.

• Interac debit in-person: 0% + 15¢ CAD — a Canada-only advantage
• GST/HST on subscriptions + $30,000 small-supplier registration trigger
• USD-billed apps inflate CAD costs by ~30–35% at current rates
• POS Pro at CA$119/mo per location; Marketplace Connect at 1% past 50 orders
• 2% currency conversion on non-CAD sales + 0.35% tax calculation fee

We see this pattern often when helping service businesses move from fragmented tools into one managed platform — the sticker price is never the full picture. A free strategy call can map the real cost of ownership before you commit.

The subscription fee is only the entry ticket — the real cost of running a Shopify store in Canada adds up across processing rates, apps, and growth spending, and most merchants underestimate it until the first statement arrives.

Start with the biggest easy win: your payment gateway. Shopify charges a third-party transaction fee when you use an external gateway instead of Shopify Payments — 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced, and 0.2% on Plus, according to Shopify's official pricing. On $10,000 in Basic-tier sales, that 2% works out to $200 CAD you'd pay on top of your gateway's own processing fees. Unless your industry or risk profile rules it out, analysis from a Shopify partner agency recommends Shopify Payments as your default gateway.

The same logic applies to plan upgrades. On Basic, online card processing runs 2.8% + 30¢ CAD; Grow drops it to 2.6%, Advanced to 2.4%, and Plus to 2.15%. But upgrading from Basic (CA$37/mo yearly) to Grow (CA$99/mo yearly) costs an extra $744 per year — you'd need roughly $37,000 in annual sales just to break even on the 0.2% rate difference. As CPA M Salman puts it, do not upgrade because the plan sounds better — upgrade when the numbers make the decision obvious.

So what should you actually budget? Here's a realistic framework for a Canadian merchant:

• Launch month: $500–$2,000 CAD, covering the subscription, a theme, initial apps, and setup
• Lean ongoing operations: $150–$600 CAD per month
• Growth-stage spending: $800–$2,000+ CAD per month once ads and apps scale
• First-year total: $4,000–$12,000 CAD, including apps, themes, and advertising

Watch the hidden multipliers, too. Many apps bill in USD, so a $19 app can show up as $26+ CAD on your card statement, a detail accounting sources flag as a common budget-buster. And if you sell internationally, Canada falls under Shopify's 2% currency conversion fee tier — a fee that isn't returned when you issue refunds, per Shopify's fee documentation.

That's the DIY reality: a subscription, a gateway decision, plan math, USD-billed apps, conversion fees, and a budget that grows faster than expected. For business owners who'd rather not run that math every month, a fully managed alternative like AI Business Sites works differently — one flat setup fee and one monthly fee covering the site, content, CRM, and selling tools, with payments running through your own Stripe account. Fewer line items, fewer surprises, and no upgrade decisions to agonize over.