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Card processing in Canada: the whole yearly cost
CA$20,000 a month online, CA$60 credit-card payments
CA$6,712 to CA$8,160 a year at the published rates of Moneris, Square, Stripe and Helcim. Flat plans CA$7,920 to CA$8,160, Helcim CA$6,712 on our interchange assumption. In person: CA$4,448 to CA$6,760. The B2B Fees reader rates, shown in the tables, are not in these ranges.
Pricing pages read on Nov 10, 2026, in Canadian dollars; merchant-accounts.ca's terms are provided by it. How we test · How we are paid: SyncSpark Solutions Inc., which runs B2B Fees, has a signed agreement with merchant-accounts.ca (Oct 26, 2026) and may be paid if you open an account there through us. Rows are sorted by cost; neither the order nor the numbers depend on who pays us.
Online: the whole year at three sizes
Every payment is a CA$60 domestic credit card. Interchange-plus plans add one interchange figure, 1.88% online, taken from Helcim’s own published Canadian effective rate, a blended average and not a card-by-card schedule.
Sorted by yearly cost at CA$20,000 a month.
| Plan | CA$5,000a month online | CA$20,000a month online | CA$60,000a month online |
|---|---|---|---|
| merchant-accounts.caProfessionalB2B Fees reader rate | CA$1,8863.14% of sales | CA$6,5002.71% of sales | CA$18,8042.61% of sales |
| HelcimInterchange-plus | CA$1,6782.8% of sales | CA$6,7122.8% of sales | CA$19,1762.66% of sales |
| SquareFree | CA$1,9803.3% of sales | CA$7,9203.3% of sales | CA$23,7603.3% of sales |
| MonerisFlat Rate | CA$2,0103.35% of sales | CA$8,0403.35% of sales | CA$24,1203.35% of sales |
| StripePay as you go | CA$2,0403.4% of sales | CA$8,1603.4% of sales | CA$24,4803.4% of sales |
| merchant-accounts.caLightB2B Fees reader rate | CA$2,2083.68% of sales | CA$8,2923.46% of sales | CA$24,5163.4% of sales |
| CloverCanada | Quote only: no rate or plan price is published | ||
Each cell is a year of fees and the share of card sales it takes; the bars compare plans within a column and carry no ranking. Moneris, Square and Stripe charge a flat percent plus cents; Helcim and merchant-accounts.ca charge interchange plus a margin and, at merchant-accounts.ca, a monthly fee. Helcim’s margin falls with volume: its second tier starts at CA$50,000 a month.
In person: the same sizes at the counter
Same payments, taken with a card present. Interchange is 1.32% in person, from the same Helcim figure.
Same rule: cheapest first, ranked on the yearly cost at CA$20,000 a month.
| Plan | CA$5,000a month in person | CA$20,000a month in person | CA$60,000a month in person |
|---|---|---|---|
| HelcimInterchange-plus | CA$1,1121.85% of sales | CA$4,4481.85% of sales | CA$12,8641.79% of sales |
| SquareFree | CA$1,5002.5% of sales | CA$6,0002.5% of sales | CA$18,0002.5% of sales |
| StripeTerminal | CA$1,6702.78% of sales | CA$6,6802.78% of sales | CA$20,0402.78% of sales |
| MonerisFlat Rate | CA$1,6902.82% of sales | CA$6,7602.82% of sales | CA$20,2802.82% of sales |
| CloverCanada | Quote only: no rate or plan price is published | ||
| merchant-accounts.caLight, Professional | In-person pricing is quoted on request | ||
Interac debit: 52¢ a payment at Square, 9 to 15 cents elsewhere
Debit is priced apart from credit. On a CA$60 Interac payment in person:
Sorted by cost on a CA$60 payment, cheapest first.
| Provider | How it is charged | On a CA$60 payment |
|---|---|---|
| Moneris | flat per payment | 12 cents |
| Helcim | tap; chip 8.9¢ | 12.4 cents |
| Stripe | flat per payment | 15 cents |
| Square | 0.75% + 7¢ | 52 cents |
Square charges a percent, so its debit fee grows with the payment; the others charge a flat amount. merchant-accounts.ca and Clover print no debit price.
merchant-accounts.ca: the B2B Fees reader rate
These are terms merchant-accounts.ca provided to B2B Fees in writing. It says new accounts, subject to approval, are offered at this rate only through B2B Fees.
How we are paid. Under a signed agreement, merchant-accounts.ca may pay SyncSpark Solutions Inc., our owner, when you open an account through us. The order of this page and every number on it are the same either way.
- Light, B2B Fees reader rate: CA$15 a month, interchange + 1% + 30¢ a payment.
- Professional, B2B Fees reader rate: CA$29 a month, interchange + 0.35% + 20¢ a payment.
- Focus: online; in-person pricing is quoted on request.
- Fees it does not charge: statement, gateway or cancellation fees. PCI fees may apply unless waived on compliance.
- Rate kept: merchant-accounts.ca says the rate is kept for as long as the merchant stays and that it has never re-priced a merchant. Interchange itself moves with the card networks.
- US merchants: the same plans in US dollars.
Professional costs less than Light above CA$1,714 a month at CA$60 a payment. Against Square online at CA$20,000 a month, Professional stays cheaper until interchange averages 2.47%; we assume 1.88%.
Not open yet. There is no sign-up link on this page, so the rate cannot be applied for through B2B Fees today. We will add the link when merchant-accounts.ca provides it.
What moves the answer
- Interchange. Interchange-plus totals rest on our reference: 1.32% in person and 1.88% online, which Helcim’s published Canadian effective rates imply once its margin is taken off. They are blended averages: premium cards, American Express and network fees move your real figure either way. Helcim stays under Square online at CA$20,000 a month until interchange passes 2.38%, and in person until 1.97%; Professional online until 2.47%.
- Size. Flat rates cost the same share at any size. A monthly fee weighs most on a small shop: Professional’s CA$29 a month is 0.6% of CA$5,000 of card sales.
- Debit. A shop that takes mostly Interac debit should price that on its own: see the table above.
How interchange and flat rates work is on the card fees page; this page does not restate it.
What is not in these numbers
- Other cards. Cards issued outside Canada cost 1.5% more at Square, 0.8% at Stripe and 0.8% at Moneris on its flat rate; American Express is not priced here.
- Disputes. A chargeback costs CA$25.00 at Moneris and CA$15.00 at Stripe, and Helcim CA$15.00 if you lose.
- Moneris extras. A CA$5.00 minimum discount rate. Its interchange-plus option exists, with markups in a PDF we did not read.
- Getting paid. Moneris next-day deposits, Helcim next-business-morning deposits, Square as soon as the next business day, or instantly for 1.95%.
- Hardware and tax. No terminals, software plans or tax; Clover’s price is a quote.
- Providers not priced. Six providers only: others, such as Clearly Payments and the banks’ processors, are not here.
Quick answers
What is the cheapest credit card processing in Canada?
It depends on your size and how you take payments. Of the six providers we priced, online at CA$20,000 a month of CA$60 payments, Moneris, Square, Stripe and Helcim cost between CA$6,712 and CA$8,160 a year; in person, between CA$4,448 and CA$6,760. merchant-accounts.ca’s reader-rate plans are in the table. Providers we did not price are not in these ranges.
How much does Square charge in Canada?
2.5% for a credit card in person, 2.8% + 30¢ online, and 0.75% + 7¢ for debit in person, with no monthly fee on the Free plan (read Nov 10, 2026). Foreign-issued cards add 1.5%.
How much does Moneris charge?
On its Flat Rate plan 2.65% + 10¢ in person and 2.85% + 30¢ online, and 12¢ for Interac debit in person. It also offers interchange-plus, with markups in a PDF we did not read.
Is Helcim cheaper than Square?
On our interchange assumption, yes at every size and channel we priced, because Helcim passes interchange through and adds a margin that falls with volume. At CA$20,000 a month the order flips when interchange passes 2.38% online or 1.97% in person; we assume 1.88% and 1.32%.
What is interchange?
The fee the cardholder's bank takes on each payment, passed through by interchange-plus providers at cost. Helcim's published Canadian effective rates, a blended average, imply about 1.32% in person and 1.88% online; your card mix sets your own. How rates are built is on the card fees page.
Does Clover publish its Canadian rates?
No. Clover Canada's pricing page offers a custom quote and prints no rate or plan price, so it has no number here.
Not for you if
- You sell mostly with American Express or foreign cardsSquare adds 1.5% on cards issued outside Canada, Stripe 0.8%, Moneris 0.8%. None of it is in the tables.
- You need a price for CloverClover Canada publishes none: ask for a quote and compare it with the rows here.
- You take most payments in person with merchant-accounts.ca in mindIts reader rate is online-focused. In-person pricing is quoted on request, so it has no number here.
How we know
- We read Moneris, Square Canada, Stripe Canada and its Terminal page, Helcim and Clover Canada in a real browser. Helcim’s tiers are on its pricing page; its Canadian effective rates are in the page’s structured data, a blended figure.
- merchant-accounts.ca provided its reader-rate terms in writing; they are not on a public page.
The numbers come from the same code as the tables, tested against hand-worked years. We opened no account and tested no processor. Not confirmed: your card mix, hardware, and Moneris’s interchange-plus markups. Method: how we check prices.