Selling Into Canada on Shopify
Canadian dollars, Canadian taxes, duties shown at checkout, and shipping that doesn't surprise the customer at the door. Set up by a Canadian Shopify agency that works in this market every day.
- Shopify Markets
- GST/HST and PST
- CAD pricing
- Duties at checkout
- Canadian carriers
- French for Quebec
Canada looks like an easy second market: same language, next door, customers who already know your brand. Then the details arrive. Prices in the wrong currency. Tax that varies by province. A customer in Alberta handed a duty bill by the courier and a customer in Quebec who expected French. Carriers and delivery times that don’t match what the checkout promised.
We’re a Canadian Shopify agency, based in Ontario, with 14+ years on the platform and ex-Shopify engineers on the team. We set up the Canadian side of Shopify stores for brands expanding north, and for newly formed Canadian companies that already have a store and need it made right for this market.
What We Set Up
Canada as a market
Shopify Markets configured so Canadian customers get Canadian dollar pricing (set deliberately or converted, with sensible rounding), the right domain or subfolder, and a catalog that reflects what you can actually ship here.
Sales tax by province
Canada has a federal GST, a harmonized HST in some provinces, and separate provincial sales taxes in others. We enter your registrations and configure collection by province so checkout, invoices, and reports are correct. Whether and where you need to register is your accountant’s call. Making Shopify match it is ours.
Duties and import taxes
If you ship into Canada from abroad, duties and taxes should be calculated at checkout and prepaid, not collected at the door. We set up duties collection, fix the product data it depends on (country of origin and HS codes), and test real orders across provinces.
Payments and payouts
Payment methods Canadians expect, payouts in the right currency to the right account, and a clean line between currencies so your books aren’t a conversion puzzle. This pairs with our Shopify QuickBooks integration work.
Shipping and returns
Canadian carriers and realistic delivery promises, rates that reflect the distances involved, and a returns process that works across the border. If you’re placing inventory in Canada, we connect the warehouse too. See Shopify 3PL integration.
Compliance basics
Canada’s anti-spam law (CASL) has stricter consent rules for email than the US, and Quebec has French-language requirements. We set up the consent capture and storefront structure. Your legal advisor confirms the specifics.
Wholesale in Canada
Selling to Canadian retailers, cafés, or distributors as well as consumers? We set up company accounts, wholesale pricing, and payment terms on the same store. See Shopify B2B and wholesale setup.
Already Have a Store? Start With a Review
Most brands don’t need a rebuild. They need someone who knows the Canadian setup to go through the existing store, fix what matters, and say plainly what can wait.
Our Canadian store review is a fixed-price engagement, typically about a week. We go through the store end to end, fix the essentials, and hand over a short written summary: what we found, what we fixed, and what to revisit as volume grows. If you later want a fuller build, the review fee is credited toward it. A training session for your team is available so day-to-day runs without us.
Get a fixed quote for your Canadian setup
Tell us where your business is based, where orders will ship from, and whether the store is already live. We'll review what's there and come back with a fixed quote for getting Canada set up properly.
Why a Canadian Agency
We bill in Canadian dollars, collect and remit Canadian sales tax ourselves, and build for Canadian merchants who ship with Canadian carriers. Most agencies selling cross-border setup are looking at Canada from the outside. We’re in Fergus, Ontario, an hour from Toronto, and Shopify itself was founded a few hours down the road in Ottawa.
Related Services
- Shopify B2B and wholesale setup for trade customers in Canada.
- Shopify 3PL integration when you place inventory in a Canadian warehouse.
- Shopify integration services for ERP, accounting, and carrier connections.
- Maintenance and support for ongoing help after the setup.
- Ecommerce consultant for the wider market-entry plan.
Get a Fixed Quote
Tell us where you’re based, where orders will ship from, and whether the store is already live. We’ll review what’s there and come back with a fixed quote. Get a fixed quote.
What's included
- Canada as a market: CAD pricing, domain, and catalog
- GST/HST and provincial tax configured by province
- Duties and import taxes shown at checkout
- Canadian shipping, returns, and compliance basics
How it runs
- 1Review
Your store as it stands: markets, taxes, payments, shipping, and what a Canadian customer sees at checkout today.
- 2Plan
What to fix now, what can wait for volume, and the questions to take to your accountant or customs broker.
- 3Configure
Markets, tax, duties, payments, and shipping set up and tested with real Canadian addresses in several provinces.
- 4Hand over
A written summary of what we found and changed, plus a training session so your team can run it.
FAQs
Do we need a separate Canadian store?
Usually not. Shopify Markets lets one store sell to Canada with Canadian dollar pricing, its own domain or subfolder, a tailored catalog, and the right taxes and duties. A separate store makes sense when the Canadian business is a separate legal entity with its own inventory, payments, and books, or when the catalog and operations are truly different. We settle that in the review because it changes everything downstream.
Do we have to charge GST/HST?
That is a question for your accountant, and it depends on your sales volume, where you ship from, and whether you have a presence in Canada. What we do is configure Shopify to match the answer: registrations entered correctly, tax collected by province (GST, HST, and provincial sales tax differ across the country), and tax shown properly on invoices. We do not give tax advice.
How do we stop customers getting surprise duty bills at the door?
By calculating duties and import taxes at checkout and shipping with them prepaid, so the price the customer sees is the price they pay. That needs accurate product data: country of origin and HS codes on every product. We set up the duties collection available on your plan, clean up the product data it depends on, and test real orders. Surprise fees at delivery are the fastest way to lose a Canadian customer.
What about French and Quebec?
If you sell to Quebec, the province's language rules expect customers to be served in French, and the requirements have tightened in recent years. Shopify supports French through Markets and translation tools. We set up the structure and the translated storefront flow. You should confirm your specific obligations with a legal advisor.
We set up a Canadian company and already have a Shopify store. Can you just review it?
Yes. That is a common starting point and it does not need a rebuild. We review the existing store end to end, fix the essentials for Canada (tax, payments and payouts, shipping, invoicing, the basic order flow), and give you a short written summary of what we found, what we fixed, and what can wait until volume grows. It is a fixed-price engagement that typically takes about a week.
