Web development agency for Canada

Four Canadian things a build has to get right

Canadian owners tend to raise the same four topics when a site is planned. A good build handles all of them before launch, not after the first complaint.

1. Language. Quebec customers expect French, and Quebec's Charter of the French Language sets rules for commercial websites. Everywhere else, English is the default, and many companies add French for reach.
2. Tax. GST applies across Canada, HST replaces it in several provinces, and some provinces add their own PST or QST. A store has to charge the right one by destination.
3. Accessibility. Ontario's AODA sets web accessibility duties for larger organizations. We build to WCAG 2.2 AA, which is above the level the Ontario regulation names.
4. Privacy. PIPEDA covers private-sector data nationally, and Quebec Law 25 adds stricter rules for people in Quebec.

These are planning summaries, not legal advice. Your lawyer decides policy wording and your accountant decides tax registration. We implement the decisions.

What we build, and where to read more

Tax and payments in a Canadian store

Tax is the part of a Canadian store that surprises owners who sold in the US first. The federal GST is 5%. Ontario and the Atlantic provinces use HST. British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba add a provincial sales tax, Quebec has the QST, and Alberta has no provincial sales tax. Rates change, so we set them from the Canada Revenue Agency tables with your accountant and test sample orders.

Payments matter just as much. Canadian shoppers know Interac, and many B2B buyers pay by Interac e-Transfer. Which Interac options work online depends on your payment provider, so we confirm that with the provider before design starts, then add cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay.

English and French on one site

A bilingual build is more than a translation plugin. It needs a URL for each language, matching hreflang tags with en-CA and fr-CA, translated forms and error messages, and a French checkout. We structure the site so a second language can be added later without rebuilding. See the international SEO service for the search side.

Domains, hosting and speed

Canadian sites are often served to visitors from coast to coast and from the United States, so speed matters at both ends. We use a content delivery network, test Core Web Vitals on mobile connections and keep images light. If you want hosting near your customers, Canadian cloud regions exist in Montreal and Toronto, and we can set a site or app up there.

A .ca domain is managed through CIRA, whose Canadian presence rules decide who may register one. If your business is a US company, a .com with a Canadian section works too. Whichever you choose, the domain should be registered in your name, with the login in your hands from day one.

Accessibility is checked in the build, not at the end. Our WCAG 2.2 checklist lists the tests, and we share the results with you so you can show them to your own advisers.

How a project runs from India

1. Short callWe learn the goal, the languages and the platform, then send a fixed quote within one working day.
2. Design and buildOne lead engineer owns your project. You see a staging link and a demo each week.
3. TestMobile, keyboard use, tax on sample orders and forms are checked before launch.
4. Launch and handoverYou own the code, hosting accounts and domain. We stay on for fixes.

Calls sit in your morning. A 10:00 call in Toronto is 20:30 in India in winter and 19:30 in summer. Halifax and Winnipeg shift by an hour each way, and Pacific calls land late in the Indian evening, so we book those early.

Pricing

Projects start at $1,500 and our rate is $30 an hour, in US dollars. The quote depends on page count, languages, integrations and how much content is ready. See the website cost guide for typical ranges, or go to the contact page for a fixed quote.