Website Cost Tiers in Canada (CAD)
These are typical 2026 market ranges for Canadian freelancers and agencies. Your real price depends on scope, design, integrations and how much content you need written or migrated.
| Website type | Typical range (CAD) | Typical timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Brochure site (5–10 pages) | $3,000 – $10,000 | 2–4 weeks |
| Small-business site with a CMS | $10,000 – $35,000 | 4–8 weeks |
| E-commerce store | $15,000 – $80,000 | 6–14 weeks |
| Custom web application | $40,000 – $250,000+ | 3–9 months |
Building in the US instead? Compare these ranges with our website cost guide for the USA. Planning a mobile app as well? See app development cost in Canada.
Want a fixed-price quote from a local team? Codazz builds websites and web apps for businesses across Canada: see our web development services in Edmonton, web development in Calgary and web development in Toronto, or our nationwide custom web development services.
What Moves the Price
- Number of pages and templates: Every unique page layout needs design, build and testing. Ten pages built from two templates cost far less than ten one-off designs.
- CMS and content editing: A CMS (WordPress, a headless CMS or a store platform) lets your team edit pages without a developer, but setup and content modelling add to the build.
- Integrations: Connecting a CRM, booking system, payment gateway, ERP or accounting tool adds development and testing time for each connection.
- Accessibility (AODA in Ontario): Many Ontario organizations must meet WCAG 2.0 Level AA under the AODA. Accessible design, testing and fixes are cheaper when planned from day one.
- Bilingual English/French: A second language adds a multilingual CMS setup, language switching, hreflang tags and translation, often 20–40% on top of the build.
- Hosting and performance: Shared hosting is cheap; managed cloud hosting, a CDN and Canadian data residency cost more but load faster and scale better.
Freelancer vs Agency Rates in Canada
Hourly rates below are rough market ranges, not quotes. Toronto and Vancouver usually sit at the top of each range.
| Option | Typical cost (CAD) | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Freelance web developer | $50 – $150/hr | Small brochure sites, template builds and quick fixes. |
| Web development agency | $100 – $200/hr | E-commerce, custom web apps and sites that need design, SEO and accessibility from one team. |
| In-house developer | Salary + benefits + tools | Steady, ongoing web work once the site is a core part of the business. |
Yearly Running Costs
The build is only the first bill. Budget for these every year:
| Item | Typical cost (CAD) |
|---|---|
| Domain name (.ca or .com) | $15 – $50 / year |
| Hosting and SSL | $100 – $3,000+ / year |
| CMS licences, plugins and themes | $0 – $1,500 / year |
| Maintenance, updates and backups | $500 – $10,000+ / year |
| E-commerce platform and payment fees | Plan fee + ~2.5–3% per sale |
How to Brief a Web Agency
A clear brief gets you comparable quotes and fewer surprises. Include:
- Goals. What the site must achieve: leads, bookings, online sales or support.
- Pages and features. A rough sitemap plus must-have features such as forms, a store or a client portal.
- Integrations. Every system the site must connect to (CRM, payments, booking, ERP).
- Languages and accessibility. Whether you need English and French, and the WCAG level you must meet.
- Content. Who writes copy and supplies photos, and how much existing content must be migrated.
- Budget and deadline. A realistic range and launch date so the agency can scope phase one honestly.
Codazz Web Development by City
Codazz is headquartered in Edmonton, Canada. See our web development service and the local pages for each Canadian city we serve:
Frequently Asked Questions
As typical market guidance, a simple brochure site costs about CAD $3,000–$10,000, a small-business site with a CMS about $10,000–$35,000, an e-commerce site about $15,000–$80,000, and a custom web application about $40,000–$250,000 or more. The number of pages, integrations and custom features move the price more than anything else.
As a rough market range, Canadian freelance web developers often charge about CAD $50–$150 per hour, and web development agencies commonly bill about $100–$200 per hour depending on seniority, specialty and city. Toronto and Vancouver usually sit at the top of the range.
Under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), many Ontario organizations, including private businesses with 50 or more employees, must make their public websites meet WCAG 2.0 Level AA. Building accessibility in from the start costs far less than fixing it later, so ask for it in your brief even if you are outside Ontario.
Expect a bilingual site to add roughly 20–40% to the build, plus the cost of professional translation. The extra work covers a multilingual CMS setup, language switching, separate URLs with hreflang tags for search engines, and testing every page in both languages.
A small site typically costs about CAD $500–$3,000 a year to run (domain, hosting, SSL, CMS plugins and basic updates). Larger or e-commerce sites with a maintenance plan, paid integrations and regular content updates often cost $3,000–$20,000 or more a year.
A freelancer is usually the cheapest option for a small, well-defined brochure site. An agency costs more per hour but brings design, development, SEO, accessibility and project management together, which suits e-commerce stores, custom web apps and sites that must keep growing.
Get a Scoped Website Estimate
Tell us about your website and we will send a CAD estimate based on your real scope.
Contact Codazz