The Canadian business banking landscape has changed
The Big Six still dominate everyday business banking. RBC, TD, BMO, Scotiabank, CIBC and National Bank give you branches, cash handling, commercial lending and a name your accountant recognizes. That convenience has a price. Most business chequing plans land somewhere around $5 to $35 a month, and the fee often disappears only if you keep a large balance parked in the account.
There is one notable shift in the market: no Big Six bank currently offers a genuinely free business chequing account to new customers. BMO introduced a monthly fee on its Essential plan earlier in the year, which closed the last obvious no-cost door at a major institution. If a free account is what you want, it will almost certainly come from a digital provider rather than a branch network.
Digital-first options have filled that gap quickly. EQ Bank, Venn, Wealthsimple Business Chequing, Loop and Airwallex-style platforms now serve Canadian businesses with no monthly fee and no minimum balance. They also handle the thing traditional accounts handle worst: money arriving in US dollars or euros and getting converted without asking.
That conversion is where the quiet cost lives. Traditional Canadian banks mark up foreign exchange somewhere between 2.5% and 3.5% above the rate you see on a currency chart. On a $20,000 US invoice, that markup is real money out of your margin, and it never appears as a separate line on your statement.
Things that trip people up before they even apply
Three frustrations come up again and again with Canadian business owners.
The first is eligibility confusion. Sole proprietors often assume they need incorporation documents before a bank will talk to them. They don't. A business registration certificate, trade name registration where applicable, government photo ID and proof of business address usually get the file started. Corporations need articles of incorporation plus director and ownership details. Partnerships need the partnership agreement.
The second is the e-Transfer math. Interac e-Transfers look free until you exceed the included limit. Some business plans charge around $1.50 for each transfer beyond the monthly allowance, and a busy service business can burn through that allowance in a week of client deposits. EQ Bank, for example, includes a set number of outgoing and incoming transfers before charging a small per-use fee, while Wealthsimple and Venn advertise unlimited or included transfers.
The third is the mismatch between cash and digital. A restaurant, a contractor or anyone taking cash at the counter still needs a place to deposit it. Digital platforms generally do not accept cash or paper cheques, so a business with physical revenue often ends up running two accounts: a branch-based one for deposits and a digital one for everything else.
Comparing the realistic options
| Account | Monthly fee | Best fit | What stands out | Watch out for |
|---|
| EQ Bank Business Account | $0 | Businesses holding CAD balances | 2.25% interest on CAD, no minimum balance | Limited cash and cheque handling |
| Wealthsimple Business Chequing | $0 | Incorporated small businesses wanting tax integration | Unlimited free e-Transfers, CRA tax features | Not a bank; deposits held with partner institutions |
| Venn Essentials | $0 | eCommerce sellers paid in CAD and USD | Interest on CAD and USD balances, Shopify and Stripe payouts treated as domestic | Best value concentrated in the Canada-US corridor |
| BMO Essential Business Account | $5 | Businesses needing a branch | Free e-Transfers included, Moneris deposit support | Domestic focus, foreign exchange converted automatically |
| TD Business Digital Account | $6 | Self-serve businesses using the app | Unlimited electronic transactions | Assisted transactions and cash deposits carry fees |
| RBC Digital Choice | $6 | Small businesses wanting branch access with low overhead | Low entry price with a national network | Foreign sales converted to CAD |
| CIBC Unlimited Business | $65 | Higher-volume operations | Unlimited domestic transactions bundled | Fee requires significant volume to justify |
| RBC Ultimate Business | $100 | Businesses moving large deposit volumes | Fee waived with a substantial daily balance | Balance requirement is steep for young companies |
Fees above reflect published pricing at the time of writing. Always confirm current pricing directly with the provider, since banks adjust plans regularly.
Real situations, not hypotheticals
Sarah runs a two-person design studio in Kitchener. Her clients pay in CAD, but two retainers are billed in USD. On her previous branch account, every US payment was converted automatically, and she lost roughly three cents on the dollar without noticing. She moved the USD work to a multi-currency platform and kept the branch account for rent cheques and cash deposits. Her accountant now sees one clean CAD account and one USD account, which shortened her year-end reconciliation considerably.
Daniel, a freelance videographer in Vancouver, needed something even simpler. He registered as a sole proprietor, had no company registration beyond the provincial paperwork, and could not justify a $35 monthly fee during his first year. A no-fee digital account with unlimited e-Transfers let him invoice clients through Interac and keep his costs near zero while he built up volume. Two years in, with enough cash flow to justify a line of credit, he added a traditional account alongside it.
Priya, who sells handmade goods online from Brampton, sits in the middle. Her Shopify payouts arrive in CAD, but her supplier invoices come in USD. A platform that treats US payouts as domestic transfers and holds both currencies solved most of her friction. She still keeps a branch account for the occasional cash sale at a weekend market.
How to set this up without wasting a week
Start with a short list of what your business actually does with money. Write down how many incoming e-Transfers you expect each month, whether any revenue arrives in a foreign currency, and whether you ever handle cash. Those three answers eliminate most of the options above.
Gather your documents before you open anything. For a sole proprietorship, that means your business registration certificate, trade name registration if you registered one, valid government photo ID, and a utility bill or property tax notice confirming your business address. For a corporation, add articles of incorporation, the names and addresses of directors, and the ownership structure. CRA business number registration can be handled online through Canada Revenue Agency if you do not already have one.
Decide whether you need one account or two. Businesses with cash revenue typically keep a branch account for deposits and a digital account for invoices and foreign currency. Two accounts sounds like more admin, but it separates cleanly at tax time.
Check the deposit protection situation. Banks that are CDIC members cover eligible deposits up to $100,000 per eligible deposit category. Fintechs and neobanks are not always CDIC members themselves, and protection depends on the partner institution holding the funds. Read the provider's own disclosure rather than assuming.
Test the platform before you commit your main revenue stream. Most digital providers let you open an account and run a few small transactions before you reroute client payments. Do that during a slow month, not during your busiest invoicing cycle.
Finally, talk to an accountant about how the account feeds your bookkeeping. QuickBooks and Xero connections, separate currency wallets and clean export files save hours at year end. If a provider cannot sync with your accounting software, that is a cost, even when the monthly fee is zero.
The right online business bank account in Canada is rarely the one with the lowest headline number. It is the one that matches where your money comes from, how often it crosses a border, and how much paperwork you are willing to do each month. Jot down those three facts, then compare. The shortlist tends to build itself.
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