Square fees in Canada: what you'll really pay

The bottom line

Square charges a flat 2.5% on every in-person credit card sale, with no monthly fee on its Free plan. A month with $10,000 in credit card sales costs about $250, and a month with no sales costs nothing.

The two things that push the price up are debit and foreign cards. Debit is 0.75% + 7¢ per sale, not a flat fee, and cards issued outside Canada add 1.5%.

Square fees at a glance

Visit Square

Pricing model

flat

Contract

Month to month

Payouts

Next business day free, or instantly for a fee

Monthly cost to take cards

$0 (Free plan)

True cost: first year at $10,000/month in card sales (est.)

$3,069 (12 months of processing at 400 payments a month, plus the listed monthly cost, plus the Square Reader (2nd generation) at $69)

Payment type	Rate	Source
In person (card present)	2.5%	squareup.com
Online	2.8% + 30¢	squareup.com
Keyed in	3.3% + 15¢	squareup.com
Interac debit	0.75% + 7¢	squareup.com
American Express	2.5%	squareup.com

Monthly fees and plans

• Free: $0/month
• Plus: $35/month
• Premium: price not published

Checked October 19, 2026 on squareup.com. Prices change, so confirm with Square before you sign.

Who it’s for

• Small and new businesses. The Free plan is $0 a month, so slow months and off-seasons cost you nothing extra.
• Shops with small average sales. A $20 debit sale costs 22¢, close to the flat Interac fees other processors charge.
• Anyone who hates surprises on credit cards. Visa, Mastercard and American Express all cost the same 2.5% in person, so your credit card cost is easy to predict.
• Owners who want low commitment. Square is month to month, and its reader is listed at $69 on their site.

Who should skip it

• Businesses with big debit sales. A $200 debit sale costs $1.57 at Square. Helcim lists 9¢ for the same payment, and Moneris lists 12¢.
• Places that see lots of tourists. Cards issued outside Canada add 1.5%, which turns a 2.5% in-person sale into 4%.
• Larger, steady businesses. Once your volume is high and predictable, an interchange-plus provider may cost less. Run the numbers before you assume flat rate is cheaper.

The catch

Debit is priced like a credit card. Most Canadian processors charge one flat fee per Interac payment. Square charges 0.75% of the sale plus 7¢. The bigger the sale, the bigger the gap.

Foreign cards cost 1.5% more. Square adds 1.5% on in-person credit, online and keyed-in payments when the card was issued outside Canada.

Fast cash costs extra. Free transfers take one to two business days, Square says. An instant transfer costs 1.95% of the amount, with a $25 minimum and $5,000 maximum. Square says new sellers may be limited to one instant transfer a day of up to $500.

The chargeback fee isn’t listed. Square’s Canadian pricing page doesn’t publish a fee for disputed payments. Ask before you sign up if disputes are common in your line of work.

Online and keyed-in payments cost more. Online is 2.8% + 30¢. Typing in a card number by hand is 3.3% + 15¢.

What it costs at your size

These are estimates. They use Square’s published rates on the Free plan, which has no monthly fee, and assume every card was issued in Canada.

Example 1: $10,000 a month in person, 400 credit card payments.

• Credit: 2.5% × $10,000 = $250
• Monthly fee: $0
• Estimated total: $250 a month, an effective rate of 2.5%

Example 2: the same $10,000 and 400 payments, but half paid by debit.

• Credit: 2.5% × $5,000 = $125
• Debit: 0.75% × $5,000 = $37.50, plus 200 payments × 7¢ = $14, for $51.50
• Estimated total: $176.50 a month

Debit is cheaper than credit here because the average sale is only $25. If 10% of your credit sales in Example 1 came from cards issued outside Canada, add 1.5% × $1,000 = $15.

Want to see it with your own numbers? The fee calculator compares the same month across providers.

Compared with

• Helcim: interchange-plus with a published markup of 0.40% + 8¢ in person and 9¢ Interac, no monthly fee. Often worth a look if you take a lot of debit, but your total changes month to month.
• Moneris: a flat 2.65% + 10¢ in person with 12¢ Interac, but you rent the Moneris Go terminal for $34.95 a month and pay a $5 software fee.