The cheapest place for Canadians to buy crypto through a registered platform right now is NDAX, at 0.2% ($2.00 on a CAD 1,000 buy). This index compares the published cost of buying and selling crypto on 15 platforms Canadians use, built from each platform’s own fee pages and rechecked every month. Offshore platforms are listed for completeness: they are cheap, but they are not registered in Canada and cannot be funded in CAD.
What Does It Cost To Buy CAD 1,000 Of Crypto In Canada?
| Platform | Canadian Status | Fee Model | Published Rate | Cost On CAD 1,000 Buy | Buy Plus Sell (Round Trip) | Free CAD Deposits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MEXC | Offshore, terms prohibit Canada | Maker / taker | 0% to 0.05% | $0.00 to $0.50 | $0.00 to $1.00 | No CAD funding |
| BloFin | Offshore, terms prohibit Canada | Maker / taker | 0.1% | $1.00 | $2.00 | No CAD funding |
| NDAX | CSA-registered, CIRO investment dealer | Trading fee | 0.2% | $2.00 | $4.00 | Interac e-Transfer, Wire transfer, Crypto deposit |
| BTCC | Offshore, not CSA-registered | Maker / taker | 0.2% to 0.3% | $2.00 to $3.00 | $4.00 to $6.00 | No CAD funding |
| Kraken | CSA-registered (Restricted Dealer) | Maker / taker | 0.4% to 1% | $4.00 to $10.00 | $8.00 to $20.00 | Interac e-Transfer, Domestic wire (Credit Union Atlantic) |
| Robinhood | CSA-registered, CIRO investment dealer (Coinsquare Capital Markets Ltd.) | Trading fee | 0.5% to 0.95% | $5.00 to $9.50 | $10.00 to $19.00 | Interac e-Transfer |
| Coinbase | CSA-registered (Restricted Dealer) | Trading fee | 0% to 1.875% | $0.00 to $18.75 | $0.00 to $37.50 | Interac e-Transfer, Bank account (EFT) |
| Wealthsimple Crypto | CSA-registered, CIRO investment dealer | Trading fee | 0.5% to 1.5% | $5.00 to $15.00 | $10.00 to $30.00 | Interac e-Transfer |
| Shakepay | CSA-registered, CIRO dealer member | Spread | 0.5% to 2% | $5.00 to $20.00 | $10.00 to $40.00 | Interac e-Transfer, USDC deposit, Ethereum deposit |
| Newton | CSA-registered, CIRO investment dealer | Spread | 1% to 1.6% | $10.00 to $16.00 | $20.00 to $32.00 | Interac e-Transfer, Wire transfer, Pre-authorized debit (EFT) |
| Bitcoin Well | FINTRAC MSB, not a CSA platform | Spread | 1.5% | $15.00 | $35.00 | Not published |
| Beaver Bitcoin | FINTRAC MSB, not a CSA platform | Trading fee | 1.5% | $15.00 | Not published | Not published |
| Bull Bitcoin | FINTRAC MSB, not a CSA platform | Spread | 2% | $20.00 | $40.00 | Interac e-Transfer, Bill payment (CAD), Wire transfer (CAD) |
| Crypto.com | CSA-registered (Restricted Dealer) | Spread | Not published | Not published | Not published | Interac e-Transfer (Standard Transfer or Request Money) |
| Netcoins | CSA-registered | Spread | Not published | Not published | Not published | Interac e-Transfer, Bank wire, Crypto deposit |
Costs are the published rate applied to CAD 1,000. Ranges show each platform’s published band. Unpublished spreads, bank fees and network fees are not included, so treat these as the minimum you pay.
How Is The Fee Index Built?
Every figure comes from the platform’s own fee schedule, rates page or help centre, and from the Canadian Securities Administrators, CIRO and FINTRAC registries for status. Where a platform only shows its price at checkout, I derive the spread from a dated live quote and say so in the notes below. Where nothing is published, the index says “Not published” instead of guessing. The data is rechecked on the first of every month, and each platform’s full comparison data sits on its review and comparison pages.
What Do The Notes Behind Each Figure Say?
- MEXC: Spot base maker 0% and taker 0.05% (0.04% with 20% MX discount) per mexc.com/fee, checked 2026-10-01; some special pairs higher.
- BloFin: Base-tier spot maker/taker 0.1% each per BloFin help centre (Oct 29 2024) and fee page, checked 2026-10-01. Not usable from Canada.
- NDAX: Flat 0.20% of trade value on every buy and sell, no tiers. Withdrawal fees are extra and flat.
- BTCC: Spot maker 0.2% and taker 0.3% at VIP0 per the BTCC VIP fee table, checked 2026-10-01.
- Kraken: Kraken Pro base tier 0.40% maker / 0.80% taker (Tier 1, USD 0 volume), checked 2026-10-03. The high end is the 1% Instant Buy fee, which is charged on top of a spread Kraken does not publish. Custom orders are 1.5%.
- Robinhood: 0.50% per order through Oct 31, 2026, 0.95% from Nov 1, 2026 (CCML fee schedule effective 2026-10-01); Robinhood says it keeps no spread. Slippage within 1% on buys and 5% on sells passes to the client.
- Coinbase: High end is the Coinbase fee of up to 1.875% on simple buys and sells (varies by payment method), checked 2026-10-03, with a spread on top that is shown only in the order preview and a separate 1% on simple limit orders. Low end is the 0% maker rate Coinbase advertises for Advanced, but the Canadian rate table is not public.
- Wealthsimple Crypto: Flat 0.5% fee per order. The high end adds the 1.00% spread used in Wealthsimple's own CAD 5,000 example (spread varies with market conditions) from the fee schedule dated 2026-09-24. Active Trader status (50 eligible trades in a calendar month) removes the spread. A CAD 1 surcharge applies to orders under CAD 100 (not counted here).
- Shakepay: Published target band of 0.5% to 2.0% over the benchmark price, which may widen by up to 1.5% in adverse conditions. Score uses the band midpoint.
- Newton: Standard Silver-tier spread fee shown at trade time: 1.00% to 1.15% on BTC, ETH and USDC, up to 1.60% on other assets, checked 2026-10-03 on Newton's fee article. Signature status lowers it, to 0.05% at CAD 5M of trailing 365-day volume.
- Bitcoin Well: Rates page checked 2026-10-03: verified account via Interac, buy 1.5% and sell 2.0%. Lite account 4.0% both ways. Not valid for ATM or OTC.
- Beaver Bitcoin: Flat 1.5% on Bitcoin purchases, network fee paid by Beaver (beaverbitcoin.com, 2026-10-03). Sell fee Not published.
- Bull Bitcoin: Derived from the live rates-page quote on 2026-10-03: buy US$86,676.96, sell US$83,273.82, mid about US$84,975, so about 2.0% each side. Not a published rate. Canada Post funding adds CAD 3.95.
- Crypto.com: Canadian app fee schedule and spread not published on a fetched page (2026-10-03). Do not compute an all-in cost.
- Netcoins: Netcoins states no separate trading fee and an all-in price; the spread percentage is not published (2026-10-03). The old 0.5% flat fee is gone.
Can I Use This Data?
Yes. You can quote or chart the index with a link to this page as the source: “Canadian Crypto Fee Index, OCryptoCanada, October 2026”. For questions or corrections, use the contact form. How the site scores platforms is explained in how I score exchanges and wallets, and the factors Canadians care about most come from my survey of nearly 1,000 Canadians.
What Has Changed In Canadian Crypto Fees?
- : Robinhood’s Canadian fee schedule took effect: 0.5% per order through October 31, 2026, then 0.95% from November 1, 2026 (Robinhood fee schedule).
- : Wealthsimple updated its crypto fee schedule: a flat 0.5% fee per order plus a spread on market orders.
- : Newton became a CIRO investment dealer member.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Crypto Exchange Has The Lowest Fees In Canada?
Among registered platforms, NDAX has the lowest published rate in this index at 0.2%.
Is The Spread Part Of The Fee?
Yes. On platforms without a trading fee, the spread between the buy and sell price is the cost.
How Often Is The Fee Index Updated?
On the first of every month, from each platform’s own fee pages.
Why Are Offshore Exchanges Cheaper?
They run order books with low maker and taker fees, but they are not registered in Canada, offer no CAD funding and no Canadian investor protection.