Where Canadian business banking stands right now
The entry-level digital packages at the Big Five look harmless. BMO's Essential Business Account sits at $5 a month, while RBC's Digital Choice and TD's Business Digital both land at $6. Look one tier up and the arithmetic changes: the monthly fee only disappears if you hold a daily balance somewhere between $20,000 and $75,000, depending on the package. That money typically earns nothing while it sits there. Parking $40,000 to avoid $360 a year in fees is not a bargain, and most owners figure that out after their first slow quarter.
Transaction allowances matter more than the headline price. Interac e-Transfer is the rail Canadian small business actually uses to pay subcontractors, reimburse staff, and collect from clients who refuse to touch cheques. RBC and TD include 10 e-Transfers in their $6 packages, BMO includes 6, and Scotiabank's Plan A includes 20 before the $20 monthly fee. Past the allowance, each transfer runs about $1.50. A shop paying eight contractors twice a month burns through 16 transfers before the first invoice clears.
Cash handling is the second gap. Digital-only accounts generally will not accept cash or cheques at all, which is fine for a software consultancy and awkward for a landscaper in Saskatoon. Branch deposits at the Big Five cost roughly $2.50 to $5 per $1,000, and that line item rarely appears in comparison tables.
Two more filters narrow the field quickly. Businesses billing US or European clients lose 2% to 3% on every conversion through a traditional bank card or wire, which on $200,000 of foreign revenue is real money. Eligibility also varies by structure. EQ Bank and Wealthsimple do not serve Quebec businesses, several fintech accounts lean toward incorporated companies, and partnerships get excluded more often than people expect.
The realistic lineup, side by side
| Provider | Monthly fee | Interac e-Transfers included | Who can open | Standout strength | Trade-off |
|---|
| EQ Bank Business | $0 | 50 out, 100 in | Sole proprietors, corporations; not Quebec | 2.25% interest on the full balance, bill payments and CRA payments included | No cash or cheque deposits, no wires |
| Wealthsimple Business Chequing | $0 | Unlimited | Corporations; eligibility has been widening, confirm before applying | No e-Transfer limits, CRA payments, up to 8 sub-accounts | Outgoing wires cost $15, CAD only |
| Venn Essentials | $0 | Included | Sole proprietors, corporations, partnerships, including Quebec | 2% interest, CAD/USD/EUR/GBP accounts, FX from about 0.45% | Paid tiers at $40 and $100 a month for lower FX |
| Wise Business | $0 plus one-time $55 setup | Included | Sole proprietors and corporations | Local details in 22 currencies, mid-market exchange rate | Funds safeguarded, not CDIC insured |
| Loop Basic | $0 | Unlimited | Corporations | No-fee international wires, strong for import/export | No interest on balances |
| RBC Digital Choice | $6 | 10, then $1.50 | Most structures | Branch network, 4,000-plus ATMs | Low interest, $5 per $1,000 cash deposits |
| TD Business Digital | $6 | 10, then $1.50 | Most structures | Unlimited electronic transactions, card rebates | Fee waiver tiers demand large balances |
| BMO Essential | $5 | 6, then $1.50 | Most structures | Cheapest door into a Big Five relationship | No interest, cash deposits $2.50 per $1,000 |
| Scotiabank Plan A | $20 | 20 | Most structures | 25 transactions plus 50 deposit items | Waived only at a $20,000 daily balance |
What the table hides is the interest line. An account paying 2.25% on operating cash turns $25,000 into roughly $560 over a year, which is more than the annual cost of three entry-level packages at a traditional bank. For a business that keeps a working balance anyway, yield often decides the question before fees do.
Picking by payment pattern, not by brand
Sole proprietors without a payroll
A registered sole proprietor needs online onboarding, e-Transfer, and a clean export for the bookkeeper. EQ Bank covers that with a $0 monthly fee and interest on the balance, though the absence of cash deposits rules out anyone handling bills and coins. Wise Business fits freelancers invoicing in USD but carries a one-time setup charge and no deposit insurance.
Picture a translator in Ottawa billing two US publishers. Through a conventional account she loses close to 2.5% on every payment; through a multi-currency account she keeps the conversion closer to the mid-market rate and receives USD locally. The savings cover her accounting software subscription several times over.
Incorporated teams that still walk into a branch
Once you have staff, rent, and a landlord who wants a void cheque, branch access stops being optional. Two provinces of thought exist here. BMO's $5 package gets you a counter and unlimited electronic transactions. RBC's $6 package gets you a denser ATM footprint. Neither pays interest, and both charge for cash. If you deposit several thousand dollars weekly, work out the cash fee before signing.
A plumbing company in Surrey depositing $6,000 in cash each week pays about $15 a week at BMO's rate, or roughly $780 a year, on top of the monthly fee. That number belongs in the decision, not the fine print.
Businesses with overseas customers
Selling into the US changes the math. A 2.5% markup on $500,000 of revenue costs $12,500 annually, dwarfing every account fee on this page. Venn handles CAD, USD, EUR and GBP in one place and serves Quebec. Loop suits corporations moving money across borders. Wise remains the benchmark for conversion cost. Airwallex sits in the same territory for e-commerce sellers with high payment volumes.
Quebec and bilingual operations
Quebec is its own market. EQ Bank and Wealthsimple exclude it, so the practical comparison runs between Venn, National Bank's business packages, and the Big Five. National Bank's Premium Business Package runs $100 a month, waived at an $80,000 daily balance, and delivers French-language support that the digital challengers do not match. For an owner in Sherbrooke, that bilingual service has value that a fee table cannot capture.
A practical sequence for opening the account
- Pull three months of statements and count outgoing e-Transfers, cash deposits, and incoming wires. Most owners underestimate e-Transfers by half.
- Decide whether you need a branch at all. If every deposit arrives electronically, a digital account removes the balance requirement entirely.
- Check eligibility before you apply. Incorporation status, province of registration, and whether you operate as a partnership all affect who will accept you.
- Confirm accounting integration. QuickBooks and Xero connections save hours at year-end, and not every challenger supports both.
- Set up CRA direct deposit and link your GST/HST account early, so refunds land in the operating account instead of a personal one.
Local resources worth bookmarking: your provincial registry for the business number used at signup, Canada Post locations for cheque deposit where supported, and the Canada Revenue Agency's business account portal for payment scheduling. Credit unions in Alberta and British Columbia remain a credible alternative for owners who want digital convenience plus a physical counter, though several tie the $0 monthly fee to an approved line of credit.
One last piece of housekeeping. Keep the operating account separate from tax reserves. Sub-accounts, offered by EQ Bank and Wealthsimple, make that separation simple and cheap, and they remove the annual scramble when instalments come due.
Open two applications this week rather than reading another comparison: one digital account with a $0 monthly fee, one traditional package you can walk away from. The approval emails will tell you more about your real options than any table, including this one.
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