Cost & Pricing · Canada
What a remote developer really costs a company in Canada
A line-by-line comparison of in-house cost, freelance marketplaces and managed augmentation for Canadian teams.
2025-10-12 · 4 min read
What a developer really costs in Canada
CPP and EI contributions, provincial health levies, vacation pay and group benefits typically add 15–25% on top of a Canadian salary. Add recruitment fees, equipment, software licences and office space, and the true cost of a hire in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal is well above the advertised salary.
Augmentation pricing is all-inclusive: from $20 per hour, 160 hours a month, with employment costs, equipment and supervision already in the rate. Compare it with Canadian monthly gross pay in CAD. Most suppliers invoice in US dollars, so agree whether you want a CAD quote or will carry the USD/CAD exchange movement yourself.
Three ways to source the work
Marketplace freelancers are cheap until they disappear mid-sprint; there's no bench, no supervisor and no replacement guarantee. Buying services from a foreign company keeps you out of provincial payroll registration, CPP and EI remittances, which only apply to people you employ.
Project agencies charge for scope risk. Augmentation gives you a named engineer at a fixed rate with supervision and replacement included. It suits fintech, gaming and enterprise software teams whose priorities change every sprint.
Costs that rarely make the budget
Canadian tech hubs compete directly with US employers for the same engineers, which leaves many Toronto and Vancouver teams unable to match cross-border offers. Months of a hiring manager's time plus agency fees can exceed the first quarter of an offshore contract.
When an engineer leaves, you pay for the gap, the hiring and the ramp-up. With augmentation, the supplier provides and onboards a replacement. Remember too that Canada Day, Thanksgiving in October and provincial holidays affect local capacity every year.
Putting the numbers in front of finance
Put three columns on one page: the full cost of a Canadian hire in CAD, the marketplace cost including your own management time, and the augmentation rate. State the exchange rate you have assumed.
Finish by comparing cost per delivered feature or closed ticket; hourly rates alone hide the real difference. A six-month contract, at 10% off the monthly rate, also gives Canadian finance teams a fixed figure for two quarters.
Key takeaways
- Budget for Canadian employer on-costs, not just salary, when comparing options.
- Decide early whether to be invoiced in CAD or USD.
- Rates from $20 per hour replace Canadian payroll, equipment and leave-cover costs.
- Compare cost per outcome, not cost per hour.