Top 9 Canadian Web Hosts

Table of Contents

Web Hosting in Toronto

Here are the best web hosting companies in Toronto.

Hawk Host

Hawk Host is one of the older Canadian web hosting companies – even older than HostPapa. Unlike the other web hosts, it has just one data center in Toronto, with no west coast presence. Hawk Host prices are the lowest in the business since it doesn’t raise them on renewal, which is unique in the web hosting industry. At $2.99/m, it’s great for cheap Canadian web hosting.

I like Hawk Host, as they appear to have everything. The LiteSpeed web server provides fast static and dynamic server-side caching. Also, the fact that they have free backups is very impressive. And it’s not just backups – Hawk Host has free security for its web hosting plans. Not many hosts have those for basic plans, which seems too good to be true. One reason I can think of is that the Hawk Host affiliate program has a low payout, letting them save money on marketing costs and pass those on to customers.

HostArmada

HostArmada isn’t a Canadian web host, but they have a server in Toronto. It’s notable, thanks to its NGINX architecture, LiteSpeed web server for the Speed Reaper plan, and excellent free web hosting backups with 7 to 21 days of backup retention. Plans for HostArmada start at $2.99/m. Here’s the complete HostArmada coupon page with all the deals.

HostArmada doesn’t have a data center on the west coast in Canada, so that’s a disadvantage if you want to cover the Vancouver and Seattle region. But with free backups and security, it’s a very compelling choice if you don’t need a Canadian-owned business. Here are all the pros and cons of HostArmada.

Cirrus Hosting

Cirrus Hosting is quite underwhelming, with no standout features. It’s a web hosting company based in Toronto and is quite old – they’ve been operating since 1999. Pricing is decently competitive, with the basic plan starting at CAD 3.50/m, but it doesn’t have free backups or security.

Cirrus Hosting doesn’t have data centers on the west coast of Canada, so I see no reason to choose it over Hawk Host or HostArmada.

Benefits of Hosting in Toronto

Toronto, Ontario, is the most common location for data centers. While it doesn’t have the advantages of Montreal in terms of climate, it’s Canada’s premier business hub. Despite real estate being a considerable problem, businesses are willing to spend more on servers in Toronto. You can see from this map of Toronto data centers how clustered it is:

While it’s hard to know exactly which web host uses which data center, sleuthing shows that DigitalOcean’s servers are located at 45 Parliament Street, Toronto, at the Equinix TR2 Data Center. Apart from Web Hosting Canada, all the web hosts have data centers in Toronto.

Montreal Web Hosting

These are the best Montreal web hosting companies. When people look for web hosting in Quebec, they mean Montreal because it’s such an important hub for data centers.

Web Hosting Canada

Web Hosting Canada is even older than Hawk Host, having started operations in 2003. It’s one of the better options for web hosting in Montreal. They’re the only Canadian web host on this list not to have a server in Toronto, instead choosing to host in Montreal and Vancouver. From a coverage perspective, it doesn’t matter because Montreal serves the same geographic area as Toronto. Web Hosting Canada’s basic plan starts at $1.99/m.

The only downside of Web Hosting Canada is that their security suite is an add-on. I love that they provide 14-days of backups using the JetBackup cPanel plugin and that their data centers are powered with renewable energy. Like HostGator, they have unlimited storage on their basic plan but with SSD drives instead.

GreenGeeks

GreenGeeks isn’t a Canadian web host but a US hosting company and is perfect for Montreal web hosting. Unfortunately, they don’t have a presence on the east coast of Canada. GreenGeeks specializes in green hosting, but as seen below, Canadian data centers are inherently greener than their US counterparts, so it doesn’t have a lot of advantages. GreenGeeks pricing starts at $2.95/m.

The specialty of GreenGeeks is the LiteSpeed web server, though Hawk Host also satisfies that requirement. It comes down to whether you prefer a server on Canada’s east or west coast. Here’s the best GreenGeeks coupon you can get today.

HostUtopia

HostUtopia is a decent Montreal web host with a huge 90-day backup guarantee, far outstripping even SiteGround and Kinsta. With a low starting price of CAD 2.35/m, it’s one of the better Canadian web hosts.

One thing that worries me about HostUtopia is its lack of details regarding features. Their website mentions Varnish caching, but I don’t find any further information or documentation. They even mention NVMe drives, but I see nothing in the feature set. All this makes me suspicious about whether or not HostUtopia can actually deliver what it promises.

Benefits of Montreal Web Hosting

Montreal in Quebec is Canada’s second most popular destination for data centers. Here’s a map of the data center locations in Montreal:

Montreal is a desirable destination for data centers due to its cold climate, access to hydroelectricity, and some of the lowest electricity rates in North America. It won the Datacloud Award for the Data Center Location of the year:

@HypertecGroup is proud to announce that Greater Montreal has won the Data Centre Location of the Year Award at the @datacloudAwards 2019 in Monte Carlo, Monaco. Congratulations! https://t.co/ZmNzsLmabs #datacenter #colocation #DatacloudAwards #GreaterMTL pic.twitter.com/qT7e0rThYo

— Hypertec (@HypertecGroup) June 13, 2019

The demand for data centers in Montreal is so great that it’s outpacing the capability of Hydro-Quebec to supply power. HostPapa, Web Hosting Canada, and GreenGeeks, all have data centers in Montreal.

Web Hosting in Vancouver

Here are the best options for Vancouver web hosting.

HostPapa

HostPapa is the most famous of all Canadian web hosts, and it’s one of the few web hosts to have Vancouver servers. They’re constantly purchasing smaller hosting companies, making them like Newfold Digital (erstwhile EIG). Between 2020 and 2022, HostPapa purchased 13 companies relating to web hosting. Unlike other Canadian hosting companies, HostPapa has data centers worldwide, not just in Canada. You can get billing in CAD if you visit the “.ca” TLD.

HostPapa’s service is very basic. No backups or security, except with additional add-ons. It’s not particularly cheap either, with prices starting at $3.95/m. But it’s a good choice if you need data centers in other parts of the world but still need a Canadian hosting company.

4GoodHosting

4GoodHosting is a decent web host in Vancouver. Its standout feature is 30-days of backups for free. Most web hosts don’t even provide weekly website backups on their starter plans. 4GoodHosting is very cheap, starting at just CAD 2.95/m.

4GoodHosting is a better web host than HostPapa, but not by much. HostPapa has free Patchman security, while 4GoodHosting has free backups. I prefer backups over security for peace of mind. It’s a vanilla host but a good choice for web hosting in Vancouver.

Canadian Web Hosting

Canadian Web Hosting is a generic web host in Vancouver. Its best feature is free security via Imunify360 and a massive 60-day money-back guarantee. It’s expensive, with a starting price of CAD 2.95/m – higher than the other Vancouver-based web hosts.

Canadian Web Hosting has two data centers in Vancouver, and it’s one of the few web hosts that offer Windows hosting. Otherwise, it’s nothing special, and there are better options for Vancouver web hosting.

Benefits of Hosting in Vancouver

Of the three major cities, Vancouver trails both Toronto and Montreal. Its location on the west coast gives it easy access to US customers in Seattle and California, and Vancouver itself is a hub of business activity. The soaring real estate costs are even more of a problem than in Toronto, which is why it comes third. Here’s a map of the data centers in Vancouver:

HostPapa and Web Hosting Canada have data centers in Vancouver, but the latter doesn’t have any servers in Toronto, which is unusual.

Benefits of a Canadian Web Host

Why bother hosting in Canada when there are so many more well-known names across the southern border in the United States? Canadian web hosts aren’t as famous as their US-based competitors, but there are still solid reasons for choosing either a Canadian web host or a hosting provider with data centers in Canada.

Government Regulations Regarding Canadian Data Storage

Canadian law requires some businesses operating in Canada to store their information locally. Notably, the laws surrounding healthcare are very complicated. In Canada, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) regulates information that crosses borders. In the United States, the Patriot Act governs the ability of US law enforcement to access data held by US-based companies regardless of where they store the data.

As a result, sometimes, it’s not enough to store your data on a server in Canada, and instead, you need to host with a Canadian company. In addition, different Canadian provinces have rules that override or complement PIPEDA. For example, British Columbia (BC) has a law called the Personal Information Protection Act that restricts data storage of health information. The regulations change constantly, and you should consult a legal expert for the exact laws you should follow.

In conclusion, there could be many situations where you need Canadian web hosts or a web host with servers in Canada.

Greener Data Centers for Canadian Web Hosts

Canada takes energy efficiency very seriously. Shared Services Canada (SSC) is a branch of the Canadian government, one of whose tasks is to consolidate and reduce the carbon footprint of the government’s data centers. Initiatives like this improve the carbon efficiency of all data centers in Canada, making Canada’s data centers the most energy-efficient in the world.

This is partly because Canada’s climate allows data centers to save energy on cooling, relying on air and water cooling systems compared to artificial air-conditioning. So if you want to reduce your carbon footprint, or if your business needs to demonstrate its energy commitments to customers, then choosing a web host in Canada is a great way to achieve your goals.

I might add that I find natural data center cooling systems superior to the Renewable Energy Credits (REC) system that GreenGeeks employs because it’s better not to emit carbon in the first place, as opposed to spending money on reducing its impact.

Cheap Canadian Web Hosting – Billing in CAD

If you live in Canada, you know that paying your bills in USD incurs a foreign exchange conversion fee. Both debit and credit cards charge you a percentage above the spot exchange rate, and online payment processors like PayPal are no different. If your web host bills you in Canadian dollars, you’re paying between one and two percent more for web hosting.

A Canadian web host will bill you in CAD instead of USD. Here’s a screenshot of Web Hosting Canada’s checkout screen with billing in CAD:

But the web host will bill you in CAD only if it’s a Canadian company, and a US-based hosting company with data centers in Canada will still bill you in USD. So if CAD billing is essential to you, you must ensure that the web host is Canadian, not merely one with Canadian servers.

A Canadian Web Host has Faster Response Times

This doesn’t matter much because Canada is close to the US. But if your audience is Canadian, you can serve them web pages faster with data centers in Canada than elsewhere. Compared to the United States, ping times are only 15 milliseconds or so.

For example, here is a ping test conducted between my location in Toronto and a server in Canada vs a server in the United States:

For the Canadian server, the minimum ping time is 11ms, whereas it’s 33ms for a server in the US. That’s three times higher, even though the absolute times are still tiny, compared to ping times from Europe or Asia. So if you want to provide your Canadian customers with the fastest experience, you should host in Canada.

Supporting Local Canadian Web Hosts

If you’re a Canadian business, you know the importance of supporting local industry. The United States casts a long shadow over Canadian web hosts, and hosting providers in the US attract more capital and attention. For these reasons, you might consider supporting local businesses with a web host based in Canada instead of the US.

Once again, ensure that the company you use for hosting is a Canadian web host, not merely one with servers in Canadian data centers. You can find out easily by visiting the bottom of their websites, where they typically have the company headquarters address. For example, here’s the footer of whc.ca, showing that it’s based in Montreal, Quebec:

If you don’t find this at the bottom of the page, visit the “About” page instead. Or you can even check the WHOIS database. See here for more details on finding a website’s publisher.

Final Thoughts on Web Hosting in Canada

If your website visitors are primarily Canadian, choosing a web host with servers in Canada makes sense. While the ping difference between Canadian and US servers isn’t much, other factors like privacy laws and renewable energy tip the scales in favor of Canada hosting. If you want to support local businesses in Canada, ensure that your web host is a Canadian company instead of merely one with servers in Canada.