Best online backup for Canadian small businesses

A Smithville laptop dies on a Friday. The Drive folder still has this week’s invoices — and last year’s QuickBooks file is gone because nobody kept a second copy that survives a wipe, a theft, or ransomware. US “best backup 2026” lists skip the bill: USD vs CAD, GST on the SaaS invoice, and the fact that Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 is not a restore.

This comparison is five options with usable public cards: Backblaze Computer Backup ($99/year unlimited, continuous), IDrive (USD, first-year promos, 10 GB free), Carbonite (continuous Safe / Safe Backup Pro), Acronis (scheduled images plus anti-ransomware), and Sync.com (Canadian folder sync — not a whole-PC backup). Online-backup prices checked against public vendor pages, 6 September 2026.

Who this page is for

• A Canadian SMB quoted Backblaze, IDrive, or Carbonite who needs official USD/CAD limits, not a blog conversion.
• Anyone who thinks Workspace Drive or OneDrive already “backs everything up.”
• A shop that wants a Canadian-residency folder (Sync) and needs to hear that is not a whole-PC backup.
• Not a disaster-recovery RFP. Not a ransomware retainer. Not a hands-on lab.

Snapshot (public pages, 6 September 2026)

Backblaze — $99/year unlimited, continuous

Official backblaze.com/cloud-backup/pricing (6 September 2026): Personal $99/year — unlimited data backup, access anywhere. Business $99/year — everything in Personal plus multiple users and administrative controls. Official compare table: automated continuous backup of user-generated data from computers and connected external drives; no file-type or size cap; native Mac and Windows; mailed hard-drive restore listed as free upon return within 30 days; AES encryption with optional private key; 2FA; forever file-version retention available for an added fee. backblaze.com/cloud-backup/pricing printed $99/year for Personal and Business with no CAD or USD label. Confirm checkout. Do not invent a CA$ Backblaze SKU. Source: https://www.backblaze.com/cloud-backup/pricing.

The pricing page lists “Secure from ransomware” with encryption and 2FA. Extended version history (optional Forever) is the restore path — not a promise the shop is ransomware-proof. Official Backblaze help “Tax Collection and Fees for Canada”: GST is remitted for services and goods in applicable regions. For services, tax follows the billing address; for goods (USB hard-drive restores), the shipping address. GST is calculated from the postal code on the payment method. Not tax advice. Source: Backblaze tax collection for Canada.

Buy Backblaze when one or many Windows/Mac shops need unlimited continuous backup and you can live without a Canadian data-region pin. It does not replace the folder you share with a client.

IDrive — official USD, first-year promo, 10 GB free

Official idrive.com/pricing: “All prices mentioned are in USD.” Official idrive.com/canada: “All the prices listed here are in USD. Billed Annually.” Basic free — 10 GB, no credit card. Personal 5 TB $11.99/month — one user, multiple computers. Yearly Personal 5 TB prints $9.99 / $6.99 per month (first-year 30% off). Official note: the discounted price applies to the first year; standard pricing from year two. Official idrive.com/canada: Personal 2 TB starts at $7.49 / $3.75 per month; Business 500 GB $19.99 / $10.00 per month. 50% off the first year only; then standard charges. Express shipping to Canada may add a separate quote. Team 5 computers / 5 users / 5 TB $11.99/month on the monthly card. Business monthly card starts at 1.25 TB $59.99/month (unlimited users, servers / Exchange / SQL / NAS). Yearly Business 500 GB prints $19.99 / $13.99 first year. Sources: https://www.idrive.com/pricing; https://www.idrive.com/canada.

Official compare: automatically recognizes changes in the backup set and starts backup in near real-time. That is scheduled-plus-continuous for files you put in the set — not “every file on the disk” unless you add it. Official pricing footnote: Cloud Drive is a separate service, distinct from cloud backup, and needs its own activation. Do not treat IDrive sync as the backup job. Add-on: Microsoft 365 backup $20/seat/year with unlimited storage (OneDrive, Outlook, Exchange, SharePoint, Teams). Google Workspace backup $20/seat/year with 10 TB per seat (Gmail, Drive, Calendar, Contacts). A seat is one Workspace or 365 user. Suite storage is not this backup. IDrive Express physical ship is available in Canada; official Canada page says shipping may be extra. Official IDrive signup terms: the total can include applicable taxes and fees. “Sales tax, VAT, and GST may apply in certain regions, as per respective federal mandates.” Confirm the invoice. Not tax advice.

Buy IDrive when you need several computers in one USD account, a free 10 GB trial, or a published Workspace / 365 backup add-on. Budget the year-two list, not the Canada 50% banner.

Carbonite — continuous Safe, capped Pro cloud

Safe Backup Pro Core $24.00/month or $287.99/year billed annually — up to 25 computers, external drives and NAS; 250 GB cloud. Power $50.00/month, or $799.99 / $599.99 per year billed annually (25% off banner on that retrieve) — 1 server + up to 25 computers; 500 GB cloud. Ultimate $83.33/month, or $1299.99 / $999.99 per year (23% off banner) — unlimited servers + 25 computers; 500 GB cloud. Additional storage $99 per 100 GB increment on the Pro table. Official Carbonite Safe pricing FAQ / support comparison chart: Basic $95.99/year, Plus $131.99/year, Prime $161.99/year — unlimited cloud backup for one computer. Plus/Prime add external-drive and automatic video backup. Confirm the live card — those FAQ figures date to a 2023 adjustment page still published. Official Carbonite Safe Backup Pro and Safe pricing pages print unlabelled dollars. No CAD list on the 6 September 2026 retrieve. Confirm checkout. Sources: https://www.carbonite.com/backup-software/carbonite-safe-backup-pro/; https://www.carbonite.com/faqs/carbonite-safe-pricing-adjustment/; https://support.carbonite.com/articles/Personal-Mac-Windows-Carbonite-Personal-Comparison-Chart.

Official Pro page: continuous backup with 1-click file recovery. “Always-on backup.” Official Pro page: within two weeks of a virus or malware event, support can help restore pre-infected versions. That is a support-assisted window, not a guarantee the shop is ransomware-proof.

Buy Carbonite Safe for one unlimited PC. Buy Pro when you have up to 25 endpoints and can live inside 250–500 GB of cloud (or pay $99 per extra 100 GB). Confirm tax at checkout — no official CAD list showed up in this retrieve.

Acronis — scheduled images, anti-ransomware, region-variable $

True Image (home / up to 5 PCs): Essentials $49.99/year, local only, basic anti-ransomware. Advanced $72.99/year, 50 GB cloud (upgradable to 500 GB), full anti-malware, Microsoft 365 backup. Premium $124.99/year, 1 TB cloud (upgradable to 10 TB). Identity protection on Advanced/Premium is listed as only available in the US. Cyber Protect for business, per device: Standard from $85.00; Backup Advanced from $109.00 (includes Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, and email archiving); Advanced from $129.00. 1-, 3-, or 5-year terms. Official acronis.com compare page: “Prices may vary by region, reseller, or subscription term.” True Image and Cyber Protect cards print unlabelled dollars. Confirm CAD vs USD at checkout. Do not invent a CA$ Acronis SKU from a reseller. Sources: https://www.acronis.com/en-us/products/compare-products/; https://www.acronis.com/en-us/products/true-image/purchasing/.

True Image lists backup scheduling plus incremental and differential backups, full image backup, and disk cloning. That is a scheduled image job, not Backblaze-style continuous file upload unless you set it that way. True Image includes anti-ransomware on every plan. Real-time anti-malware is a 30-day trial on Essentials and included on Advanced/Premium. Cyber Protect adds exploit prevention and URL filtering on the business cards.

Buy True Image when you want a disk image and a Survival Kit, not only file upload. Essentials is local-only — that is not online backup until you pay Advanced. Cyber Protect is the per-device shop SKU if you also want Workspace / 365 backup in the same product. Identity protection on the Advanced card is US-only.

Sync.com — Canadian folder sync, not the whole PC

Official sync.com/canadian-cloud-storage/: Sync markets Canadian data residency (“always stored right here in Canada”), CAD pricing, and “100% PIPEDA compliant.” Offices and data centres are claimed in Canada (Toronto on the GDPR policy). That is the vendor’s claim — not legal advice and not a substitute for how you handle client personal information. Official help “Why am I being billed in a different currency?”: Sync only bills in USD and CAD. Checkout currency follows the IP region. A VPN can flip CAD to USD. Confirm the currency on the checkout page. The public pricing cards retrieved 6 September 2026 did not print a CAD/USD label on the dollar amounts. Sync’s official teams table lists realtime backup and sync of the Sync folder, plus 180- or 365-day file history. That is versioned folder sync, not a whole-PC continuous backup and not a bare-metal image. Clients you share with do not count as users. See the cloud-storage page for the file-share job. No official Sync GST/HST matrix was retrieved for this page. Confirm tax on the CAD or USD invoice. Not tax advice. Sources: https://www.sync.com/pricing/; https://www.sync.com/canadian-cloud-storage/; https://help.sync.com/hc/en-us/articles/47786749063955-Why-am-I-being-billed-in-a-different-currency.

Buy Sync for the file share that should stay in Canada. Turn the VPN off at checkout so CAD does not flip to USD. Put the laptop’s full disk on Backblaze, IDrive, Carbonite, or Acronis. The share job is cloud storage for Canadian small businesses.

When cloud storage is not backup

• Workspace Drive and OneDrive are the live shop folders. Ransomware that encrypts the laptop can sync up. Seat math lives on Google Workspace vs Microsoft 365 in Canada.
• IDrive’s own footnote: Cloud Drive sync is not cloud backup. Activate them separately.
• Dropbox, iCloud, and Sync version history help a deleted PDF. They do not rebuild a dead Windows install.
• If you need Gmail or Exchange restored, that is a Workspace / 365 backup add-on (IDrive $20 USD/seat/year, or Acronis on Advanced / Cyber Protect Backup Advanced) — not the 15 GB Google Account.

A practical pick

1. One or many PCs, unlimited files, set-and-forget: Backblaze Personal or Business at $99/year. Confirm GST from the billing postal code.
2. Several devices and a USD sticker you can read: IDrive Personal 5 TB (budget $11.99/month or the year-two list, not only the first-year $6.99). Free 10 GB to try.
3. Need published Microsoft 365 or Workspace backup: IDrive add-on at $20 USD/seat/year, or Acronis Advanced / Cyber Protect Backup Advanced. The suite itself is not the restore.
4. Need a disk image and anti-ransomware on the same installer: Acronis True Image Advanced or Premium. Confirm CAD vs USD. Identity protection is US-only.
5. One unlimited PC and you already know Carbonite: Safe Basic $95.99/year on the published FAQ. Pro if you have up to 25 endpoints and 250–500 GB is enough.
6. Files should live in Canada and you share with clients: Sync.com for the folder, plus a real backup for the disk. Cloud storage for Canadian small businesses.
7. Hotel Wi-Fi while you open the backup admin: VPN for Canadian small businesses.