Best POS systems in Canada for small retail and cafés

A Canadian till has to take Interac, price in CAD, tax at GST/HST (and PST/QST where that is still separate), and deposit to a Canadian bank account. US POS blogs that never mention Interac are not useful here.

The three systems Canadian independent retail and cafés actually shortlist are Square, Shopify, and Lightspeed (Montreal). Head-to-head rates: Shopify vs Square vs Lightspeed. How cards work in general: accepting credit cards in Canada.

I have not stood a week in a café with each of these for NorthOffice. They are here because they are the widely sold Canadian options. Checked against public vendor and CRA pages, 29 August 2026.

Snapshot

Square — start today, pay when you sell

Square’s Canadian POS software has no monthly fee on the core app. Published Canada fees: 2.5% for in-person Visa/Mastercard/Amex, 0.75% + 7¢ for Interac chip/PIN or tap, 3.3% + 15¢ keyed, 2.8% + 30¢ online. Cards issued outside Canada add +1.5% on cards issued outside Canada. Sources: https://squareup.com/ca/en/payments/our-fees, https://squareup.com/ca/en/point-of-sale/pricing.

Square for Retail Plus is listed at $79/month per location; published in-person credit discount 2.45%. Hardware is à la carte; the contactless Reader was listed at $69 listed for Square Reader.

GST/HST is a location tax you configure. Offline: Square documents a 24-hour offline window and states Interac will not work offline. That matters for a rural Ontario shop more than a downtown food-hall stall.

Square vs Helcim on card rates, Interac, CAD payouts, and hardware: Square vs Helcim for Canadian small businesses. Square Payroll is not a Canadian product. Staff still need a CRA payroll tool — payroll guide. Square Appointments (bookings on the same Canadian payments stack) is compared in scheduling software for Canadian small businesses.

Shopify — one back office for web and counter

Shopify is the pick when the same SKUs sell online and in person. If you only need a brochure site, that is a different job — website builders for Canadian small businesses. Canadian plan prices on shopify.com/ca/pricing (29 August 2026): Basic $49 CAD/month monthly or $37 CAD/month billed yearly yearly; Grow $132 CAD/month / $99 CAD/month billed yearly; Advanced $517 CAD/month / $389 CAD/month billed yearly. POS Pro is $119 CAD/month per location. Casual in-person selling is included; staff roles, exchanges, and serious in-store inventory are the Pro add-on.

Shopify Payments Canada, same page: online cards from 2.8% + 30¢ CAD (Basic) down to 2.4% + 30¢ CAD (Advanced). In-person cards 2.6% + 0¢ CAD / 2.5% + 0¢ CAD / 2.4% + 0¢ CAD. Interac is 0% + 15¢ CAD on every listed plan. Shopify states Level 1 PCI DSS. Source: https://www.shopify.com/ca/pricing.

Lightspeed — Montreal, heavier retail

Lightspeed is a Canadian company and the usual step-up for multi-location inventory, purchase orders, and specialty retail. The public Retail (X-Series) pricing page lists Basic $89 USD/month, Core $149 USD/month, Plus $289 USD/month. Official public Retail (X-Series) pricing page lists USD. Confirm CAD billing and Canadian Interac/Visa rates with Lightspeed — do not treat the US card-present promo rate on that page as a Canadian Interac rate. Source: https://www.lightspeedhq.com/pos/retail/pricing/.

I will not paste a 2.6% + $0.10 “Canada rate” from a third-party blog and call it official. Get a Canadian quote that includes Interac.

GST on the till

Configure 13% HST for an Ontario location (or the right place-of-supply rate). The Z-tape is not a GST/HST return. The money still has to land in a ledger — accounting software. Processor fee tables (Stripe, Square, Moneris, PayPal, Helcim): payment processors for Canadian small businesses.