How to Sell on Amazon Canada: The Complete Guide

We frequently discuss strategies for selling in the U.S. Amazon marketplace, but what about our friends up north? While Amazon Canada is not as big a marketplace as Amazon U.S., it’s growing fast, and there’s still a ton of opportunity for Canadian sellers to crush it. In fact, Amazon Canada receives tens of millions of monthly unique visitors — roughly 160 million each month.

If you’re an existing Amazon seller outside of Canada, or you’re a Canadian resident looking to get started selling on Amazon, we’ll take you through the simple start-up process. We’ll go over:

How to sign up for an Amazon CA seller account

This section will go over everything you need to know when signing up for an Amazon seller account in Canada. 

To get started, go to the Start Selling Online page of Amazon.ca. 

As with other Amazon marketplaces, Amazon CA has two selling plans to choose from: Individual and Professional. 

Individual: 

The individual plan is good for beginner sellers who don’t plan on selling much inventory each month. It’s a great way to get your feet wet with ecommerce without having to pay a monthly fee — just a flat rate of $1.49 CDN per sale.

Choose the individual plan if you:

  • Plan to sell fewer than 20 items a month (past 20 items, your total per-sale fees will exceed the monthly fee for the professional selling plan) 
  • Don’t need the advanced selling tools or add-on programs included with the pro plan
  • Are still deciding what to sell

Professional:

The professional selling plan makes sense if your business sells more than 20 items a month, as you’ll pay a flat monthly fee of $29.99 CDN.

Choose the professional plan if you:

Now that you know the difference between the individual account and the professional account, let’s start the registration process. 

What you need to sign up for an Amazon account

In order to complete your seller registration, you will need the following: 

  • Bank account information, including your account and routing numbers 
  • Chargeable credit card
  • Government-issued national identification
  • Tax information
  • Phone number

On the Start Selling Online page, click on “Sign up.”

Next, create a new Amazon account with your email and password. 

Now enter your business information and location. Even if you are located outside of Canada, you can still sell on the Canadian marketplace.

For business type, you will have a few options:

  • State-owned business
  • Publicly-listed business
  • Privately-listed business
  • Charity
  • None, I am an individual

If you don’t have a registered business, choose “None, I am an individual.” Otherwise, click the option that best describes your business, then click “Agree and continue.”

The next few steps include entering your individual information, including: 

  • Your physical address
  • Phone number
  • DOB
  • Billing and bank account information
  • Store name and selling plan

Once you enter in all of this required information, Amazon will need to verify your account before they approve your account to sell. Once you are approved, you can start listing items for sale!

Fulfillment methods for Amazon Canada

Sellers in the Canadian marketplace can leverage Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), or they can handle packing and shipping themselves with Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM).

Fulfillment by Amazon

FBA is what most sellers use because it saves time and adds convenience. With FBA, you can store your products at an Amazon warehouse, and Amazon staff will pick, pack, and ship the orders for you once a customer makes a purchase. On top of that, Amazon will also handle the customer service on your behalf for any order shipped through FBA. 

Another major advantage of using FBA over FBM is that all of your products will be eligible for Prime shipping. Prime members are more likely to purchase Prime-eligible products, as they’ll get both their money’s worth for their subscription and their package in just 1-2 days. 

Fulfillment by Merchant 

FBM means that the seller will manage their own storage, fulfillment, and customer service. Some sellers prefer to use FBM, because they can save money by avoiding FBA fees and inbound shipping costs. Many FBM sellers use a third-party fulfillment service provider to store and ship their products. 

For a more in-depth comparison of these fulfillment methods, please check out our Amazon FBA vs FBM Comparison Guide.

Amazon Canada selling fees

No matter if you fulfill your orders via FBA or FBM, you’ll be responsible for some seller fees. Before sending any inventory into Amazon CA FBA, make sure you properly estimate what you’ll owe. A good way to do that is by using Amazon’s free Amazon FBA Revenue Calculator. Here’s a run-down of the fees involved in selling on Amazon Canada. 

Referral Fees

The referral fee is the “commission” that you will pay to Amazon for each item you sell on their marketplace. Similar to the referral fees for Amazon U.S., it typically amounts to 15% or less of the product’s sale price.

Amazon automatically collects its referral fees after each sale is made. You’ll earn the sale price of the item, minus their 15% commission (and any shipping costs if selling via FBM). 

Here is the current list of Amazon Canada’s referral fees:

Fees that only FBA sellers pay

If you decide to use the FBA fulfillment method, you’ll be on the hook for additional fees to cover all the work Amazon will handle on your behalf (storage, packing, shipping, customer service). 

The exact FBA fee you pay is determined by the size and weight of each product you sell. 

Below are Amazon Canada’s current FBA fulfillment fees:

For more information on product sizes, visit Amazon CA’s product size tier page

FBA storage fees

On top of fulfillment fees, FBA sellers are also responsible for storage fees for using Amazon’s warehouse space. There are two types of FBA storage fees: monthly and long-term.

Monthly inventory storage fee

According to Amazon, “Monthly inventory storage fees typically are charged between the 7th and 15th day of the month following the month for which the fee applies. For example, to see your inventory storage fee for January, refer to the February Payments report for transactions from 7-15 February.”

Although standard-size products are smaller and lighter than oversized products, they typically require complex shelving, drawers, or bins for storage, hence the larger storage costs.

Long-term storage fees

Similar to Amazon U.S. the the aged inventory surcharge is assessed on the 15th of each month. Any inventory that has been stored in an Amazon fulfillment center for more than 365 days will be charged a monthly long-term storage fee of CAD $262 per cubic meter.

Canadian tax and regulatory considerations

If you sell goods in Canada, you may be subject to collecting and paying federal sales tax (GST/HST) on your sales in Canada. 

Federal and Provincial Sales Taxes

There are two main types of sales taxes in Canada:

1. Federal Sales Tax: also known as the Goods and Services Tax (GST) or Harmonized Sales Tax (HST), these are administered jointly. Whether you’re charged for HST/GST depends on the particular province or territory you operate in. But you may be liable for the taxes even if your business is not registered in Canada.

2. Provincial Sales Tax: also known as the Quebec sales tax (QST), or Retail Sales Tax (RST). Whether PST, RST, or QST applies depends on the business’s particular province. 

The table below describes which taxes are applicable in each province and territory:

Sales Tax Type Provinces/Territories
GST Only Alberta (5% GST)

Nunavut (5% GST)

Northwest Territories (5% GST)

Yukon (5% GST)

GST and PST/RST/QST British Columbia (5% GST + 7% PST)

Manitoba (5% GST + 7% RST)

Quebec (5% GST + 9.975% QST)

Saskatchewan (5% GST + 6% PST)

HST Only Ontario (13%)

New Brunswick (15%)

Newfoundland (15%)

Nova Scotia (15%)

Prince Edward Island (15%)

Note: We are not tax professionals, so please consult with an accountant or tax advisor for more information on your business tax obligations. 

How to sell on Amazon Canada from the US

24% of U.S. marketplace sellers already sell in Canada — are you one of them? If not, you should be! 

In the past, sellers used to need separate seller accounts to sell in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Now, Amazon offers what’s called the North American Unified Account, allowing sellers to conveniently switch within Seller Central between the Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, and Amazon.com.mx seller tools. That way, you can sell in all three marketplaces under one professional seller account — and you’ll only need to pay $39.99 per month to list products in all three countries.

When you create an account in either one of these marketplaces, you will automatically have a unified account. To switch between each marketplace, go to your seller name at the top of Seller Central and choose Mexico, Canada, or the U.S. from the dropdown menu. 

Amazon makes it fairly simple to sell in Canada from the United States. You do not need a registered Canadian business or a Canadian bank account to get started. 

All you need to do is connect your US bank account to your Canadian seller account and use the Amazon Currency Converter for Sellers to route your earnings to your local bank, in your local currency.

Canadian Sales Tax

As mentioned above, Canadian sellers have different tax obligations than sellers in the U.S. 

Canada collects federal sales tax, called Goods and Services Tax (GST) or Harmonized Sales Tax (HST).

Even if you are not a resident of Canada, you may be responsible for GST/HST — so before you list a product on Amazon.ca, make sure you are registered for GST/HST.

Note: We are not tax professionals, so please consult with an accountant or tax advisor for more information on your business tax obligations. 

Listing your products on Amazon Canada

It is actually pretty simple to transfer your US listings over to the Canadian marketplace. In your unified account, just switch over to Canada from the drop-down menu shown above. 

After that, go to the Catalog tab, then click “Add Products.”

Then, enter the ASIN from your Amazon.com listing and click search. All of the information from the U.S. listing will automatically load for your new Amazon.ca listing draft. From there, you just need to click “Sell this product” and move on to the next page. 

The cool thing about this is that all of your Amazon.com reviews will actually transfer over to your Amazon.ca listing — no need to start from scratch in the new marketplace. 

On the offer page, you need to enter in your price, SKU, condition, and fulfillment method. 

Now, before you enter your price, check the exchange rate for USD to CAD — your price will typically be a little higher in Canada to cover the exchange rate and FBA fees. 

To figure out how you should price your Canadian listing, just search Google for “USD to CAD.” Then, enter in your US price and the currency converter will tell you the equivalent price in Canadian dollars. For instance, if your Amazon.com listing price is $29.99, your Amazon.ca price point should be at least CAD$37.86 (at the time of writing). 

After that, your listing will be ready to go!

Sending inventory into FBA Canada

When sending FBA inventory into Canada, we suggest sending less than what you would send to a U.S. FBA center, at least until you figure out how much product you’ll sell each month. Canada’s market is smaller than the U.S., and you may find that you don’t need the same levels of inventory to serve each marketplace. You can use Jungle Scout’s Extension and Product Tracker features to estimate the Canadian sales volume of your product or niche. 

Before shipping your goods into Canada, make sure you read the Canada Border Services Agency’s Importing commercial goods guide

Sending your inventory from the US into a Canadian Amazon warehouse is similar to sending FBA inventory to an American warehouse — though it can be a little tricky. Since Amazon CA does not have any partnered carriers (unlike Amazon U.S., which partners with UPS for cheap inbound FBA shipping for sellers), you will need to find your own carrier to ship inventory to Amazon. 

Make sure you ship with a carrier that provides DDP services (Delivered Duty Paid). This ensures that all of your import taxes, duties, and fees are paid ahead of time, so Amazon doesn’t reject your shipment. Try Fedex, UPS, or DHL. After you print out your box labels and arrange the shipment with your carrier, you can go back into Seller Central and enter in the tracking number for your FBA shipment. 

Sell in Canada using FBA Remote Fulfillment 

If you don’t want the hassle of sending your inventory into Canada from the US, Amazon has a program called Remote Fulfillment that allows sellers to ship orders to  customers in Canada and Mexico from their U.S. FBA inventory. 

While the shipping speeds will be slower than the usual two-day shipping for U.S. customers, Remote Fulfillment offers Prime customers free shipping in Mexico (5 to 9 days) and Canada (7 to 12 days). Any orders fulfilled remotely will appear in your Unified account under the country of destination. 

To learn more about fees and how to enroll, visit Amazon’s Remote Fulfillment with FBA help page. 

Start selling on Amazon Canada

No matter which Amazon marketplace you choose to sell on, there’s no better time than now to start or expand your business. We hope this guide helps you launch your selling journey on Amazon.ca. 

If you need more information on figuring out what to sell on Amazon, how to earn customers through keyword targeting, and how to find a high-quality supplier for your product, check out our full How to Sell on Amazon Guide for Beginners

Do you have more questions about selling in Canada? Let us know in the comments below!

Want to learn more about how you can use Jungle Scout to launch, grow, and run your Amazon business? Click the “Learn More” button below!

 

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49 comments on “How to Sell on Amazon Canada: The Complete Guide

  1. I am already selling in Amazon Canada and want to make the same listing available in Amazon US. Is it possible to use same UPC, ASIN, SKU etc. and create the same listing in Amazon US ?

  2. Hello,

    I was wondering if there is a way to link my shopify account to Amazon so I can take orders on my personal website (ecommerce), but use Amazon FBA to fulfill those? Can I do this without redirecting my customer to Amazon for checkout? Please advise.

    Thanks!

  3. I’m enrolled in remote fulfillment for FBA but my inventory in Canada is showing out of stock. I read through link you provided on Seller Central and am unable to figure out how to get my listing to not show as out of stock. It seems my only option is to send inventory vs. this section of the article

    If you don’t want the hassle of sending your inventory into Canada from the US, Amazon has a program called Remote Fulfillment that allows sellers to ship orders to customers in Canada and Mexico from their U.S. FBA inventory.

    Any tips? Appreciate your help

  4. Hi Brian,
    I’m Canadian and selling a product on US Amazon FBA with US bank account and business registered in Canada.
    Now I’m going to sell another new product on CA Amazon FBA under the same business but Canadian bank account.
    Is it possible to create new account for Canada?
    Or I need to use the same US seller account?
    Thank

    1. Hi Lilly,

      You would use the same seller account to sell in the US and Canada, but you can switch between each marketplace in Seller Central. I am unsure about the bank account. I would contact seller support with this question.

  5. Can I import any item from China to FBA Canada? Does Amazon put restrictions on items from China?

    can all chinese suppliers send to amazon fba or i have to search amazon partner suppliers?

    Thank you so much for this good article.

    1. Hi,

      If you want to send goods from China to Amazon FBA Canada, I suggest using a freight forwarder to help get your goods from your supplier and to Amazon. They will help handle all of the legal documents and customs clearance needed.

      You’ll need to check within Amazon Canada’s terms of service if they prohit selling the type of item you want to offer.

  6. Can I use jungescout to find Canadian wholesalers who have products that are sellable on amazon? I haven’t had any luck finding products that are already for sale on amazon.

    1. Hi Andrew,

      Yes, Jungle Scout works very well for Amazon Canada. You can use the filters in our product research tools to find products you can potentially purchase at wholesale costs.

  7. Do you lose profits, by paying shipping to the fulfillment centre? I would imagine shipping a large box would be expensive…is there a specific carrier to use In Canada, and is it discounted?

    1. Shipping to Amazon fulfillment centers through Seller Central is usually fairly cheap. I am not sure about Amazon Canada, though. You will need to create a shipment and see what you will be charged.

  8. I sell both usa and Canada. (Canada sales shipped from the USA)

    Recently I sent product to fba Canada.
    Come to find out Amazon does not show fba availability for Canada separately from USA. Nor will reporting show it.
    So there is no way to know what sold fba Canada.
    nor can you keep track of what’s available fba Canada.
    Do you have someone that is aware of this problem or have a resource that could help me?

    1. In your seller central account, you can switch to Amazon Canada. You’ll see your store name on top. Click the drop-down menu and choose Canada.

  9. Hi there
    How to do the opposite ?
    Selling on Amazon .com while you are selling on amazon.ca and live in Canada ?

  10. Hi,
    I’m a Canadian citizen interested in opening an FBA individual seller account. I dont have a registered business. I will be importing products from around the world to send to Amazon fulfillment warehouse in Canada, I have the following questions that I couldn’t find an answer to:
    – Do i need to register a business with CRA to get a business number and obtain an importing license in order to get the goods into Canada? If not, does CBSA allow individuals to import commercial goods on their own name and tax info?!
    – Regarding remote fulfillment, if i’m importing products from China, can i choose to have them delivered to a fulfillment centre in China instead?
    – What happens if the product is not shifting and i dont want it anymore, can i asl Amazon to write it off?

    I would very much appreciate a clarification on the above.

    Thanks,

    Adel Shamaileh

    1. Hi Abel,

      I’m not 100% on rules in Canada but with Amazon, you don’t need any business license to sell on the platform. No, they will need to be delivered to a Canadian fulfillment center.

      Amazon allows you to liquidate inventory that does not sell but they won’t buy it from you or write it off.

  11. Hi Brian – Can I create an Amazon Seller Central account with my US LLC only for Amazon.ca and sell products in Canada as a US company? The items will be shipped from China to the Amazon warehouse in Canada for FBA fulfillment.

  12. If I am seeling products from the US on Amazon .ca, do I need a canadian representative. Someone with a canadia address? or is this necessary if I am selli
    ng only on amazon?

  13. Hi Brian,
    I am thinking of creating an individual account on amazon.ca. Once I am done with hunting and product listing, I will transfer to a professional account if needed. Is it easy to transfer from individual to professional account on amazon.ca.If there are any specific requirements, please mention?
    Thank you.

    1. Hi,

      Switching from an individual account to a professional account is very easy. You can do so within your Seller Central account. Within your account settings, you can upgrade to a professional account.

  14. Hello,
    Currently, I am an Amazon USA seller. I am looking to import goods from China, directly to Canada to sell on Amazon.ca. Do I need to start a separate business in Canada to handle the taxes, or can I sell as a USA business?

    Thank you

    1. Hi Roger,

      You can sell on Amazon Canada using your business. I suggest contacting an accountant with any tax-related questions, though.

      -Brian

  15. Hi
    I’m thinking of starting a private label fba from Canada. I live in Canada. Can I use the North America unified account to sell to the US and Mexico? I want to take a course to help me start selling however I find them geared towards American sellers. Any advice?

  16. Hello, I sell on Amazon US under a professional account paying $39.99 monthly. But for the last couple of months, I was charged twice from my bank card for Amazon Canada about $19 (each time). Any idea what it can be? Thanks

  17. Brian, if have a listing on .com, and want to list the same item on .ca, should I use the same SKU for both listings, or should I have a US SKU and a Canada SKU for the same ASIN? Any suggestions? Thanks for the article!

    1. Hi Cam,

      That is up to you if you want to use the same SKU. It may be best to use a different SKU to keep track of sales easier.

  18. If I’m not a Canadian resident (Russian citizen), but I plan to go to Canada soon and open a personal bank account there, can I use it to register as an Amazon FBA seller on US and Canada Amazon marketplace?

    1. Hi,

      You’ll need to figure out exactly what Amazon Canada’s requirements are. I assume if you have a Canadian bank account, you should be able to open an account in Canada.

      1. Hi Brian,

        Looking to start a small side hustle with FBA, and am not sure about getting set up as far as taxes and registering? No intention of going FBM. Been reading alot of stuff that seems complicated and intimidating. I’ve read the basic Amazon requirements. Will Amazon monthly 29.99 service take care of most of this. How do taxes work? From Ontario.

        Thanks!

        1. Hi Sean,

          Amazon’s seller account fee gives you access to the account along with some seller tools that will help you sell more products. Amazon doesn’t take care of taxes or business registration for you.

          I suggest consulting with an accountant so you can be sure you are compliant with any local or federal tax laws.

          -Brian

  19. How long is the average time to receiving the verification postcard in Canada? It has been 3 weeks since amazon said it’s sent, but I still haven’t received anything. I’m debating if it’s lost or I’m just impatient.

    1. Hi Lillian,

      Yes, that is normal. Some sellers receive it quickly, others it may take some time. If you don’t receive it in another week, request for a new one.

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