Our Ranking Methodology

Scoring criteria + weights

Regulatory status

20%

Registration with FINTRAC as a Money Services Business is a hard requirement — we do not rank exchanges that operate without it. Additional credit for CIRO registration (for platforms holding customer assets) and CSA-recognized status. Any exchange restricted from serving Canadians is excluded from ranking, though we may keep a review page as historical record.

All-in cost for a Canadian buyer

25%

We model the real out-the-door cost for a first-time Canadian depositing $1,000 CAD by Interac e-Transfer and making a market buy. This includes deposit fees, trading commission or spread, and any hidden markup. Spread-based platforms are scored on measured spread, not the marketing claim of 'zero fees.'

Funding options for Canadians

15%

Interac e-Transfer support is table stakes — full points require zero-fee Interac deposits. Additional credit for bank wire, direct deposit, and Visa/Mastercard funding. Debit-card-only or crypto-only funding scores lower.

Custody & insurance

15%

Cold storage of the majority of customer assets, segregated Canadian trust accounts for CAD, and third-party insurance (where available) score highest. Platforms with commingled custody or opaque insurance arrangements score lower. We include what we can independently verify — exchange marketing claims are not sufficient.

App quality & user experience

10%

Real-world use of the iOS and Android apps by our team. We time sign-up, KYC verification, and first-trade completion. We penalize apps that hide fees, use dark patterns, or make withdrawal difficult.

Coin selection & features

10%

Bitcoin plus at least the top 10 crypto assets by market cap is baseline. Extra credit for staking, recurring buys, CAD-denominated USD-stablecoin pairs, and API access. Meme-coin listing count is not credited.

Customer support & complaint history

Response time to test support inquiries, presence of Canadian-timezone support hours, and pattern of unresolved complaints on public forums (Trustpilot, Reddit r/BitcoinCA, Better Business Bureau). Isolated complaints don't move the score; patterns do.

How we test

Real accounts. Every exchange we review has an active account created and funded by our team. We do not review platforms we have not personally used.
First-time Canadian buyer scenario. Our baseline test is a fresh $1,000 CAD Interac deposit and a market BTC buy on the standard interface (not Pro).
Fee measurement. We compare the quoted buy price to the reference spot price on CoinGecko at the same second. The difference is the effective spread — that's what we score on.
KYC timing. We record the elapsed time from account creation to trade approval.
Withdrawal test. We move BTC from the exchange to a hardware wallet and back to CAD. Any friction in either direction is noted in the review.

How often we update

Rankings are re-scored monthly. When an exchange changes its fees or a regulatory status changes, we re-score within 7 days.
Every review page shows the "Updated" date at the top — that's the actual date the page's content was last verified, not a display gimmick.
When a listed exchange becomes restricted for Canadian users (e.g., Bitget in 2026), we replace the review with a regulatory alert and route the affiliate link to the closest compliant alternative.

What we do NOT accept

Payment to change a ranking position or rating.
"Featured partner" placements above earned rankings.
Editorial input from any exchange on the content of its review.
Free crypto, hardware, or subscriptions in exchange for coverage — where a hardware wallet is provided by the manufacturer for testing, we disclose it in the review itself.

Affiliate relationships

We earn commission when readers open accounts through some of the links on this site. This is disclosed on every review page and in our Affiliate Disclosure. Affiliate relationships never change ranking order. An exchange whose commission we don't earn (e.g., Wealthsimple Crypto historically) can still rank above an exchange we do earn from — and does.

Conflicts of interest

No member of the BuyBitcoin.ca editorial team holds material equity, employment, or advisory positions with any Canadian crypto exchange. When any member holds long positions in specific crypto assets that could create a perceived conflict on a particular story, we disclose it in the article.

Corrections

Found something wrong? Email reviews@buybitcoin.ca or use the contact form. We correct factual errors within 48 hours and note the change with the corrected date on the page.