9 best VoIP providers in Canada for business in 2023

After completing any initial research, you’ve likely seen there are dozens of different Canadian VoIP providers. If your business is based in Canada — or you’re looking to expand to the Great White North by getting a Canadian number — this in-depth guide covers the top phone options. 

Here’s everything you need to know about the nine best Canadian business VoIP providers of 2023, including their prices, features, and limitations.

The best VoIP services in Canada compared

Want to see how the best providers for getting a Canadian VoIP number (whether you’re based in Canada or outside the country are) compare? Check out this comparison chart to view their major features at a glance:

1. OpenPhone 

OpenPhone is a modern business phone service designed to scale with you as your company grows. All you need is an internet connection to start taking calls from your computer, smartphone, or tablet — and from almost anywhere in the world.

With OpenPhone, you can get as many Canadian numbers as you want on our Standard plan ($13 per user per month). Then, just add more phone numbers as your team expands. Each user on your plan comes with one free Canadian, US, or North American toll-free number. Any additional numbers with OpenPhone are $5 per number per month.

Why businesses use OpenPhone 

Every OpenPhone plan comes with free calling and texting to Canada and the US. You can assign team members to their very own number, or work together from a shared number. With shared numbers, every member of your team can review the same inbox, see the same contacts, and split responsibility for incoming calls. Plus, you can collaborate with team members using internal threads and mentions, which make it easier to delegate tasks and follow up with customers.

OpenPhone helps growing teams work faster, smarter, and more efficiently — including saving you time while texting and personalizing your touchpoints with customers. For example:

• Scheduled text messages can help you hit send at the best possible time for every contact, regardless of their time zone. This means your contacts won’t get texts in the middle of the night, and you don’t have to stay up until 11 PM to press send.
• Speaking of not having to stay glued to your phone, tools like auto-replies instantly connect with customers while you’re off the clock or away from your desk. Every missed call and voicemail triggers an automatic message with a short text letting customers know you got their message. You don’t have to end calls early just to pick up another, or stay attached to your phone all day.
• If you spend a lot of time answering similar messages, you can create message templates with snippets and instantly send them to customers in the future. It’s easy to personalize canned responses on the fly, which means you can consistently answer customers, send timely responses, and save yourself the trouble of typing the same thing a dozen times.

Thousands of brands use OpenPhone to connect with Canadian prospects and clients. We’re listed as the #1 business phone solution on G2 — and our customer reviews speak for themselves:

“Customer service is great! I live in USA and OpenPhone works very well for my business in Canada. I can text and call from my different phone numbers without a problem.” – G2

“As a contractor, we made many contacts and partners while working in Canada. However, we are required to move out of the country and we did not want to lose our primary contact numbers. OpenPhone was able to port our numbers to their solution free of charge and allow us to keep communicating with partners.” – G2

“Many of my clients in Canada primarily use cell phones who do not have out of country calling plans. Per use long distance charges for Canadians is particularly expensive. By having Canadian OpenPhone numbers to go along with our US cellular plans, our Canadian contacts can reach us without incurring expensive and unexpected charges on those phone plans. It also gives us a local presence so that when we call them we appear to be local to them.” – G2

How to get a Canadian number in three steps with OpenPhone

You can get a Canadian phone number from OpenPhone in just three steps:

1. Create an OpenPhone account and sign up for a seven-day free trial.

2. During sign up, select your city or area code in Canada to choose a specific local phone number. Otherwise, you can get a North American toll-free number.
3. Provide your credit card information.

Once you’ve confirmed OpenPhone is a good fit, you can also port any Canadian, US, or toll-free numbers your business already has for free. 

OpenPhone key features

• Local or toll-free Canadian phone numbers
• Free calling and texting in Canada and the US
• Integrations with HubSpot, Zapier, Salesforce, Slack, Google Contacts, and more
• Shared phone numbers
• Internal threads and mentions

OpenPhone pricing

Standard

• $13 USD per user per month
• Access call recording, voicemail to text, basic IVR, and one new local or toll-free Canadian or US number per user

Premium

• $20 USD per user per month
• Get call transfers, advanced IVR, analytics and reporting, and our HubSpot and Salesforce integrations

Enterprise

• Custom plan and price
• Unlock audit logs, priority support, and dedicated account managers

See for yourself why thousands of businesses have a Canadian virtual number with OpenPhone by signing up for a free, seven-day trial.

2. RingCentral

RingCentral is a cloud-based phone system offering video, chat, and calling tools. On the market since 1999, it’s one of the oldest VoIP solutions still on the market.

You can use RingCentral to make unlimited calls in the US and Canada. However, this only applies to local numbers — toll-free numbers are limited to an undisclosed amount of minutes depending on the plan you buy. 

This is just the first arbitrary limitation on the RingCentral platform. When you look a little closer at the service and its features, you can see many more limitations:

• You can only send 25 texts per user per month on the basic plan. And since the platform only stores 5,000 texts per user, past messages with customers will eventually be deleted.
• Each user on your plan only has access to 1 GB of free data storage. Every GB after that is billed extra.
• A free trial of RingCentral is limited to just five users and two desktop phones. You can’t use SMS at all, and you only have 50 minutes of call time per user — a max of 250 minutes.

If you want a VoIP platform with fewer limitations on phone calls, text messages, and media storage, you should look for a RingCentral alternative.

RingCentral key features

• SMS support
• Local and toll-free Canadian numbers
• Voicemail to text
• Document sharing
• Call log reports

RingCentral pricing

With RingCentral, the more team members you have on one plan, the less you have to pay per user. If you have a team of 20 users or fewer, here’s what you can expect to pay:

Essentials

• $24.99 CAD ($19.99 USD) per user per month (max of 20 users)
• Make unlimited calls in Canada and the US, access voicemail to text, and message team members internally

Standard

• $29.99 CAD ($27.99 USD) per user per month 
• Unlock unlimited internet faxing, on-demand call recording, and integrations with Google Workspace, Slack, and Microsoft 365

Premium

• $39.99 CAD ($34.99 USD) per user per month
• Access automatic call recording, CRM integrations, and hot desking

Ultimate

• $54.99 CAD ($49.99 USD) per user per month
• Get unlimited storage, device reports, and status alerts

3. Vonage

Vonage is a VoIP provider serving both residential homeowners and enterprise brands. At the beginning of their business in 2004, Vonage was primarily used to replace PBX systems (desk phones) and landline phones. Today, they offer unified communications tools like chat, video, and voice conferencing.

But Vonage is not a cheap solution, especially for companies that aren’t huge corporations. Although you can purchase a Canadian local or toll-free number for your small business, you have to worry about hidden taxes and fees that are hard to find on the website. Plus, you have to pay for expensive add-ons to customize your calling experience — many of which are included on the standard plans of Vonage’s competitors. A few examples:

• Automatic call recording: $49.99 per month
• Shared texting inbox: $9.99 per month
• Local digital fax: $14.99 per month

Vonage’s plans also come with their own set of limitations. The standard plan doesn’t let you purchase any phone numbers unless you sign up for a one-year contract. Even then, you can’t access auto-attendants or CRM integrations without paying for the Premium plan ($29.99 per line per month). You can’t even have voicemail transcriptions without maxing out at a whopping $39.99 per line per month.

Vonage key features

• 20+ integrations on the basic plan
• Mobile and desktop apps
• Internal team messaging
• Unlimited calls and texts in Canada and the US
• IP desk phones available for additional charge

Vonage pricing

Like RingCentral, Vonage forces you to pay more if you have fewer users on your team. If you’re signing up for 1-4 users, you have to pay the following rates:

Mobile

• $19.99 per line per month
• Get unlimited calls in Canada and the US and 20+ integrations

Premium

• $29.99 per line per month
• Access multi-level auto-attendants, CRM integrations, and IP desk phones

Advanced

• $39.99 per line per month
• Unlock on-demand call recording included in your plan, as well as call groups and visual voicemail

4. Ooma

Ooma is a legacy cloud communications company that serves two separate audiences: home phone owners looking to buy residential VoIP numbers, and small business owners looking for virtual phone solutions. Their business line, Ooma Office, is available in the US and Canada.

Ooma’s Canadian platform has some significant differences from the US version. For example, if you live in Canada and want to buy a Canadian number, you won’t have access to text messaging at all — a major problem as your business starts to scale.

Plus, many of the basic features you get with Ooma don’t make sense for distributed teams without a set office space. Features like overhead paging, analog fax machine support, and intercom systems are built into the price of your phone plan, even if you don’t use them once.

Ooma’s best features are locked behind higher paywalls. You can’t access the desktop app unless you pay for the Pro plan ($24.95 per user per month), meaning you have to do all your work on your phone unless you want to pay extra. Even then, you won’t be able to access CRM integrations unless you pay for the Pro Plus plan ($29.95 per user per month).

The bottom line? Ooma is an expensive softphone solution that requires you to upgrade to access its best features. But no matter how much you pay, Ooma doesn’t provide text messaging on a Canadian VoIP number, unlimited toll-free minutes, and other key features.

Ooma key features

• Ring groups
• Music on hold
• Digital fax
• Call transferring
• Voicemail transcriptions (requires upgrade)

Ooma pricing

Ooma charges different prices depending on where you’re located. If you’re buying a Canadian number while based in the US or Canada, here’s what you can expect to pay:

Essentials

• $24.95 CAD ($19.95 USD)  per user per month 
• Get virtual receptionists, ring groups, and music on hold

Pro

• $29.95 CAD ($24.95 USD) per user per month 
• Access the desktop app, call recording, and call analytics

Pro Plus

• $34.95 CAD ($29.95 USD) per user per month 
• Unlock call queuing, hot desking, and integrations with Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics 365

Keep in mind there’s a one-time activation fee ($49.95 USD) required for all phone numbers.

5. 8×8

8×8 is another cloud-based VoIP provider in Canada tailored to call centers and other larger companies. They removed their small business plan, Express, as of March 1st, 2023. 

A virtual number from 8×8 unlocks unlimited calling in 14 countries, including Canada and the US. However, that’s really all you can get on the basic plan. 8×8 is more focused on unified communications than calls and texts, which results in many features being more limited than its competitors. Call recordings, for example, are held for just 30 days unless you upgrade to the X4 plan (an extra $20 per user per month). Even then, this upgrade only comes with 130 days of call recording storage. 

There’s no way to unlock unlimited storage at all, which could be an issue when trying to get context from past customer interactions.

Plus, 8×8 doesn’t offer unlimited texting on any of its small business plans. It costs 0.00695€ to send a text in Canada, and even then, you still have to use their SMS API just to set things up the way you want.

Other texting limitations with 8×8 include:

• No SMS support on toll-free Canadian numbers and shared virtual numbers
• No support for group texting
• No international text support (you can receive international messages from outside the US and Canada, but you can’t respond to them)

If any of this is a dealbreaker for you, you might want to consider some 8×8 alternatives.

8×8 key features

• Unlimited calls in Canada and the US
• Auto-attendants
• Hot desking
• Unlimited internet fax
• In-app team chat

8×8 pricing

8×8 retired their Express plan ($15 per user per month) as of March 1, 2023. This leaves you with just two plans to choose from:

X2

• $24 per user per month
• Includes hot desking, unlimited calls to 14 countries, and unlimited users

X4

• $44 per user per month
• Unlocks supervisor analytics, unlimited calls to 48 countries, and call recording storage for up to 130 days

6. AVOXI

AVOXI is a cloud communications platform specializing in international numbers. The company offers virtual phone numbers in 170+ countries, including Canada. Although their goal is to help global call centers manage multiple international numbers, you can still use AVOXI to set up a single Canadian number for your small business.

Unlike many other VoIPs, AVOXI estimates the amount of minutes you can use on each plan depending on where you forward your incoming calls. You have dozens of different forwarding countries to choose from, as well as virtual forwarding through Microsoft Teams, VoIP, or SIP. 

However, the only way to know how many minutes you get is to enter your specifics into their checkout page.

Even if you’re willing to pay high prices to buy an AVOXI number (more on this below), you should know most of their texting and calling features are limited at best. Text messaging, for example, can’t be done in-platform. All texts are forwarded to your email inbox, which you can only reply to through your email’s reply function. Even then, you can only forward texts to your inbox from 11 countries:

1. Australia
2. Chile
3. Czech Republic
4. Denmark
5. Finland
6. Netherlands
7. Poland
8. Romania
9. Sweden
10. Thailand
11. United Kingdom

You can’t use an AVOXI Canadian number to text your clients at all.

Other AVOXI restrictions could affect how and where you decide to get work done. For example, only users with a Contact license can access the mobile app — meaning the rest of your team has to stick with their internet browsers. There’s no desktop app available at all.

Plus, AVOXI doesn’t provide all of its best features up-front. Many of its most mission-critical features are locked behind even more paywalls, including:

• Call recording: $6.99 per line per month
• Call Insights (aka call analytics): $10 per line per month
• SIP trunks: Starting at $19.99 per trunk
• Extra phone minutes: Starting at $0.031 on the basic plan with a Canadian toll-free number (but not an 800 number)

To summarize: AVOXI is confusing, expensive, and inaccessible to small business owners. If you want a less expensive Canadian number with better features for the price, you’re better off looking for a different service provider.

AVOXI key features

• Guaranteed caller ID
• International numbers in 170+ countries (including Canada)
• Direct routing to Microsoft Teams
• External call forwarding
• Auto-attendants

AVOXI pricing

AVOXI’s prices are extremely confusing and hard to find. The price you pay for a Canadian number depends on the area code and where you want to forward your number. You also have to pay for user licenses to give your team members access to the platform. 

The features you get with an AVOXI number depend on the type of user licenses you want to buy. There are three different types of user licenses available with AVOXI:

Launch

• $0 per user per month (one user minimum)
• Users get external call forwarding, guaranteed local caller ID, and an auto attendant

Contact

• $19.99 per user per month (three user minimum)
• Users get 20+ integrations, unlimited local calling in the US and Canada, and access to the mobile app

Engaged Enterprise

• $49.99 per user per month (three user minimum)
• Users get unlimited storage, custom integrations, and callback functionality

Once you purchase AVOXI user licenses for each member of your team, you need to purchase the actual Canadian number you want to use.

AVOXI’s pricing and minute limits depend on the type of Canadian number you choose (and where you what to forward your calls). For example, a local number in Antigonish costs just $7.99 per month and comes with 430 estimated minutes when forwarding to a VoIP number. In contrast, a local number in St. Catharines enabled with TrueLocal costs $9.49 per month and comes with 341 included minutes when forwarded to a phone number in the US.

Here’s what you can expect to pay if you buy a toll-free number (but a non-800 number) and forward calls through VoIP.

Connect

• $16.99 per line per month for 1032 minutes (extra minutes cost $0.031)

Standard

• $25.99 per line per month for 1895 minutes (extra minutes cost $0.026)

Advanced

• $43.99 per line per month for 3888 minutes (extra minutes cost $0.017)

Premium

• $70.99 per line per month for 7523 minutes (extra minutes cost $0.014)

There are several other price considerations to keep in mind.  AVOXI requires you to pay a $9.99 platform fee per customer account. You also have to pay an additional one-time fee of $149.99 to add up to six licenses to your account. If you decide to add more user licenses to your business, you have to pay an additional $24.99 per license. There’s also an INTFEE cost recovery charge — a 21.1% tax on your monthly subscriptions and call traffic for regulatory compliance.

7. GoTo Connect

Jive has rebranded to GoTo Connect, a VoIP service provider available to businesses in Canada. You can use the platform to make calls and texts and set up virtual meetings using video conferencing tools.

But GoTo Connect is somewhat limited compared to other business VoIP providers. The platform doesn’t offer unlimited calling to the US and Canada, and limits the amount of toll-free minutes you can use per month — no matter how much you upgrade. Plus, you can’t text customers outside the US or Canada. You’re also limited to just 40 SMS per user per month on their standard plan.

Plus, GoTo Connect’s standard plan only lets you have up to 20 users. That means you may get forced to upgrade before your business is ready, and you’ll be forced to pay out of pocket for features you don’t need.

GoTo Connect key features

• Local, vanity, and toll-free Canadian numbers
• Unlimited extensions
• Additional numbers for $5 per line per month
• Auto-replies (to first time callers only)
• Desktop app and mobile app

GoTo Connect pricing

Basic

• $24 per user per month (capped at 20 users)
• Access 40 SMS credits per user per month and basic integrations with Outlook and Google Workspace

Standard

• $29 per user per month
• Unlock unlimited users, 80 SMS credits per user per month, and call recordings

8. Dialpad

Dialpad is a business VoIP service that features AI-powered phone tools. For example, contact centers and other large support teams can use AI coaching tools to teach new agents how to talk at an effective speed.

The biggest benefit to a Canadian number with Dialpad is unlimited phone calls in Canada and the US. However, there are several missing features not available on the standard plan.

With Dialpad, you can’t:

• Add additional numbers unless you upgrade to the second plan ($25 per user per month), which also requires a three user minimum
• Integrate with tools outside of Google Workspace unless you pay for the Pro plan ($25 per user per month)
• Guarantee 100% uptime unless you pay for the most expensive plan (custom price)

Dialpad’s inability to guarantee your uptime could be a major problem as your business expands. Since a 1% loss in uptime could cost you thousands of dollars, Dialpad may be a more expensive and less reliable option compared to other Canadian VoIP providers.

Dialpad key features

• SMS and MMS support (international texting requires upgrade) 
• Unlimited calling in Canada and the US
• Video conferencing tools
• Voicemail transcriptions
• Call recording

Dialpad pricing

Standard

• $15 per user per month
• Get internet faxing, auto-attendants, and voicemail transcriptions

Pro

• $25 per user per month (three user minimum)
• Unlock multiple numbers, most integrations, and international text messaging

Enterprise

• Inquire for a quote (100 user minimum)
• Unlock 100% uptime, unlimited ring groups, and dial-by extensions

9. CallHippo

CallHippo is a VoIP solution built to accommodate both small brands and enterprise companies. More than 50+ international numbers are available for your business through CallHippo. They also offer basic features like IVR, integrations, and SMS support.

But CallHippo may not be a scalable option for businesses finding their feet. You can only have five users on the Starter plan before getting forced up to the Professional plan, which nearly doubles your monthly costs per user. 

Even the Enterprise plan ($30.99 per user per month) comes with a 50-user cap. Once you’ve hit user number 51, you’ll need to upgrade to CallHippo’s more expensive call center solutions.

CallHippo’s greatest limitation comes before purchasing a plan — there’s no free trial available for office phone system users. This means you can’t try CallHippo at all before you buy, and have to eat the costs if it’s not a great fit for your team.

CallHippo key features

• Unlimited calls in the US and Canada
• Basic IVR
• Ring groups
• Set business hours
• Desktop, web, and mobile phone apps

CallHippo pricing

CallHippo offers two distinct plans: a call center solution, and an office phone system.

Here’s what you can expect to pay for the office phone system:

Starter

• $12.99 per user per month (five user max)
• Get one local Canadian number, unlimited calls in the US and Canada, and ring groups

Professional

• $21.99 per user per month (50 user max)
• Access call recording, voicemail to email, and country-specific blocking tools

Ultimate

• $30.99 per user per month (50 user max)
• Unlock custom greetings, customizable integrations, and professionally recorded greetings

If you’re an enterprise brand with a higher call volume, you could choose to pay for the call center solution. This unlocks advanced features that are more applicable to bigger brands, including tools like role-based access control.

There are four separate tiers:

Basic

• $0 per user per month (you only pay for numbers)
• Get click to dial, call forwarding, and SMS support (additional charges apply for outbound SMS)

Bronze

• $16 per user per month
• Access shared numbers, shared inboxes, and recorded voicemails

Silver

• $24 per user per month
• Use call recording tools, basic IVR, and set individual working hours for each user

Platinum

• $40 per user per month
• Unlock multi-level IVRs, call whispering, and conference calling

How did we find the best Canadian VoIP providers?

Our team took a deep dive into the most popular and top-rated VoIP phone systems available in Canada. After evaluating all the features businesses need from a phone service, we landed on these nine VoIP providers based on eight factors:

1. Customer support
2. Cost-effectiveness
3. Features
4. Integrations
5. Customer reviews
6. Scalability
7. Security
8. Ease of use

We also reviewed customer ratings on sites like G2 and Trustpilot to reinforce any themes gathered from specific platforms.

8 key features to look for in a Canadian VoIP phone service 

There are lots of different Canadian VoIP providers to choose from, but only a few provide the tools and features modern businesses need.

Here are eight key features you should look for while narrowing down your list:

1. Shared numbers

Everyone on your team needs to work together to tackle your daily to-do list. Thankfully, shared numbers make this easy.

With shared numbers, all members of your team can split responsibility for incoming calls and messages. Everyone on the shared number can collaborate in-platform and delegate tasks when they run into problems. Plus, your supervisors can have clear oversight into all the conversations between your team and your contacts.

If your Canadian VoIP provider doesn’t offer shared numbers, you should consider crossing them off the list.

2. Call routing options 

Your VoIP provider in Canada should be able to help callers get where they need to go. This means offering plenty of call routing options, like:

• Creating shared numbers for specific teams or departments
• Round-robin calling features that ring multiple devices with an incoming call until someone picks up the phone
• Self-service phone menus that help customers reach the right department (i.e., ‘Press Three for Billing)
• Call transferring tools that can help you send live calls to a teammate

3. Voicemail transcriptions 

Gone are the days of calling a number to listen to audio-only voicemails. Today, you can partner with a Canadian VoIP service to get written transcripts of your voicemails without having to listen to the audio file. 

With OpenPhone, you can easily review a voicemail transcription in line with the rest of the conversation history. Plus, push your transcriptions to apps already in your tech stack.

Keep in mind some providers place voicemail transcriptions behind their premium plans to force you to upgrade. You should keep an eye out for any telling phrases like ‘add-ons’ or ‘with upgrade’ and ask for more details before signing any contracts.

4. Free calling to the US and Canada

Your business should be able to reach US and Canadian customers without paying extra for inbound or outbound calls. But as you can see in the guide above, not all VoIP providers in Canada offer free unlimited calling.

Paying extra to reach these countries should be a dealbreaker. That way, you avoid overage fees, hard minute limits, and unnecessary red tape that can bloat your phone bills.

5. SMS and MMS support

Customers expect businesses to meet their needs faster than ever before. And if you can’t send texts or messages with rich media, you’re already falling behind.

The best Canadian VoIP providers offer both SMS and MMS for your business. They should also offer texting features on both local and toll-free numbers since not all companies support messaging on both types.

But basic text messaging support is only the beginning. . .

6. Automated texting options

Automation is a great way to save time for you and your team — especially while texting. Not only can you put more focus on more complex tasks, but you can look more professional to contacts and show that you genuinely care about great customer experiences.

Canadian VoIP services like OpenPhone offer texting automations on the Standard plan ($13 per user per month). Depending on what your business needs, you can:

• Use auto-replies to let customers when your team is out of office
• Schedule text messages to contacts outside your time zone
• Automate specific touchpoints (such as appointment reminders texts) and keep customers in the loop

7. Call recordings 

Call recordings are no longer a nice-to-have extra — they’re a critical component of small business success. If you can’t look back on recordings for context, coaching, or quality assurance, you might struggle to answer questions quickly or get new agents up to speed.

The Canadian VoIP provider you choose should offer call recording features without having to upgrade. You should also have unlimited storage for all your media without arbitrary retention periods or time-based limits.

8. Conversation threads

You shouldn’t need to flip between different apps just to send messages to your coworkers. You need to be able to connect with your team immediately if something comes up or if you need more clarification.

Platforms like OpenPhone can help you collaborate with your team without hopping between different tools. All call recordings, texts, and voice messages are kept in a single thread so everyone knows where to look for past communications. 

Best of all, if someone needs a second pair of eyes while answering a question, they can tag other team members to help them review and follow up on the conversation faster.

Get a number that supports your presence in Canada with OpenPhone

There’s a lot to consider before buying a Canadian number and dozens of factors to weigh while picking the right phone service. But if you’re looking for a competitive VoIP provider with flexible plans and a user-friendly interface, OpenPhone ranks at the top of the list. We’ve helped companies big and small build better relationships with their customers through automations, third-party integrations, and shared numbers. You can buy as many Canadian numbers as your team needs or to support different cities from Vancouver to Toronto. Then, delight your customers with an equally delightful app.

Start a seven-day free trial to see why thousands of brands use OpenPhone for their business phone communications.

Meagan Shelley

Meagan is a professional writer in VA that has covered business phone communication since 2021. If she’s not helping companies navigate VoIP technology, she’s helping companies craft their own stories.