5 Best Web Hosting Canada in 2023 (Server Speed Tested!)

WRITTEN BY

Danielle Willatt

REVIEWED BY

Daren Low

UPDATED

September 27, 2023

Our #1 web host and WordPress host for Canada goes to Hostinger – with blazing fast speeds in Canada and quality features at affordable prices.

We want to make sure the best web hosting for Canada is fast and reliable, no matter where your audience is based. So, we’ve handpicked the top 5 web hosts out of the 40+ brands we tested – each with an average global response time of less than 180 ms! Here they are.

Best Web Hosts & WordPress Hosts Canada

 

#1

Best overall web host & WordPress host

Hostinger

5.0

  /5

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#2

Best value WordPress hosting

DreamHost

5.0

  /5

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#3

Best PIPEDA-compliant host

HostPapa

5.0

  /5

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#4

Best eco-friendly WordPress web host

GreenGeeks

4.0

  /5

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#5

Best premium managed WordPress hosting

Kinsta

4.0

  /5

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1. Hostinger

https://www.hostinger.com/

World Speed Score

A+

Speed In Canada

38 ms

Price (CAD)

CA$3.95/mo

Key Features

• 100GB SSD
• Unlimited bandwidth
• Free domain & SSL
• hPanel
• 1-click WP setup

“Extremely wallet-friendly, excellent uptime & security, great integration with WordPress & localised customer support.”

VISIT HOSTINGER

Hostinger is a web hosting company hailing from Lithuania. Started in 2004, they’ve since grown to 40 countries and an impressive 10 data centers worldwide! For Canadians – the closest server is in South Carolina.

Pros and cons of Hostinger

Hostinger performance

For Canadians – the closest server is in South Carolina.

We set up a test site with them to report on their server speeds. And the results didn’t disappoint!

Hostinger scored a top-tier A+ rating with an average speed of 136 ms – meaning VERY quick loading speeds for your website audience, wherever they’re based. The response time for Canada was 37 ms – ensuring super zippy speeds for Canadian audiences in particular.

Hostinger features and pricing

Though, we have to admit. Our favourite thing about Hostinger is how crazy affordable it is! Starting from CA$2.62/mo (for a 4 year plan) Hostinger is consistently one of the cheapest hosts on the market. And we’re not talking cheap and nasty – remember, you’re getting A+ speeds and a 99.9% uptime guarantee.

In fact – all of Hostinger’s plans come packed with plenty of premium features, and start at a very low introductory price if you opt for their longer plans.

Sure, there are some functions missing, like CDN and daily backups. However, Hostinger offers a very robust balance of the things that matter most: including a custom hPanel interface that’s a modern twist on cPanel. In all, Hostinger definitely gives you great value for what you’re getting, and is a fantastic option for beginners and those on a budget.

Hostinger customer support

Hostinger’s support is a huge part of what makes them great. They offer helpful support 24/7 over live chat, and from our experience, the team responds almost instantaneously.

They currently run 4 support centres that serve over 20 countries in their native languages. The only caveat is that they don’t currently offer phone support, which may be important to some users.

How great is Hostinger with WordPress?

If you need a host for your WordPress site, Hostinger is still probably your best option. They have a ton of features that make it simple for even absolute beginners to set up and maintain a WordPress site: from 1-click installation, to helping keep you updated with the latest versions. Performance is boosted thanks to NGINX caching, and they also support PHP7.4 (which runs like a dream with WordPress). In all, with their global presence, speeds, and interface, Hostinger is the ultimate web host for Canadian WordPress sites.

2. DreamHost

https://www.dreamhost.com/

World Speed Score

A+

Speed In Canada

16 ms

Price (CAD)

CA$3.89/mo

Key Features

• Unlimited SSD
• Unlimited traffic
• Free domain & SSL
• 97-day money back
• WP recommended

“Based in North America, DreamHost is insanely fast and offers superb features for WordPress sites!”

VISIT DREAMHOST

DreamHost is one of those world-famous hosts that’ve been around for a hot minute (aka, 1997). But far from being a dinosaur – DreamHost’s continually invested into upgrading their server tech and features over the years. After much testing on our end, we think they’re now one of the best hosts money can buy – especially for anyone based in Canada or the US.

Pros and cons of DreamHost

DreamHost performance

DreamHost now stores all data in SSDs, which they claim are twice as fast as HDDs. To see for ourselves, we built 2 WordPress test sites on DreamHost’s Shared Plan and put them through our speed test tool. And just look at those numbers!

DreamHost recorded a blisteringly-fast worldwide average response time of 118.4 ms – the fastest on this entire list! Our Canada node recorded a swift 16ms, which makes us happy – very happy indeed. In other words, if much of your audience is accessing your site from close to the Americas, including Europe, they should enjoy incredibly fast speeds. That said – if your audience is based mostly out in Asia or Australia, DreamHost may not be the fastest option.

DreamHost features and pricing

DreamHost offers two tiers of plans – we’d recommend the Shared Unlimited if you want more resources to play with.

But aside from insane speeds, DreamHost makes themselves an easy choice, especially for beginners or those who need to get a website up in a hurry. You get great value in every plan, including a free drag-and-drop website builder, free domain (for annual plans), great security, a 100% uptime guarantee, and a juicy knowledgebase.

How great is DreamHost with WordPress?

To start with, DreamHost is one of the few hosts with an official WordPress endorsement! It’s not all talk either – their servers are WordPress-optimized, and they have plenty of clever features.

WordPress comes pre-installed, plus you have that WP website builder and hundreds of design templates. They even bundle in the powerful Jetpack plugin which combines essential WordPress features and makes life easier for WordPress beginners. It gets even better when you start looking into their Managed WordPress hosting plans – their DreamPress plans are some of our favorites!

3. HostPapa

https://www.hostpapa.ca/

World Speed Score

A+

Speed In Canada

8 ms

Price (CAD)

CA$6.53/mo

Key Features

• Free domain name
• Unlimited SSD
• Unmetered transfer
• Starter site builder
• 1-click WP setup

“Canadian-host that’s value-packed, lightning-quick in the region and 100% green.”

VISIT HOSTPAPA

Next on our list is HostPapa – an independently-owned Canadian company based in Toronto. They too offer fantastic web hosting and WordPress hosting services.

Combined with its Canada data center option, HostPapa presents a great no-frills optimised solution for small businesses in Canada.

Pros and cons of HostPapa

HostPapa performance

HostPapa might be considered a small, independent company but don’t let that fool you – their performance in terms of speed gives the big boys a good run for their money.

From our speed tests, HostPapa got an A+ for their awesome worldwide average speed of 121.7 ms! Breaking that down further – we noticed they performed especially well in the US and Canada, but recorded slower speeds in countries further away. This suggests that HostPapa should be a blazing-fast host if your audience is within Canada or the US, but may not be the best choice for websites with audiences far beyond this region.

HostPapa features and pricing

HostPapa offers a range of plans for different budgets.

Its cheapest Starter plan costs CA$3.89 per month (for a 3 year commitment), although this jumps up considerably on renewal. The good news is you get a lot of value – two websites, free domain registration, 100GB of disk space, ‘unlimited’ bandwidth, Cloudflare CDN and SSL… the list goes on.

One final big advantage to HostPapa that not many of the hosts on this list can claim is that you have the option to host from a data center in Canada. Remember how we mentioned that PIPEDA laws leave you responsible for protecting any personal info collected from Canadian individuals? Hosting in a data center within Canada means this data will be protected by the Canadian constitution, which can lend you some extra peace of mind.

HostPapa customer support

You’ll also have access to some unique forms of support. They offer a large library of self-help videos, and 24/7 support failing that. You can even schedule a one-on-one video/telephone session with ‘Papa Squad Experts’!

How great is HostPapa with WordPress?

HostPapa is another strong WordPress host option. For one, WordPress comes preinstalled with the Jetpack plugin, which will help any beginners who have no idea what plugins to add to their WordPress site. HostPapa users also get any existing WordPress sites transferred for free, as well as software boosters like WordPress Super Caching, to help keep site loading speeds zippy. Combined with its Canada data center option, HostPapa presents a great no-frills optimised WordPress solution for small businesses in Canada.

January 2022 update: HostPapa have announced the launch of their new Managed WordPress hosting solution!

4. GreenGeeks

https://www.greengeeks.com/

World Speed Score

A+

Speed In Canada

9 ms

Price (CAD)

CA$6.53/mo

Key Features

• 300% green!
• 50GB SSD
• Free SSL
• 24/7 techn. support
• 1-click WP installer

“300x energy efficient, extremely fast host with data centers on Canadian soil that should ensure PIPEDA compliance.”

VISIT GREENGEEKS

Next is the mean, green, California-born machine that is GreenGeeks.

They’re an independently-owned company with 5 data centers worldwide. Good news is, there are two right in Canada!

GreenGeeks performance

With an average speed of 178.6 ms, GreenGeeks is fast. You can definitely see the difference made by the data center being in Canada – the server response time from Canada is a crazy 9 ms!

That means loading times for Canadian audiences that are pretty hard to beat.

GreenGeeks features and pricing

What else do they offer on top of speed?

Here’s what we found most impressive: GreenGeeks has the biggest green commitment out of all the hosts on this list. Hosting with GreenGeeks means you will not be simply carbon-neutral, but “carbon-reducing”. They actually put 3x the energy they consume back into the grid by purchasing wind energy credits.

One final big advantage to GreenGeeks is of course the PIPEDA privacy benefits that come with hosting from a data center within Canada.

In all, GreenGeeks has a feel-good factor all around. You’ll be helping to make a difference, whilst reaping the benefits of an excellent hosting provider on Canadian soil.

How great is GreenGeeks with WordPress?

GreenGeeks is another very strong contender for best WordPress host for Canada, especially since there’s WordPress optimised hosting available.

They are WordPress-ready which means that their infrastructure is optimised for efficient WordPress performance. The Pro account comes with a 1-click WordPress installer that makes it ridiculously easy to set up your site. Automatic WordPress updates always ensure that you’re on the latest version at all times, and LiteSpeed’s LS cache is available, so your site is able to perform up to 4x better!

5. Kinsta

https://kinsta.com/

World Speed Score

A+

Speed In Canada

30 ms

Price (CAD)

CA$46.20/mo

Key Features

• Google Cloud
• 25,000 visits /mo
• Daily backups
• WP expert as support
• Hack fix guarantee

“Ideal for mid-large businesses & enterprises.”

VISIT KINSTA

In a sea of web hosts, Kinsta cleverly stands out from the competition by only offering 1 kind of product: managed WordPress hosting. And boy, do they do this well!

Pros and cons of Kinsta

Kinsta performance

To start with – they’re powered by Google Cloud’s premium tier, which itself gives them a big edge in terms of speed, global coverage, and scalability. We certainly were impressed with the speed of our Kinsta-hosted test site, which scored an A+ arnk. Just look at those insane response speeds across the US and Canada!

Thanks to their global network, Kinsta users get to pick between a whopping 30+ different datacenter locations around the world. By simply hosting from the one closest to your audience, and supercharging it with their KinstaCDN add-on, you’re destined to provide very fast website speeds. That kind of coverage is hard to beat!

Kinsta Features and pricing

Kinsta’s features are plentiful, you get daily backups, your uptime is guaranteed, and you get software like KinstaCDN to turbo-charge your site. That said – Kinsta is a premium WordPress host. And that comes with premium pricing.

It’s considerably more pricey than many of the hosts on this list. Their plans start from $35, making it an option that’s realistically only tailored for businesses, bigger sites, and higher budgets. Also, they lack email hosting and phone support, so keep that in mind if those things matter to you.

How great is Kinsta with WordPress?

This almost feels like a silly question, given that Kinsta was made for WordPress down to its bones, by WordPress experts. If you’ve got the budget and need the power – we think Kinsta is one of the best WordPress hosts money can buy.

As a managed WordPress host, Kinsta has plenty of perks to make your site run easier. You just need to set up the foundation and let them handle your resources. They’ll notify you if you start running out of resources due to traffic spikes, and you also get daily backups, 1-click staging, WP-CLI and access to a team of highly-level WordPress experts. It also boasts all the developer tools you could want, including the intuitive myKinsta dashboard and their very own DevKinsta tool.

How We Choose the Top Web Hosting For Canada

Here are some markers we look for in an outstanding web host:

Why You Should Trust Us

Bitcatcha has been testing web hosts since 2014. We currently manage 95+ test sites hosted across a range of plans from 45+ different web hosts.

We then use our Bitcatcha Speed Test Tool (as seen on LifeHack and HuffPost) to analyze each hosts’ server speed, plus uptime trackers to monitor server uptime. We use the results to produce data-driven reviews and comparisons of each host.

Canada E-commerce Is Ripe For The Picking

Exciting times lie ahead for those targeting a Canadian audience, particularly in the realm of online businesses. Nearly half of Canadians shop online at least once a month, with a significant portion spending up to $200 monthly and a notable 10% spending up to $500, as revealed by a survey conducted by CBC’s Marketplace.

While large international players like Amazon dominate the e-commerce landscape, there remains a strong preference for Canadian brands among consumers. In fact, 62% of Canadians who shop internationally online expressed a preference for domestic shopping, according to a VL Omni survey. Capitalizing on the appeal of being a local brand can offer a significant advantage. With such consumer attitudes and spending habits, immense opportunities await.

Whether you opt for a WordPress, Shopify, or affiliate website, it’s crucial to consider your specific needs from a hosting provider based on your chosen website format. Choosing the right host will ensure optimal support for your website’s growth and enable you to tap into Canada’s thriving e-commerce scene.

Canadians Have High Expectations

Research shows that Canadians are tech-savvy and have high expectations for online businesses. In a survey conducted by Salesforce.com in 2018, 52% of Canadian respondents stated that companies need to provide a cutting-edge digital experience to retain their business.

Moreover, a significant percentage expressed their willingness to share negative experiences on social media or peer review sites. This underscores the importance of offering an excellent user experience, including fast loading times, uninterrupted website availability, and robust security measures against cyber threats.

Additionally, Canadians place a strong emphasis on ethical considerations, with 43% of adults indicating a preference for environmentally responsible products, according to Leger’s OMNIWeb Canada survey. If you’re among those seeking a hosting provider with a positive energy footprint, rest assured that we have some options available on our host list.

What Is PIPEDA? Here’s What You Should Know

Here’s another big thing every Canadian site owner should know about: PIPEDA.

Canada has some unique privacy laws. The big one is the “Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA)” which applies to personal information that is collected during the course of commercial activities. It requires companies to request individuals’ consent to the collection of their data, and to help protect it from misuse.

We’ve summarised some of the key principles below:

PIPEDA can affect your host provider decision-making in a number of ways. However, the type of website you’re offering will determine how much precaution you will need to take.

For example, sites that need to collect a lot of personal data may prefer to use a hosting provider that offers data centers on Canadian soil, so as to be absolutely sure your host and your site are 100% compliant.

If your website is unlikely to deal with a lot of personal data, it may be more important for you to select a host that offers exceptional speed or support, even if its data centers are outside Canada.

However, regardless of the amount of personal data you intend to process, a good host should absolutely help protect your site against security breaches by helping provide a solid line of defense.

How To Choose The Best WordPress Host for Canada

If you’re setting up a website on WordPress, make sure your host meets the basic requirements for WordPress hosting. Here’s what WordPress themselves list as the recommended requirements in a web host in order to run WordPress:

Some hosts offer even more to enhance your WordPress experience. For instance, they have easy setup and onboarding, including 1-click installation or pre-installed WordPress versions and also speed boosting perks like custom WordPress accelerators or caching technology.

We’ve selected providers on this list that not only meet the basic requirements but also make managing your WordPress site effortless. Get to know more about the best WordPress Hosting with our review.

Verdict: Which web host & WordPress host is best for Canada?

Let’s recap our top host picks for Canadian websites:

Remember the things we said were worth looking out for in a host?

However, at the end of the day, the ‘best’ host is the one that best suits your needs and priorities as a user.