What does an AI receptionist cost in Canada?
Published October 14, 2026
Your phone is how work arrives, and it tends to ring when you're on a roof, under a sink or driving between jobs. There are three usual ways to make sure someone picks up: hire a receptionist, pay a live answering service, or use an AI receptionist like Call Welcome. This post puts the three side by side, with a source and the date we checked it for every figure that isn't ours.
What an AI receptionist does for the money
Call Welcome answers the calls you don't. You keep your business number and turn on call forwarding for the calls you don't pick up, so only those reach your receptionist. On every plan, it:
- answers 24/7, and tells every caller it's an AI and that the call is transcribed;
- answers the questions you write for it: your hours, service area, services and pricing policy;
- takes the caller's name, number, address and the problem;
- texts you each message as soon as it's taken, and keeps it in your online inbox, linked to the call's transcript;
- spots the emergencies you define, and puts them straight through to your phone or texts them to you right away, as you choose;
- politely turns away sales calls.
It takes messages. It doesn't book jobs into your calendar: you call back and schedule the work.
The plans
Every plan is the same receptionist. What changes is the number of minutes.
| Plan | Price | Minutes | About |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $99 CAD a month | 400 minutes a month | About 130 calls at 3 minutes each |
| Standard | $199 CAD a month | 800 minutes a month | About 270 calls at 3 minutes each |
| Pro | $299 CAD a month | 1,200 minutes a month | About 400 calls at 3 minutes each |
Prices are plus tax, and there's no setup fee. Each call counts its length, rounded up to the next whole minute, and minutes reset every billing month. If you're not sure how many minutes your missed calls would use, the calculator estimates it from the number of calls you miss a week.
The free trial, and extra minutes
The first 14 days are free, and you're only billed if your receptionist is live by then: your call forwarding is set up and a test call has confirmed it works. If it isn't live, the trial ends with no charge. During the trial, calls go to voicemail once your plan's minutes are used, so the trial never costs anything.
When you sign up, you choose what happens if a month's minutes run out after the trial. Keep answering, and each extra minute is $0.25, plus tax, charged at the end of the billing month. Or stop answering, and callers can leave a voicemail, which is texted to you. You can change that choice later in the portal, and you can cancel anytime.
What a live answering service costs
A live answering service has people answer your calls in your business's name and pass the messages on to you. The ones we looked at sell monthly packages, sized by minutes or by how many calls you get. Here is what three services selling to Canadian businesses publish on their own pages, quoted as shown:
- A service with a page for Canadian businesses, which shows these prices in CA$: CA$49 a month for 150 inbound minutes, with extra minutes at CA$0.35 each, at prices it gives for 8-hour shifts, Monday to Friday, though a note on the same page says its starter price is in US dollars (source, checked October 14, 2026).
- A Canadian-owned service whose page doesn't name a currency for this plan: $199 a month on an annual contract, or $249 month to month, for 100 minutes, with the first 200 extra minutes at $2.89 or $3.59 each, by contract; its receptionists answer 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern on weekdays, and 9 to 5 on Saturdays (source, checked October 14, 2026).
- A Canadian service that answers 24/7, whose page doesn't name a currency: packages starting at $275 a month (source, checked October 14, 2026).
The entry price isn't the whole story. Two of the three are priced for set hours: weekday shifts for one, weekdays and Saturdays for the other. Nights, and some or all of the weekend, aren't in those prices. A bundle of 100 or 150 minutes doesn't go far in a busy month, and more minutes cost more: a bigger bundle or extra minutes, depending on the service. Compare each bundle with the minutes in our plans above, and with the calls you actually miss.
What a part-time receptionist costs
The Government of Canada's Job Bank gives the national median wage for receptionists. It's $21.00 an hour, for 2023–2024, the period its figures cover. At 20 hours a week, that's 20 times $21.00, or $420 a week. Over 52 weeks it comes to $21,840 a year, which is $1,820 a month (source, checked October 14, 2026).
That's the wage alone. An employer also pays its own share of CPP contributions and EI premiums on top. And 20 hours is a small part of a week that has 168 in it. The other 148 hours, and the days your receptionist is off sick or on holiday, still go to voicemail unless something else answers.
To be fair to the person: a receptionist can do more than answer the phone. They can book jobs, chase invoices and order parts. If you need those things done too, compare the whole job, not just the phone.
What to weigh besides the price
- Nights and weekends. Think about when the calls you miss come in. If many come in the evening or on a Saturday, check that what you're paying for answers then, and what it costs at those hours. Call Welcome answers 24/7 on every plan, at the same price.
- Holidays. Ask any service whether holidays cost extra, or are covered at all. With us, holidays cost nothing extra, and the receptionist answers as usual.
- Call volume. Count the calls you miss in a typical week, and roughly how long they run. A plan sized in minutes only makes sense next to your real numbers.
- What happens after the call. A text with the message, a transcript, an emergency put through: check which ones you get, and how quickly.
- Commitment. Ask about setup fees, contracts and how to cancel. We have no setup fee, and you can cancel anytime from the portal.
The full details are on our pricing page.
Get started · from $99/mo