Best business bank accounts for Canadian sole props and small businesses

A Smithville sole prop does not need a $120 unlimited package because a US blog called it “business banking.” They need a CAD account the ledger can see, Interac e-Transfer limits they will not blow, and an honest no when Simplii is not a business account. US “best business checking 2026” lists skip EQ, skip Quebec eligibility, and skip the week a personal chequing account is still enough.

This comparison is what Canadian SMBs actually open: EQ Bank, RBC Digital Choice, TD Business Digital, BMO Essential, CIBC, and Scotiabank Select — plus honesty on Simplii Financial and Tangerine. Business bank-account fees checked against public bank pages, 7 September 2026. This is not a branch lab.

Who this page is for

• A Canadian sole prop about to mix client e-Transfers with grocery Interac on one personal account.
• Someone who incorporated last month and the bank asked for articles, not a personal debit card.
• Anyone who googled Simplii or Tangerine “business chequing” and needs the official no.
• Not a $10-million cash-management RFP. Not a credit-line bake-off.

Snapshot (public pages, 7 September 2026)

Sources: EQ Bank Business; RBC Digital Choice; TD small-business accounts; BMO Essential. CIBC and Scotiabank sit below so this table does not invent an Interac included count those pages did not print in the same cell.

When a personal account is still enough

You are an unincorporated sole prop. A handful of clients pay by Interac e-Transfer. You already invoice in Wave or FreshBooks and mark the invoice paid. You can still split the personal statement in accounting software. Nobody is depositing Square or Helcim payouts into the same card you use at the grocery store.

That week ends when you incorporate, when TD’s FAQ applies (“operating a business”), when GST/HST remittances and processor deposits need a clean statement, or when you want an EQ-style tax sub-account. A personal account is not a business name on a vendor’s payable file.

EQ Bank Business — $0, not Quebec, registered only

$0 monthly fee. No minimum balance. 2.25% interest on the entire balance. Official footnote: calculated daily, paid monthly; rates per annum and subject to change without notice. 50 free outgoing and 100 free incoming Interac e-Transfers per month; $0.50 per transaction thereafter. Official: transactions are subject to certain dollar-limit maximums — those dollar caps are not printed as a single number on the 7 September 2026 retrieve. Unlimited free bill payments and EFTs. Mobile cheque deposit free. Up to 10 business accounts per business. Official copy: pay your taxes for your business online, for free, directly from your account. Source: https://www.eqbank.ca/business/business-account.

Registered sole proprietors and active corporations (majority shareholder more than 25%, signing officer, and director). Official FAQ: not available in Quebec; not for trusts, partnerships, charities, not-for-profits, unregistered sole proprietors, or businesses owned by another business. Only one individual per business may open account(s). Online signup needs a Canadian mobile number. Equitable Bank is a CDIC member. Official: sole-proprietorship deposits are combined with the individual’s eligible deposits, not a separate CDIC category.

This is the usual first box for a registered Ontario sole prop who lives in e-Transfer and bill pay. It is the wrong box in Quebec, for a partnership, or for an unregistered side hustle. Pair it with the ledger — EQ is not QuickBooks.

RBC Digital Choice — $6, 10 e-Transfers, Moneris next-day

$6 monthly fee. No minimum balance requirement on the chequing lineup page. 10 outgoing Interac e-Transfer transactions included monthly; $1.50 per transfer thereafter. Unlimited electronic debit and credit transactions. Unlimited mobile and ATM cheque deposits. Unlimited items deposited. Unlimited Moneris deposits (next-day deposits marketed). Paper debit/credit $2.50 each. Cash deposits $5.00 per $1,000 (branch), $2.25 per $1,000 (ATM or Night and Day). Electronic statement no charge. Same lineup page: Flex Choice $7 monthly; Ultimate $100 monthly (500 outgoing Interac e-Transfers, free cash deposits up to $25,000, waiver with $75,000 minimum daily balance). Sources: https://www.rbcroyalbank.com/business/accounts/digital-choice-business-account.html; https://www.rbcroyalbank.com/business/accounts/business-chequing-accounts.html.

Buy it when you already live in RBC or you want unlimited electronic plus a printed Moneris deposit line. Ten outgoing e-Transfers is the cap that matters if invoices still go out as Interac. Processor comparison: payment processors.

TD Business Digital — $6, 10 e-Transfers, not a web form

TD Business Digital Account: $6 monthly. Unlimited electronic transactions. Unlimited deposit items. 10 Interac e-Transfers included per month. No transaction fee on POS deposits credited to the account. TD Business Basic Account on the browse-all page: $7 monthly, 7 transactions, 7 deposit items. TD Business Essential Account: $35 monthly, rebated with a $45,000 daily minimum balance throughout the month. 40 transactions, 50 deposit items, 10 Interac e-Transfers, $5,000 cash deposits included. TD Business Unlimited Account: $125 monthly, rebated with a $65,000 daily minimum. Unlimited transactions, deposit items, and Interac e-Transfers. $25,000 cash deposits included. Official Essential account fee table: $1.50 per Interac e-Transfer beyond the included number. Source: https://www.td.com/ca/en/business-banking/small-business/bank-accounts; https://www.td.com/ca/en/business-banking/small-business/browse-all-business-bank-accounts.

Official FAQ: “If you’re operating a business, we require you to open a business account.” Official: no online open — specialists complete it by phone. Document lists differ for sole prop vs corporation. Digital is the $6 self-serve cousin of RBC Digital Choice. Do not treat the Limited Time Offer dollars on that page as a published monthly fee.

BMO Essential — $5, 6 e-Transfers, digital-first

$5 per month. Official: the monthly fee cannot be waived on Essential (Enhanced/Elite can waive with a minimum balance). 6 Interac e-Transfer transactions included per month; $1.50 per additional Interac e-Transfer. Unlimited electronic/ATM transactions. 0 in-branch transactions included; in-branch $5 each. 0 items deposited and $0 cash deposits included on the compare table. Unlimited Moneris transactions. Unlimited transfers between your BMO accounts. Everyday $25/month (15 Interac e-Transfers). Elite $75/month or $0 with a $75,000 minimum (500 Interac e-Transfers). BMO’s March 2026 pricing notice renamed eBusiness Plan to Essential Plan and set new Essential accounts at $5 (plans opened before 9 March 2026 keep $0 on that notice). Source: https://www.bmo.com/en-ca/main/business/accounts/essential-business-account/.

Six included e-Transfers is tighter than RBC or TD Digital. Unlimited electronic/ATM is the pitch. In-branch is $5 a pop. Confirm $5 vs a pre–9 March 2026 Essential that the pricing notice left at $0.

CIBC — Basic $6 pay-per-use; bundles print Interac inside the count

CIBC Basic Business Operating Account: $6.00 monthly. $1.00 each self-service transaction; $1.25 each full-service. Deposits pay-per-use. The same card markets Interac e-Transfer for Business “send up to $25,000” — that is a send-limit line, not a published count of free e-Transfers. Everyday: $20 self-service / $25 full-service, or $0 with a $20,000 minimum daily balance. 30 transactions including Interac e-Transfer. Advanced: $40 or $0 with a $35,000 minimum daily balance. 100 transactions including Interac e-Transfer. Unlimited: $65 or $0 with a $65,000 minimum daily balance. Unlimited transactions including Interac e-Transfer. Source: https://www.cibc.com/en/business/accounts.html.

Basic is $6 plus a dollar a swipe — it is not “unlimited electronic.” Everyday/Advanced/Unlimited fold Interac e-Transfer into the included transaction number. This page does not invent how many free e-Transfers sit on Basic.

Scotiabank Select — $20 and up, Interac count not in the table

Select Account for Business: Plan A $20 monthly (rebate at $20,000 minimum every day) — 25 transactions, 50 deposit items, $6,000 cash deposits. Plan B $40 / $35,000 — 70 / 60 / $8,000. Plan C $75 / $45,000 — 125 / 85 / $10,000. Unlimited $120 / $75,000 — unlimited transactions and deposit items, $30,000 cash deposits. Additional transaction $1.25 on Plans A–C. Additional deposit item $0.25. Additional cash $2.60 per $1,000. The public Select table does not print a separate Interac e-Transfer included count — do not invent one. Scotiabank’s business fees PDF also lists a Basic Business Account at $10.95 monthly with one free transaction per $1,500 of minimum monthly balance. Cite the PDF, not a blog. Sources: https://www.scotiabank.com/ca/en/commercial-banking/banking-solutions/operating-accounts-services/operating-accounts/select-account-for-business.html; https://www.scotiabank.com/content/dam/scotiabank/refresh/documents/bank-accounts/english/fees_interest_schedules.pdf.coredownload.pdf.

Select Plan A is the published $20 door. The $10.95 Basic line lives on the fees PDF. Do not paste RBC’s “10 included e-Transfers” onto a Scotia Select cell.

Simplii and Tangerine — not business chequing

Official Simplii FAQ (“Do you offer services for small business?”): “We don’t offer accounts for businesses and non-profit organizations. We open individual or joint accounts in personal names only.” Do not treat Simplii as a business operating account. Source: https://www.simplii.com/en/faq.html.

Official tangerine.ca/en/business lists a Business Savings Account, US$ Savings, GIC, and US$ GIC, with $0 monthly banking fees on those savings options. It does not list a business chequing or operating account. Do not treat Tangerine as a day-to-day business chequing substitute. Source: https://www.tangerine.ca/en/business.

Park surplus cash in Tangerine savings if you already have an operating account elsewhere. Do not send client invoices to a Simplii personal chequing and call it a shop account.

Interac e-Transfer vs Interac Debit

e-Transfer is the email or SMS send from a Canadian bank account. Debit at a reader is Square, Helcim, Stripe Terminal, Moneris. Invoice + e-Transfer as “enough” still lives on the processors and invoicing pages. Do not mix the two Interac words on a fee spreadsheet.

CRA remittances

GST/HST, payroll source deductions, and instalments are paid to CRA — often as an online-banking bill payment or through CRA’s payments page. EQ prints a free-from-this-account tax line. Other banks market “pay bills and taxes” without a CRA fee table on the pages cited here. The remittance is still your CRA account. The journal is still accounting software.

A practical pick

1. Unincorporated, few e-Transfers, ledger already split: stay on personal chequing until the bank or the accountant says otherwise.
2. Registered sole prop or simple corp, Ontario or most provinces, digital-only: EQ Bank Business at $0. Not Quebec. Not a partnership.
3. Want a Big Five app and 10 included e-Transfers: RBC Digital Choice or TD Business Digital at $6. TD is not a self-serve web open.
4. Already at BMO, mostly electronic: Essential at $5 — watch the 6 e-Transfer cap.
5. Need a teller line or a waiver math problem: CIBC Everyday / Unlimited or Scotiabank Select. Read the printed bundle, not a blog’s “typical $65.”
6. Googled Simplii or Tangerine for chequing: stop. Savings (Tangerine) or personal-only (Simplii).
7. Cards at a till: payment processors. Invoices: invoicing. Books: accounting. This page will not invent an unpublished fee table.