Best project management software for Canadian small businesses

A Canadian small team does not need an enterprise PMO suite. They need a board people will open on Monday morning, a price they can convert honestly, and a clear line between tax on the software and GST/HST on the client invoice. A US list price is fine — as long as you do not paste it onto a CAD spreadsheet as if it were a loonie.

This comparison is six honest options: Asana, monday.com Work Management, ClickUp, Trello, Basecamp, and Notion when the work is docs plus tasks. Project-management prices checked against public vendor pages, 6 September 2026. Buttons are official marketing URLs, not affiliate trackers.

If the work is a sales pipeline, not a project board, start at CRM for Canadian small businesses. Hours you will put on a CAD invoice: time tracking for Canadian freelancers. The ledger that still owns the GST/HST return: accounting software for Canada.

Who this page is for

• A sole prop or two-person shop that needs lists and due dates, not screenshot surveillance.
• A five- to fifteen-person studio that will actually pay per seat — or wants Basecamp’s flat project cap instead.
• Someone who was quoted monday.com at “$9 a seat” without the three-user paid-plan floor.

Snapshot (public pages, 6 September 2026)

Asana — USD, two-seat paid floor

Official asana.com/pricing (6 September 2026): Personal $0 — up to 2 users; list, board, calendar. Starter US$10.99/user/month billed annually (Starter US$13.49/user/month on monthly billing). Advanced US$24.99/user/month billed annually (Advanced US$30.49/user/month on monthly billing). Paid plans start at 2 seats; larger teams buy in published increments (2–5 one-by-one, then 5/10/25/50) Timesheets & Budgets add-on listed at US$5.99/user/month billed annually asana.com/pricing JSON-LD and plan cards print USD (priceCurrency USD). No public CAD list. Asana’s pricing FAQ: it may charge VAT, GST, and other taxes; add a GST/HST number at checkout if you have one. Source: https://asana.com/pricing.

Starter is the usual Canadian studio buy: Timeline, Gantt, forms, and dashboards. Advanced adds portfolios, goals, and native time tracking — still not a Canadian invoice. Hours that must become GST/HST: time tracking for Canadian freelancers.

monday.com — Work Management, three-seat paid floor

This page cites monday Work Management only. monday CRM, Dev, and Service are different SKUs on the same pricing URL. Official JSON-LD (6 September 2026): Free $0 — up to 2 seats (JSON-LD: free forever plan). Basic US$9/seat/month billed annually (Basic US$12/seat/month billed monthly). Standard US$12/seat/month billed annually (Standard US$14/seat/month billed monthly). Pro US$19/seat/month billed annually (Pro US$24/seat/month billed monthly). Pricing FAQ on the same page: plans start from 3 users. Free is the 2-seat exception. monday.com/pricing JSON-LD prints priceCurrency USD for Work Management. No public CAD list. Confirm GST/HST on the USD invoice at checkout. Source: https://monday.com/pricing.

A two-person shop can stay on Free. The moment you add a third person, you pay for three seats. Do not budget $9. Pipeline work belongs on CRM, not a Work Management board dressed up as a deal list.

ClickUp — cheap seats, dollars unlabelled

Official clickup.com/pricing (6 September 2026): Free Forever $0 — unlimited tasks and free-plan members; 60MB storage; 1 form. Unlimited $7/user/month billed yearly (Unlimited $10/user/month on the monthly toggle). Business $12/user/month billed yearly (Business $19/user/month on the monthly toggle). Native time tracking listed on Unlimited+ clickup.com/pricing does not print CAD or USD on the plan cards retrieved 6 September 2026. Treat the displayed dollars as USD. Confirm tax and currency at checkout. This page does not invent a CAD SKU. Source: https://clickup.com/pricing.

Unlimited is the usual small-team plan if you want Gantt, native time tracking, and one login. Confirm currency and tax at checkout. The timer still does not file CRA.

Trello — the only card that prints USD on the face

Official trello.com/pricing (6 September 2026): Free $0 USD — up to 10 collaborators per Workspace; up to 10 boards. Standard $5 USD/user/month billed annually ($6 billed monthly). Premium $10 USD/user/month billed annually ($12.50 billed monthly). Enterprise $17.50 USD/user/month billed annually ($210.00/user/year) trello.com/pricing prints USD on every plan card Source: https://trello.com/pricing.

Free is a real Smithville sole-prop board: ten people, ten boards. Standard is the cheapest paid seat in this set if you need unlimited boards and AI extras. Premium adds Calendar, Timeline, and Dashboard views. Trello is not an invoice tool.

Basecamp — flat packages, no per-seat fee

Official basecamp.com/pricing HTML (6 September 2026): Free $0 — 1 project, 1 GB, 5 users max. Freelancer $25/month — up to 3 active projects, 5 GB, 20 users, no per-user fees. Studio $59/month — up to 10 active projects, 25 GB, unlimited users. Pro $99/month — up to 25 active projects, 100 GB, time tracking listed here. Unlimited $299/month billed annually (FAQ on the same page also says $300/month) basecamp.com/pricing prints dollar amounts with no CAD or USD label. Treat them as USD. Confirm tax at checkout. This page does not invent a CAD SKU. Source: https://basecamp.com/pricing.

This is the pick when you hate paying per head and the work is message boards, to-dos, and client guests. Studio at $59/month (unlabelled dollars) is the usual small-studio ceiling: ten active projects, unlimited people. Time tracking is listed from Pro. Confirm tax. Do not invent Interac or a CAD SKU.

Notion — docs first, tasks second

Official notion.so/pricing (6 September 2026): Free $0/member/month — personal projects, basic forms and sites. Plus US$10/member/month on the public annual display (JSON: US$12 monthly). Business US$20/member/month on the public annual display (JSON: US$24 monthly) notion.so/pricing plan cards show $0 / $10 / $20. Embedded billing JSON on the same page is USD (Plus $12 monthly / $10 annual; Business $24 monthly / $20 annual). No public CAD list. Source: https://www.notion.so/pricing.

Notion is relevant when the “project” is a wiki, a client brief, and a database of tasks — not a Gantt shop. Plus is the small-team seat. It is not a replacement for accounting software, and it is not a CRM.

A practical pick

1. One person, ten boards or fewer: Trello Free (USD $0).
2. Two people, lists and a calendar: Asana Personal, or Trello Free.
3. Three to ten people, want Timeline/Gantt, USD is fine: Asana Starter — or monday.com Standard if you accept the three-seat floor.
4. Hate per-seat math, client guests, message boards: Basecamp Studio.
5. Want one login for tasks, docs, and a timer: ClickUp Unlimited, then invoice in the ledger.
6. The work is a wiki: Notion Plus. The work is a pipeline: CRM.
7. Hours on a CAD invoice: time tracking, then accounting.