Selling on both sides of the border: what a Canada–US website needs

Canada and the United States share a language, a time zone or four, and a lot of customers. That makes it tempting to run one website for both and change nothing. It mostly works. But the small differences are where trust and search rankings are won or lost.

This is the checklist we work through when a site needs to serve both countries.

1. Choose a structure you can maintain

There are two common setups: separate domains (a .ca and a .com), or one domain with a section for each country, such as /ca/ and /us/. For most small and mid-size businesses, one domain with country sections is easier to run and concentrates all your search authority in one place.

Only the pages that truly differ need a country version. A service description that is identical in both markets can live once.

2. Tell search engines which page is for whom

When two pages are in the same language but aimed at different countries, add hreflang tags: en-ca for the Canadian page, en-us for the American one, and x-default for the fallback. Each page should list itself and its alternates, and the tags must point both ways.

Do not redirect visitors automatically based on their location. Search engine crawlers mostly visit from US addresses, so they may never see your Canadian pages. Show a clear country switch and let people choose.

3. Localize what customers notice

A dollar sign with no label is the most common mistake. If a Canadian sees $49 and is charged in US dollars, you will hear about it.

4. Build real local signals

Keep a Google Business Profile for each real location, with exactly the same name and phone number as your website. Then give each city you serve its own page with content that could not be copied to another city by swapping the name: the neighbourhoods, the work you have done there, how you serve customers in that place.

5. Handle privacy and email consent

Canada regulates private-sector privacy federally through PIPEDA, alongside provincial laws in British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec. Canada's anti-spam law, CASL, requires consent before you send commercial email, plus clear sender identification and a working unsubscribe link.

The United States has no single federal privacy law. State laws such as California's CCPA apply to businesses above certain thresholds, and the CAN-SPAM Act allows commercial email until someone opts out.

The practical approach is to design to the stricter rule: ask for consent before marketing email, make opting out easy, and publish a privacy policy that says plainly what you collect and why.

This is general information, not legal advice. Ask a lawyer about your own obligations.

6. Make the site accessible

In the US, courts have applied the Americans with Disabilities Act to websites, and the WCAG guidelines at level AA are the usual benchmark. In Canada, the Accessible Canada Act covers federally regulated organizations and Ontario's AODA requires WCAG 2.0 AA from many organizations in that province.

Building to WCAG AA covers both countries. It also makes the site easier for everyone to use: readable contrast, keyboard navigation, labelled form fields and text alternatives for images.

7. Sort out payments, taxes and shipping

For online stores, set tax rules by province and state, decide who pays duties on cross-border orders, and show the full landed cost before checkout. Surprise fees at the door are the fastest way to lose a repeat customer.

The short version

• One domain with country sections, unless you have a strong reason for two.
• hreflang tags on pages that differ by country, and no forced redirects.
• Spelling, currency labels, forms, units and phone numbers that match the visitor.
• Accurate business listings and a unique page for each city you serve.
• Consent before marketing email and a clear privacy policy.
• WCAG AA as the accessibility target.

If you would like help applying this to your own site, book a free 30-minute consultation. Our web design and SEO work covers both markets.