For Canadian businesses

Branding and web agency for Canadian businesses

Brandtropic is a remote branding and web agency working with businesses across Canada. From Tijuana, on the same clock as Vancouver, we build your brand, a website made to be found on Google and recommended by AI assistants, and the marketing behind it, with Canada’s email, privacy and accessibility rules in mind.

Where to start? Canada’s rules

Time zone: Pacific Time, the same clock as Vancouver.
Quotes: In US dollars, in three tiers: Basic, Mid and Heavy.
Languages: English and Spanish. Sites built ready for a French version.
Built in: Consent-based sign-ups, opt-in cookie banners, accessible design.
Where: Remote across Canada, from BC to the Atlantic.

On Vancouver’s clock

Tijuana runs on Pacific Time — the same clock as Vancouver and most of British Columbia — and changes its clocks on the same dates as Canada. We schedule calls and reviews around your time zone; here’s how far apart we are, wherever your office is.

Time difference between Tijuana and each Canadian province or territory
Where you are	Time zone	Tijuana is…
British Columbia (most of it)	Pacific	On the same clock
Yukon	Yukon Time, no clock changes	On the same clock in summer, 1 hour behind in winter
Alberta	Mountain	1 hour behind
Saskatchewan	Central, no clock changes	1 hour behind in summer, 2 in winter
Manitoba	Central	2 hours behind
Ontario and Quebec (most of both)	Eastern	3 hours behind
New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and PEI	Atlantic	4 hours behind
Newfoundland	Newfoundland	4½ hours behind

So a 1 p.m. call in Toronto is 10 a.m. in Tijuana, and a 2 p.m. call in Halifax is 10 a.m. here.

Quotes, currency and languages

The practical questions, answered before you have to ask them.

We quote in US dollars

We don’t publish fixed prices. Every project is sized to your case in three tiers — Basic, Mid and Heavy — and you get a clear proposal before you commit: what we’ll do, what it costs and how long it takes. We quote in US dollars. Canadian studios usually quote in Canadian dollars, so when you compare proposals, convert them to the same currency first.

Projects and monthly work

Brand and website projects have a closing date: a brand identity usually takes three to five weeks, and a small business website a few weeks to a couple of months, depending on your content and approvals. Marketing, content and systems run monthly, and the first honest read on marketing comes at 60 to 90 days.

English, Spanish — and ready for French

We work in English and Spanish, and French copy isn’t something we write in-house. What we do is build your site ready for a French version from day one: a language switcher, separate French pages with their own addresses, and the hreflang tags that tell Google which version to show to whom. When the French text is ready, it slots in without a rebuild.

The rules a Canadian website has to respect

Canada is stricter than the US in a few places that matter for a website and its marketing: email, consent, privacy, accessibility and language. Here’s the plain-English version, and what we build in from the start.

CASL: email and text messages

Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation covers commercial email, texts and direct messages. Before you send one, you need the person’s consent: express (they said yes, with a box they ticked themselves) or implied (for example, a recent purchase or inquiry, and only for a limited time). Every message has to identify who sent it and how to reach you, and include an unsubscribe that takes effect within 10 business days. It’s stricter than the US CAN-SPAM Act, which lets a business email first and stop when asked, and the penalties are steep.

PIPEDA: personal information

The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act is the federal privacy law for businesses. In short: say what personal information you collect and why, get consent, collect only what you need, keep it safe and let people see what you hold about them. Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec have their own similar laws for businesses there.

Quebec’s Law 25: privacy and cookies

Law 25 updated Quebec’s private-sector privacy law and sets the strictest bar in Canada. A business has to name a person responsible for protecting personal information and publish their title and contact details on its website, post a privacy policy in clear language, and keep tracking that identifies, locates or profiles visitors switched off by default. In practice: a cookie banner where non-essential cookies stay off until the visitor says yes.

Accessibility: AODA and the Accessible Canada Act

In Ontario, the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act requires organizations with 50 or more employees, and the public sector, to make their public websites meet WCAG 2.0 Level AA. At the federal level, the Accessible Canada Act applies to federally regulated organizations such as banks, telecom companies and airlines. Even when neither applies to you, an accessible site is easier for everyone to use, and easier for Google to read.

French in Quebec

Under Quebec’s Charter of the French Language, a business serving customers in Quebec generally needs its website and commercial materials in French, and the French version can’t come second to the English one. If Quebec is part of your market, plan for French from the start: it’s cheaper than retrofitting it.

What we build in

Sign-up forms with an unticked consent box and a plain statement of what people are signing up for.
Email templates with your business identified and a working unsubscribe link.
Cookie banners where non-essential cookies stay off until the visitor opts in, and analytics that respect the answer.
A privacy link on every form, and a place on your site for your privacy contact.
Accessible design with WCAG 2.1 AA as the target, which covers the WCAG 2.0 AA level AODA asks for.
A site structure ready for a French version.

This is general information, not legal advice. Rules change and depend on your business and your province; for a compliance decision, talk to a Canadian lawyer. We build sites and campaigns to respect these rules; we don’t certify legal compliance.

Local SEO in Canada

Getting found in Calgary is not the same as getting found in Chicago. Your listings, your domain and your details have to say Canada.

Google Business ProfileThe profile that shows on Google Maps and in local results, verified and filled in: categories, hours, services and photos.
Apple Business ConnectYour place card in Apple Maps, so iPhone users get your hours, address and phone right.
Bing PlacesYour listing in Bing, which also feeds Microsoft Copilot.
Yelp.ca and directoriesYelp.ca and the directories your industry actually uses, with the same details everywhere.
Consistent NAPName, address and phone written exactly the same way on your site and every listing — down to “Street” versus “St.” — so search engines and AI assistants can tell they’re all you.

.ca or .com?

A .ca domain tells your customers you’re Canadian, and Google treats it as a signal that your site is meant for Canada. To register one, you have to meet CIRA’s Canadian presence requirements; Canadian citizens, permanent residents and Canadian businesses qualify. A .com reads as international and suits you if you also sell in the US. Many Canadian businesses own both and redirect one to the other, so customers land in the same place whichever they type. More on how we get businesses found on Google and AI assistants.

How a Canadian project runs

Remote from start to finish, on a schedule that fits your time zone.

Tell us your case
Tell us where your business is through “Where to start?”. It lands straight in our system.
Your move
First read and proposal
We email you a PDF with a first read of your case and access to your client portal, then a proposal in three tiers, quoted in US dollars.
Before you commit
Direction before build
We show you the route before we build it. Rounds are agreed in the proposal, and a person approves every piece before it reaches you.
During the project
Launch and report
Your site goes live on a platform you can edit, with a short walkthrough. Monthly work comes with a report on the numbers we agreed up front.
Every month

Everything we do, for Canadian businesses

Start where your business is. Add the rest when it asks for it.

BrandingLogo, brand guide, colors and typography: one identity that holds up from your storefront to your inbox.
Web designA site made to be found and to convert, with hosting and SSL, and a structure ready for French when you need it.
SEO, AEO & GEOBuilt so Google can rank you and AI assistants like ChatGPT can recommend and cite you.
Marketing & contentMonthly content and campaigns, consent-based email and AI-connected reports on what worked.
AI systems & CRMBrandtropic System and custom tools that keep leads, tasks and follow-ups in one place.

Selected work: Harmony Investments, ExplorActive and Los Espíritus.

Questions from Canadian businesses

Straight answers, no runaround.

Do you work with businesses outside British Columbia?

Yes, across Canada, fully remotely. We share a clock with Vancouver; Alberta is one hour ahead of us, Ontario and Quebec three, and the Atlantic provinces four. We schedule calls and reviews around your time zone.

Do you quote in Canadian dollars?

We quote in US dollars. Every proposal comes in three tiers (Basic, Mid and Heavy) and spells out what we’ll do, what it costs and how long it takes before you commit. Canadian studios usually quote in CAD, so convert before you compare.

Will my sign-up forms and emails follow CASL?

We build them to respect it: an unticked consent box with a plain statement of what people are signing up for, your business identified in every message, and an unsubscribe that works. Who you email and how you keep consent records stay your call, so check the details with your lawyer. This is general information, not legal advice.

Can my website be in French?

Yes. We build it ready for a French version from day one: a language switcher, separate French pages and the tags that tell Google which version to show. We work in English and Spanish, so French copy isn’t written in-house; we agree with you how the French text is produced before the project starts.

Should I use a .ca or a .com domain?

If most of your customers are in Canada, a .ca tells them and Google that you’re local; to register one, you need to meet CIRA’s Canadian presence requirements. If you also sell in the US, a .com travels better. Many businesses own both and redirect one to the other.

Does my website need to meet AODA?

If you’re an Ontario organization with 50 or more employees, or in the public sector, your public website needs to meet WCAG 2.0 Level AA. We design with WCAG 2.1 AA as the target, which includes everything in 2.0 AA. This is general information, not legal advice.

Same clock as Vancouver. Wherever you are in Canada.

Tell us where your business is. We reply with a first read of your case and a clear proposal — what we’ll do, what it costs and how long it takes. No commitment.

Where to start? About Brandtropic