Buying crypto in Canada usually means paying Canadian dollars from your bank, most often by Interac e-Transfer, and receiving the crypto in a wallet. This guide compares the main ways to buy, explains what the price really includes, walks through a purchase step by step, and covers ID checks, wallets, taxes and the scams to watch for.
Four ways to buy crypto in Canada
Crypto trading platforms (exchanges). You open an account, verify your ID, deposit Canadian dollars (often by Interac e-Transfer), buy on the platform’s market, then keep the crypto there or withdraw it to your own wallet. Expect a trading fee or spread, and on some platforms a withdrawal fee. Check that the coin and network you want are offered to Canadian customers.
Dealers. A dealer sells you crypto directly at a quoted price and sends it to your wallet. There is no account balance to fund and no market to trade on: you pay the amount quoted, and the crypto goes to the address you give. Fastcad works this way.
Crypto ATMs. Some machines sell crypto for banknotes and send it to your wallet. They are convenient for small amounts, but their fees are often higher than buying online, and limits are low.
Person-to-person (P2P) trades. You buy from another person, often through a P2P marketplace that holds the seller’s crypto in escrow while you pay. Prices vary, and you depend on the process being followed: pay only the way the marketplace sets out, and keep your payment records.
What buying crypto really costs
The price you see is only part of the cost. Compare how much crypto actually reaches your wallet for the same number of Canadian dollars, after:
- The spread or markup. The difference between the price you pay and the market price, built into the rate.
- Trading or processing fees. Some are charged on top of the rate.
- Card fees. Paying by card usually adds a processing fee that paying from your bank does not.
- Withdrawal and network fees. Moving crypto off a platform can carry a withdrawal fee, and every network charges its own fee. Network fees differ: TRC-20 (Tron) transfers usually cost less than ERC-20 (Ethereum).
The cheapest way is the one that puts the most crypto in your wallet for your dollars, from a business you can trust with your payment. At Fastcad the price shown includes our fee, and you pay from your bank by Interac e-Transfer, with no card fees. We pay the network fee to send your crypto, so the full amount shown on your order reaches your wallet.
How buying from a dealer works, step by step
Using Fastcad as the example:
- Verify your ID once. Buying always needs a verified ID. It is done online, with government-issued photo ID.
- Choose the coin, the network and the amount in Canadian dollars. The price shown already includes the fee, and it is guaranteed for 30 minutes from when you place the order.
- Paste your wallet address. Your own wallet, on the network you chose. We check the address format before you can place the order.
- Pay by Interac e-Transfer. We show the email to send your e-Transfer to and a reference number. Put the reference in the message.
- Get your crypto. Crypto is sent to your wallet within a few minutes of your payment being confirmed. The transaction is shown on your receipt.
If your payment arrives after the guarantee, the order stays open and is settled at our price when we confirm it, and we contact you first if that price is materially different.
ID checks and limits
Canadian businesses that buy and sell virtual currency are money services businesses under Canada’s anti-money-laundering law, supervised by FINTRAC. They must verify your identity for transactions of C$1,000 or more, and they watch for large or repeated transactions. Expect to be asked for ID by any registered business, so a business that never asks is a warning sign.
At Fastcad: Every purchase needs a verified ID. You verify once, online, with government-issued photo ID. After that you can buy up to C$10,000 per order and C$50,000 in any 24 hours, buying and selling together.
Your wallet
- Use a wallet you control. Crypto we send goes to the address you give, and only whoever controls that address can move it. If you use a platform’s deposit address, check that it accepts that coin on that network.
- Match the network. Paste an address on the same network as your order. Crypto sent to an address on a different network can be lost.
- Add a tag where one is needed. Some platforms need a destination tag for XRP deposits. Add it in the order’s tag field.
- Keep your recovery phrase offline. Anyone with your seed phrase can take your crypto. Fastcad will never ask for your seed phrase, private key or wallet password.
Taxes when you buy crypto
General information, not tax advice. Checked against the Canada Revenue Agency’s pages on October 27, 2026.
- Buying crypto with Canadian dollars sets your cost. What you pay, plus the expenses to acquire it, is your adjusted cost base, which the CRA uses to work out your gain or loss when you later sell, trade, spend or give the crypto away. (Income from crypto-asset transactions)
- Keep records. The CRA expects records of every transaction: date, amount, value in Canadian dollars, and what it was for. Keep them for at least six years. Export your history from exchanges and wallets regularly, because a platform can close or stop serving Canada.
- Your Fastcad orders: if you have an account, History lists each purchase’s amount, price and date.
Sources (CRA, checked October 27, 2026): Guide for cryptocurrency users and tax professionals · Income from crypto-asset transactions · Keeping books and records of crypto-assets
Scams that use crypto purchases
The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre reports that in most crypto investment frauds, victims are told to buy crypto from a legitimate business and send it to an address the fraudster controls.
- Buy only for a wallet you control. If anyone, online or by phone, tells you to buy crypto and send it to an address they give you, whether to invest, to settle a debt or to stop a threat, it is a scam.
- We send only where you tell us. Fastcad sends crypto only to the address on your own order. If someone told you to place an order, write to us in the order’s chat before you pay.
Sources (Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, checked October 27, 2026): Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre: Investment fraud · Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre: Extortion