Visa's New Canada Network Fee: April 2027

What CFIB reported

In a release dated October 14, 2026, CFIB said Visa is expanding its small merchant program in Canada and lowering rates for qualifying businesses from October 24, 2026. In the same release, CFIB said Visa plans a new network fee of 1.8 cents USD on domestic transactions starting in April 2027, and that Mastercard already charges a fee of the same amount. CFIB called it disappointing to see the card networks increase their own slice of payment fees that may end up being paid by small businesses. Visa had not published the fee details we could check, so treat the amount and date as reported by CFIB and confirm them with your processor.

Network fees vs interchange vs processor markup

Why a small fee per sale adds up

A fee charged per transaction costs the same on a coffee as on a large invoice. Businesses with many small tickets, such as cafes, bakeries and convenience stores, feel per-transaction fees most, because the fee is a bigger share of each sale. Businesses with fewer, larger sales feel them less. Your own statement shows which group you are in: compare your number of transactions with your total card sales.

Three questions to ask your processor now

1. Will this fee be passed through to me, and at what amount, at cost or with a markup? 2. What will it be called on my statement, so I can find it? 3. Will you tell me in writing before it starts, and does my agreement allow me to review my pricing if it changes? Ask the same questions about Mastercard's fee if you have not already. Keep the answers with your merchant agreement.

What changes for multi-location and enterprise merchants

For businesses with many locations or high transaction counts, per-transaction network fees scale with volume, so they are worth modelling before April 2027. Ask for network fees to be itemised by location and card brand in your reporting. If you are on interchange-plus pricing, confirm that new network fees are passed through at cost. If you are on a bundled or flat rate, ask whether the processor plans to raise that rate when the fee starts. Larger merchants usually have more room to negotiate how pass-through fees are handled at renewal.

Do the October 24 rate cuts cancel this out?

Not necessarily. The October 24, 2026 changes lower interchange for qualifying small merchants, while the new network fee is a separate charge. Whether you come out ahead depends on your volume, your mix of cards and how your processor passes both changes through. The only way to know is to compare a statement from before with one from after. Our free statement analysis shows every network fee on your statement line by line.