OUR RECOMMENDATION

Best AI Receptionist and Business Phone for Canadian Small Businesses

We looked at 6 ai receptionist and business phone products sold to Canadian small businesses. Here is what we recommend, and when we would tell you to buy something else.

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By Joel Gathercole, Joel & Nanz Inc. · Prices and features checked October 23, 2026

For Canadian small businesses that miss calls, we recommend MapleReceptionist: a bilingual English and French AI receptionist on a Canadian number, month-to-month in CAD with no setup fee. If you want human receptionists, or a full multi-user phone system with desk phones, the services below are the better fit.
Full disclosure: MapleReceptionist is made by Joel & Nanz Inc., the company behind this page. We built it because of the gaps we found below. No other vendor paid to appear here.

What we found

We compared RingCentral, Dialpad, Quo (formerly OpenPhone), Smith.ai and Ruby with our own MapleReceptionist. The market splits into two kinds of product, and it matters which you need.

  • Phone systems with AI added. RingCentral and Dialpad sell per-user phone systems; their AI receptionist features are an add-on (RingCentral) or custom-priced through sales (Dialpad). Quo prices its plans in US dollars.
  • Receptionist services. Smith.ai and Ruby answer calls for you, with live people available. Ruby's published bilingual service is English and Spanish, and Smith.ai's only bilingual add-on listed is a Spanish line. Neither lists French.
  • French is the Canadian gap. Of the services we checked, only Quo's AI agent names French as a supported language, and it cannot switch language mid-call.

A receptionist that answers in both official languages, on a Canadian number, billed in CAD, is the reason MapleReceptionist exists.

Our solution for Canadian businesses

Our pick

MapleReceptionist

$25, $60, $99 or $199 CAD/month, month-to-month (plus HST)

Best for: Canadian offices and trades that miss calls and want a bilingual AI receptionist on a Canadian number, without a contract.

Bilingual EN/FR on every tier, a Canadian phone number included, no setup fee, and month-to-month from $25 CAD.

Honest limit: An AI receptionist, not a team of human receptionists; Solo caps at 50 minutes and 5 calls a day; full PBX features are a separate product.

Plans: Solo $25 CAD per month · Starter $60 CAD per month · Business $99 CAD per month · Team-Pro $199 CAD per month. All prices in CAD, plus HST or applicable sales taxes. Current pricing.

Pick Ruby or Smith.ai if you want live human receptionists on your calls. Pick RingCentral or Dialpad if what you really need is a multi-user phone system with desk phones and call queues.

The alternatives we would also consider

Quo (formerly OpenPhone) by Quo

Starter US$15/user/month billed annually (US$28 monthly) (in USD as listed by the vendor, plus applicable taxes; vendor pricing, checked 2026-10-23)

Choose it if: Small teams that want a shared business phone app with an AI agent, and can pay in USD.

Where it beats us or others: AI agent that answers calls in French (Sona), on a low per-user plan with free porting.

Watch out for: USD-only pricing, and Sona cannot switch between English and French mid-call.

Smith.ai by Smith.ai

AI Receptionist free for 25 calls; Pro $150/month; human receptionists from $300 (currency not labelled) (as listed on the vendor's Canadian page, plus applicable taxes; vendor pricing, checked 2026-10-23)

Choose it if: Businesses that want an AI receptionist that can hand off to live North America-based receptionists.

Where it beats us or others: AI-first with human backup: AI calls can escalate to live North America-based receptionists, and there is a free 25-call tier.

Watch out for: No French answering option listed (Spanish only), which matters for NB/QC callers; currency not stated.

Dialpad by Dialpad

Standard C$20/user/month billed annually (C$35 monthly); AI agents custom-priced (in CAD, plus HST or applicable sales taxes; vendor pricing, checked 2026-10-23)

Choose it if: Teams that want a low-cost cloud phone system and will talk to sales about AI agents.

Where it beats us or others: Low entry price with CAD pricing available (Standard CA$20/user/mo annual).

Watch out for: AI receptionist/agent capability is custom-priced via sales, so a small business cannot see its cost up front.

RingCentral RingEX by RingCentral

Core C$30/user/month paid annually (C$40 monthly); AI Receptionist add-on from $55 (in CAD, plus HST or applicable sales taxes; vendor pricing, checked 2026-10-23)

Choose it if: Businesses that need a full multi-user phone system with an AI receptionist on top.

Where it beats us or others: Published CAD pricing on a Canadian page (Core CA$30/user/mo annual) and a French-language Canadian site.

Watch out for: AI Receptionist is an extra add-on (from $55) on top of per-user plans, and add-on billing basis is not stated on the pricing card.

Ruby by Ruby

From $250/month for 50 receptionist minutes (currency not labelled) (as listed on the vendor's Canadian page, plus applicable taxes; vendor pricing, checked 2026-10-23)

Choose it if: Businesses that want live human receptionists on every call and can pay a premium per minute.

Where it beats us or others: Live human receptionists 24/7 with all features included, and the FAQ says Canada is served.

Watch out for: Minute-based pricing starts at $250/mo for 50 minutes, and bilingual service is Spanish, not French.

See the scores

This page is our editorial opinion. If you want the numbers, our consulting arm scores every product above against a published rubric (price, Canadian data residency, Canadian billing and sales tax, French, setup effort and support) at Maple AI Consultants' ai receptionist and business phone ratings, where you can also vote and suggest companies we missed.

Sources

Prices change. Always confirm on the vendor's own site before you buy. Found something out of date? Tell us.

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