Best employee shift scheduling for Canadian retail and hospitality

A Smithville café that just hired its fourth closer does not need a client booking widget. They need who is on Tuesday close, who swapped Saturday, and whether the rota pretends to be labour-law compliance. US roundups skip the part that changes the bill: CAD or an honest USD label, and whether “payroll” on the card is a US W-2 add-on.

This comparison is four names Canadians actually google for staff shifts: When I Work (USD per user), 7shifts (Saskatoon restaurant WFM; unlabelled dollars — confirm CAD), Homebase (USD per location; payroll is US-only), and Deputy (USD in Canada; $30 monthly floor). Employee shift-scheduling prices checked against public vendor pages, 6 September 2026. Buttons are official marketing URLs, not affiliate trackers.

Hours that become a pay file are payroll software for Canadian small businesses. People records and time off are HR software. The till that sells the Saturday rush is POS systems; a dining-room stack (Toast, Square for Restaurants, Lightspeed Restaurant, TouchBistro) is restaurant POS.

Who this page is for

• A Canadian retail or hospitality employer who needs a rota, shift swaps, and time clocks — not a public booking page.
• A restaurant that already hears “7shifts” from other kitchens and needs currency honesty before they sign.
• A shop offered Homebase or Deputy “payroll” who needs the US-only line before they skip a CRA payroll product.
• Not a 200-location WFM RFP. Not employment-standards legal advice. Not Agendrix pricing — that Québec CAD option is outside this four-column table.

Snapshot (public pages, 6 September 2026)

When I Work — cheap per-user USD

Official wheniwork.com/pricing (6 September 2026): Essentials $2.50/user/month. Pro $5/user/month. Premium $8/user/month. Same-page FAQ: starts at $2.50 per user per month for single-location teams, and $5 per user per month for multi-location. This page cites the three cards as the list; the FAQ wording is looser. wheniwork.com/pricing prints $2.50 / $5 / $8 with no CAD label. Treat as USD. Confirm currency and tax at checkout. Time Tracking & Attendance is a toggle on the plan cards. No add-on dollar printed on the 6 September 2026 retrieve. This page does not invent a time-tracking add-on rate. 14-day trial, no credit card. Visa, Mastercard, Amex. Monthly or annual. Source: https://wheniwork.com/pricing.

A Rippling partnership (six free months) on When I Work marketing is US HR/payroll. It is not Canadian CPP/EI/T4. If you need CRA remittances, that is still Canadian payroll software, not a US HR bundle.

7shifts — Saskatoon restaurant WFM, confirm currency

7shifts is a Saskatoon restaurant workforce product. Official 7shifts.com/ca/pricing exists; the live widget did not print CAD on the 6 September 2026 retrieve. Official compare tables (including 7shifts vs Restaurant365, 6 September 2026): Monthly on official compare tables: $44.99 / $89.99 / $149.99 per location. Annual display on those tables: $39.99 / $79.99 / $134.99 per location. Official 7shifts blog “best restaurant scheduling software”: Comp Free; Essentials $39.99/mo/location; Pro $79.99; Premium $134.99 (annual table); 14-day Pro trial. Official 7shifts compare pages print per-location dollars with no CAD or USD prefix. This page does not invent CAD from a competitor blog. Confirm currency at checkout. Sources: https://www.7shifts.com/pricing; https://www.7shifts.com/ca/pricing.

This is the usual hospitality pick when the kitchen already speaks 7shifts. Per-location pricing can beat a per-user USD card on a large floor — or it can cost more than When I Work Essentials for a five-person shop. Run the headcount. Some official compare pages list 7shifts Payroll as an add-on. That is not a published CRA CPP/EI/T4 table. Confirm Canadian payroll coverage in writing before treating it as QBO Payroll Canada.

Homebase — free start; payroll is US-only

Official joinhomebase.com/pricing (6 September 2026): Basic $0/location/month — 1 location, up to 10 employees. Essentials $30 monthly / $24 annual per location, unlimited employees. Plus $70 monthly / $56 annual per location. All-in-One $120 monthly / $96 annual per location. joinhomebase.com/pricing prints $0 / $30 / $70 / $120 with no CAD label. Treat as USD. Confirm currency and tax at checkout. Add-ons on the same page: Payroll $39/month + $6/employee paid; Tip Manager $25/location; Task Manager $13/location; background checks $30 each. Those dollars are unlabelled — treat as USD. Source: https://www.joinhomebase.com/pricing.

Official Homebase Payroll FAQ: only US-based businesses can use Homebase Payroll. Non-US businesses can still use scheduling and time tracking. Filings listed are W-2 / 1099 / 941 — not T4. Source: Homebase Payroll FAQs. Compare table: All-in-One onboarding lists W-4, W-9, I-9; “federal and state labor laws”; break waivers — US forms, not T4 or Ontario ESA. Square’s marketplace lists Homebase as available in Canada for scheduling. Lightspeed/Homebase coverage describes Canadian merchants using third-party payroll integrations or exports, not Homebase Payroll. A Canadian café can still use the rota and the clock. They cannot treat the $39 + $6 payroll add-on as CPP/EI. Pair the schedule with a CRA payroll product and, if you need a people database, HR software.

Deputy — USD in Canada, $30 monthly floor

Official deputy.com/pricing (6 September 2026): Lite US$5/user/month excl. taxes. Core US$6.50/user/month. Pro US$9/user/month. Minimum monthly spend USD $30 (AUD $30 / GBP £20) on monthly Lite/Core/Pro from 1 September 2025. deputy.com/pricing prints US$. Official FAQ: currency follows signup country — AU/NZ = AUD, UK = GBP, United States and all other countries = USD. A Canada signup is USD. SMS rest-of-world 7¢ USD. Source: https://www.deputy.com/pricing.

Deputy Payroll enabled by Paycor: US$8/user + $49 base — available on annual Core/Pro in the US. That is not a CRA T4 engine. HR add-on US$2/user — listed for the US, UK, and Australia. Not a published Canada HRIS SKU. “Labor Law Compliance” on Lite is vendor marketing. It is not Ontario Employment Standards Act overtime, rest periods, or Québec labour standards. If you already run Deputy in another country and want one login, USD plus the floor can be the honest cost. If you only needed a Canadian T4 engine, skip Deputy Payroll and open the payroll guide.

A practical pick

1. Restaurant or hospitality, Canadian vendor, will confirm currency at checkout: 7shifts (annual display $39.99 / $79.99 / $134.99 per location on official tables — not proven CAD).
2. One location, ten people or fewer, $0 start: Homebase Basic. Do not turn on Homebase Payroll in Canada.
3. Small floor, want the cheapest printed per-user card: When I Work Essentials at $2.50/user/month USD.
4. Multi-country already on Deputy, will accept USD and the USD $30 monthly minimum: Deputy Core.
5. Need CRA payroll (CPP, EI, T4, ROE): payroll software for Canadian small businesses— not Homebase Payroll, not Deputy/Paycor, not a When I Work + Rippling US bundle.
6. People records and time off: HR software for Canadian small businesses.
7. The till and Interac: POS systems for Canadian small businesses. Food-service hardware and dinner Interac: restaurant POS.
8. Client appointments, not staff shifts: appointment scheduling or online booking.