What managed IT actually costs in Vancouver in 2026

July 2, 2026 ·Updated September 10, 2026

Almost nobody in this industry publishes prices, which makes it hard to tell whether a quote is fair. So here are the numbers, ours included, and what moves them.

The short answer

In Metro Vancouver, fully managed IT for a small business runs $110 to $250 per user per month. Most small businesses land between $150 and $200.

Everything else follows from what is bundled into that number.

Why the range is so wide

Two quotes at $125 and $220 can both be reasonable, because they are often not selling the same thing. The differences that move the number most:

Is security included or extra? Some providers quote a low base, then add endpoint protection, email filtering and backup as line items. Add those to a $125 base and you are frequently near $180 anyway. Neither approach is dishonest, but comparing base numbers alone tells you nothing.

Is it fully managed or partly managed? "Managed" sometimes means the tools are installed and you are on your own for support. Ask whether help desk time is included and whether there is a cap.

Is backup included? Cloud backup for Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace is often separate, and usually adds $5 to $15 per user.

Are after-hours and on-site visits included? Some plans cover business hours only, then bill overtime rates outside them.

What is the minimum? A lot of providers set a floor of ten or twenty users, which quietly makes them unavailable to a six-person firm regardless of the per-user price.

Hourly rates

Break-fix and out-of-scope work in the Lower Mainland runs $120 to $200 per hour, with on-site at the higher end. Project work is quoted at a similar rate or as a fixed scope.

If you are weighing hourly-only support against a plan, do the arithmetic. Hourly looks cheaper until the month something breaks. It also puts the two of you on opposite sides: every call has a price, so you make fewer of them, and the problems you were not calling about grow.

Onboarding and setup fees

One-time onboarding runs $0 to $2,000, depending on the provider and how messy the starting point is. Some advertise zero onboarding as a differentiator, which is attractive, though the cost usually reappears in the monthly rate.

What it should buy you: a documented picture of what you have, devices enrolled and secured, your Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace tenant properly taken over, backups and MFA switched on, and whatever is obviously broken fixed. A fee that buys a welcome email and a login deserves a harder look.

Project work

Network and Wi-Fi builds, office moves and migrations are normally quoted as fixed scope rather than hourly. For a small office, a proper Wi-Fi and network build lands in the low thousands. An office move with cabling coordination is similar. Anything quoted without a site visit or a detailed conversation is a guess.

What we charge

Ours are on the pricing page, but briefly: $125, $175 or $225 per user per month depending on how much is managed versus set up, and whether ongoing automation is included. Out-of-scope work is $150 an hour. Onboarding is $750 to $1,500 one time. No minimum user count, month to month.

That puts us in the middle of the market. We are not the cheapest option in the Lower Mainland and we are not trying to be.

Questions worth asking any provider

What is the all-in monthly cost for our exact headcount, with everything you would recommend included?
Is help desk time capped?
Is backup included, and does it cover Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace data?
What counts as out of scope, and what does that cost?
What is the response time commitment, in writing?
What is the minimum contract term?
What happens to our data and documentation if we leave?

That last one tells you the most. A provider with a clean answer for how you would leave is usually a provider worth staying with.

If you want a straight number for your own headcount, the insurance-readiness review includes one, with nothing attached to it.

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Common questions

How much do managed IT services cost in Vancouver?

Fully managed IT in Metro Vancouver generally runs $110 to $250 per user per month in 2026, and most small businesses land between $150 and $200. Our own published rates are $125, $175 and $225 per user per month, and $199 flat for a one-person business.

What is a typical managed service provider rate?

Per-user monthly is the standard model. Below roughly $110 per user something is usually excluded, most often security tooling, backup, or on-site visits billed separately. Above $250 you are normally paying for compliance work or dedicated on-site staff.

What does managed IT cost for a 10-person business?

At typical Metro Vancouver rates a ten-person business pays roughly $1,500 to $2,000 a month for a fully managed plan. On our Complete plan at $175 per user that is $1,750 a month, plus a one-time onboarding fee of $750 to $1,500.

Is there a minimum number of users?

With us, no. Many providers set a floor of ten or twenty seats, which quietly makes them unavailable to a six-person firm. We price from one person, and the per-user plans start at two.

What is not included in a managed IT plan?

Anything outside the written scope is billed hourly, at $150 an hour in our case. Hardware, software licences and internet are passed through at cost with no markup, and projects such as a network build or a migration are quoted as fixed scope before work starts.