The estimating software made for Canadian contractors.
If you've searched "contractor estimating software Canada" and ended up looking at four or five tools that all seem to have been designed for someone in Phoenix, you know the problem. Most estimating apps in this category were built in the United States. They're well-engineered and well-funded, and they work great if you're an American contractor. If you're Canadian, you spend a meaningful percentage of your time working around their limitations.
This page is for Canadian contractors who want to understand what to actually look for when evaluating estimating software — and why Muninn was built to meet those requirements from the ground up.
What to look for in estimating software as a Canadian contractor
Tax handling that works with the Canadian system
Canada's sales tax system is genuinely complex. GST applies federally. HST applies instead of GST in Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island — at different rates. PST applies separately in BC, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. QST applies in Quebec. You may be collecting some combination of these depending on your province and the nature of your work.
The estimating software you use should handle this natively. That means:
- Correct tax rate applied based on your province of operation
- Tax line broken out on estimates and invoices (clients and accountants expect this)
- Sales tax report that shows collected GST/HST/QST by date range — what you need for CRA remittances
If you're manually applying a percentage or configuring a workaround, that's time you're spending on tax admin instead of jobs.
Terms and Conditions written for Canadian law
Every estimate you send is a potential contract. The T&C that come with that estimate determine what happens if a client disputes a payment, requests changes mid-job, or simply doesn't pay.
Every Canadian province and territory has its own construction-lien legislation — the BC Builders Lien Act, Ontario's Construction Act, Alberta's Prompt Payment and Construction Lien Act, Saskatchewan's Builders' Lien Act, Quebec's legal hypothec of construction under the Code civil, and so on across all 13 jurisdictions. A generic US template doesn't serve you in any of them. You want T&C that were actually written by someone who knows Canadian construction law — and that adapt to the jurisdiction where the work is happening.
PIPEDA and Law 25 compliance
If you're collecting client names, addresses, project descriptions, and payment information — and you are — that's personal information under Canadian law. PIPEDA (Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act) governs this federally. Quebec's Law 25 adds requirements for Quebec residents.
The safest place to be is with a Canadian company, operating under Canadian privacy law, with Canadian data governance. That's table stakes for serious contractors.
CAD pricing with no currency games
USD pricing means your subscription cost in Canadian dollars varies every month based on the exchange rate. It's a small inconvenience when the rate is stable and a real annoyance when it moves. Canadian software should be priced in CAD. Full stop.
Support in your time zone, from people who know Canada
Construction questions often come up in the field — on a Thursday afternoon when you're writing an estimate for tomorrow's walkthrough. Support that's six time zones away and doesn't know what a lien holdback is doesn't help you.
Bilingual capability (especially for Quebec and bilingual markets)
If you work in Quebec, Ontario's francophone communities, or New Brunswick, you're serving clients who may prefer French. That means French-language estimates, invoices, and client portals. Real French — not auto-translated English.
Why Muninn was built to meet these requirements
Muninn wasn't built by a product team that studied the Canadian construction market and identified gaps. It was built by Chad Belanger, who runs Great Raven Renovations Ltd. in British Columbia and was the person actually experiencing those gaps every day.
That means every item on the checklist above was a design requirement from day one, not a feature added later to capture a market.
- GST/HST/PST is native — configure your province once, it calculates correctly forever
- 16 trade-specific T&C templates with built-in jurisdiction selector across all 13 Canadian provinces and territories — Quebec civil-law variant references the legal hypothec (Code civil arts. 2724–2728) and RBQ licensing
- Canadian company (Muninn Technologies Inc., subsidiary of Great Raven Group Inc., Salt Spring Island, BC) operating under PIPEDA and Law 25
- Priced in CAD — always
- Support from a Canadian team in Canadian time zones
- Full bilingual EN/FR — real Quebec French in the UI and all documents
How Muninn compares to US-first tools
Most of the estimating software marketed to Canadian contractors originated in the US or has been acquired by US companies. That's not a disqualification — many of them are well-built. But it shapes what gets prioritized.
US-first tools tend to:
- Treat Canadian tax as a configuration option rather than a built-in requirement
- Ship T&C templates written for US law (or no jurisdiction at all)
- Store data under US privacy frameworks
- Price in USD (or offer CAD pricing as a secondary option with occasional inconsistencies)
- Provide support from centres that may not be familiar with Canadian construction law
Muninn inverts this. Canada isn't a secondary market; it's the only market Muninn was built for.
| What you need | US-first tools | Muninn |
|---|---|---|
| GST/HST/PST native | Often manual config | Built in |
| Canadian T&C templates | Rare | 16 trade-specific BC templates |
| PIPEDA / Law 25 | US parent companies | Canadian company, Canadian law |
| CAD pricing | Sometimes | Always |
| Canadian support | Variable | Yes — same time zones |
| Real bilingual FR/EN | Rare | Yes — Quebec French |
Muninn features that matter for Canadian contractors
AI estimating agent (Pro+). Describe the scope of a job in plain language and get a structured line-item draft in under two minutes. It's a starting point, not a replacement for your expertise — but it saves you 20 minutes on routine estimates. Available on Pro and Studio plans.
Receipt OCR. Photo a receipt on your phone. The AI reads the amount, GST, vendor, and date, and logs it to the right job. Job costing without the spreadsheet.
Draw milestone billing. Structure payment around project phases — standard practice in BC renovation. Issue partial invoices at each milestone. Maintain a documented payment record.
Change orders. When scope changes, issue a formal change order. Client approves via eSignature. You have a paper trail.
Client portal. Clients get a secure link to review, approve, and pay a deposit. Message thread included. No email attachment workflow.
Reports — 7 tabs, CSV export. Revenue, Sales Tax/GST, Job Costing, Expenses. Filterable by date range. Exportable to CSV for your bookkeeper.
Import from Joist or CSV. Drop a Joist PDF — Muninn reads it. Or import your full client/item library via CSV.
PWA — phone and desktop. Works on iPhone, Android, and desktop. Install from your browser. Offline-capable.
Muninn pricing — CAD, no FX
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/month | 5 estimates + invoices/month, eSignature, bilingual |
| Starter | $29 CAD/month | Unlimited docs, reports, expenses, CSV import + export, milestones, change orders |
| Pro | $59 CAD/month | Everything in Starter + AI Estimating Agent, AI receipt OCR, custom T&C editor |
| Studio | $99 CAD/month | Everything in Pro + team members, multi-user |
Annual billing saves approximately 17%. 14-day free trial on paid plans. No credit card to start.
Help Centre + Ask Muninn AI
Every page in the app has a built-in Help Centre — ten plain-English guides covering estimates, clients, the portal, reports, expenses, import, settings, AI, bilingual mode, and plans. When the guide doesn't answer your question, the Ask Muninn tab opens an AI assistant trained on the product. It replies in whichever language you have the app set to. No tickets, no waiting, no California time zone.
Frequently asked questions
What makes estimating software "Canadian"?
At minimum: CAD pricing, native GST/HST/PST calculation, T&C written for Canadian law, data handled under PIPEDA/Law 25, and support in Canadian time zones. Muninn hits all of these because it was designed for them from the start.
Does Muninn work for contractors outside BC?
Yes. Tax configuration works for all provinces and territories. The T&C library covers all 13 Canadian jurisdictions — pick your jurisdiction when you create the estimate and the contract language adapts (BC Builders Lien Act, Ontario Construction Act, Quebec legal hypothec under the Code civil, etc.). Custom T&C is available on the Pro plan if you want to layer your own clauses on top.
Is there a free version?
Yes. The Free plan includes 5 estimates and invoices per month, client management, eSignature, and bilingual support. No credit card required.
Can I move my existing data into Muninn?
Yes. Import from Joist (PDF) or via CSV for clients, items, estimates, invoices, and expenses.
What's the difference between Muninn and a spreadsheet?
A spreadsheet doesn't send professionally formatted estimates, collect eSignatures, process Stripe deposits, generate GST reports, or let clients message you through a portal. Muninn does all of that, with less manual data entry.
Does Muninn integrate with QuickBooks or accounting software?
The current integration path is CSV export from Muninn's reports, which imports cleanly into most accounting platforms. Native integrations are on the roadmap.
When is Muninn available?
Currently in closed beta. Join the waitlist at muninn.ca/#waitlist.
The bottom line
If you're a Canadian contractor searching for estimating software in 2026, you have a genuine choice: keep using tools that were built for somewhere else and accept the workarounds, or use something that was built for your country from day one.
Muninn was built for the country you actually work in.
Reserve my spot → muninn.ca/#waitlist