Church Management Software in Canada (2026): CAD Billing, CRA Receipts, and What to Check Before You Buy

Quick summary: Most church management software is American and billed in USD, which adds roughly 35 to 40% to the sticker price for a Canadian church at 2026 exchange rates. Two Canadian-built options bill in CAD: Church Planner (churchplanner.ca, New Brunswick, from $9.99 CAD/mo flat for service and event planning, volunteer scheduling, attendance, and people, with no per-module fees and an unlimited free trial of up to 15 contacts) and Sunergo (British Columbia, donation management with CRA-compliant receipts, pricing on request). US tools such as Planning Center, Tithely Church Management, ChurchTrac, and ChMeetings work fine in Canada but price in USD and handle CRA receipting to varying degrees. Check three things before buying: what currency you are billed in, whether the tool issues CRA-compliant official donation receipts if you need it to, and how it supports volunteer screening records. Facts verified August 18, 2026.

If you have ever watched a $72 USD subscription land on the church credit card as $99 and change, you already know the first thing that is different about buying church software in Canada.

The second and third things are less visible until they bite: the Canada Revenue Agency has specific rules for official donation receipts, and most provinces and denominations expect documented volunteer screening for anyone serving with children or vulnerable adults. American software was not designed around either.

Here is what to check, and an honest look at the options, including where our own product fits and where it does not.

Three things to check before you buy

1. What currency is on the invoice? USD billing is not a deal-breaker, but do the math at today's rate and remember the rate moves. A "$72/mo" tool is closer to $100 CAD, and a "$143/mo" Planning Center setup runs $195 to $200 CAD, before payment-processing fees on donations.

2. Does it issue CRA-compliant receipts, if you need it to? Official donation receipts in Canada must carry specific elements (a statement that it is an official receipt for income tax purposes, the charity's name and BN/registration number, serial number, date, donor's name and address, amount, and the CRA website reference, among others). Some US tools have a Canadian receipt template; some leave you exporting to a spreadsheet. If your treasurer issues receipts from the software, test this during the trial with a real sample receipt.

3. How does it handle screening records? Denominational and provincial policies (and programs such as Plan to Protect, a third-party program with no affiliation to any software listed here) expect you to track police record checks, references, training dates, and renewal dates for volunteers who serve children and vulnerable people. At minimum, your tool should let you record dates against a person and report on who is expiring. Some do this natively; many do not.

A fourth question worth asking your denomination or insurer: whether they have a policy on where member data is stored. Some do; most small churches have no such requirement, but it is a two-minute email to find out.

The options

Church Planner (Canadian, billed in CAD)

Church Planner is built and supported in New Brunswick and priced in Canadian dollars, so $9.99 means $9.99. It covers the planning side of church life: service and event plans, volunteer scheduling for every ministry, attendance taken from several phones at once, people records, reports, and ChordPro-native chord charts for the worship team.

• Price: Premium $9.99 CAD/mo (up to 80 contacts); Pro $19.99 CAD/mo (unlimited contacts plus SMS reminders). Unlimited free trial with up to 15 contacts and no time limit. No per-module fees.
• Honest limits: no online giving and no receipting today. If your treasurer needs the software to issue official donation receipts, Church Planner is not that tool; churches pair it with a giving or accounting tool for the money side.
• Best for: Canadian churches whose week runs on plans, schedules, and attendance, and who want CAD billing at a price that does not climb.

Sunergo (Canadian, billed in CAD)

Sunergo is a product of NCOL Ministries, a British Columbia non-profit that has served Canadian churches for over 20 years. It focuses on donation management with CRA-compliant receipts, contacts, calendar and event registration, and volunteer coordination including screening reminders, and states that its data is kept on Canadian servers.

• Price: not published; quoted on request, in CAD.
• Best for: Canadian churches whose main need is donations and receipting done the CRA way.

The US majors (billed in USD)

• Planning Center: People database free; every other module priced separately from $15 USD/mo. A typical 150-person church using five modules pays about $143 to $180 USD/mo, roughly $195 to $245 CAD. Canadian donation processing is available. See what Planning Center actually costs.
• Tithely Church Management (formerly Breeze): $72 USD/mo flat (about $99 CAD), unlimited people, giving built in.
• ChurchTrac: from $29 USD/mo (about $40 CAD), tiered by names tracked, with giving and fund accounting bundled.
• ChMeetings: free up to 50 people, then $12 to $60 USD/mo by member count, giving included.
• Church Social: $60 to $120 USD/mo by member count, with a member directory, giving records, tax receipts, and ministry schedules with email reminders.

All of these work in Canada. The questions are the exchange rate, and whether the receipting and screening features meet your treasurer's and your safeguarding coordinator's standards. Test both during the trial.

Side by side

"Via people fields" means you can record dates against a person and build a report; check during your trial whether the receipt template and the screening report meet your needs.

What we would tell a Canadian church shopping this year

Decide what job the software has. If it is the money job (donations, receipts, year-end statements), start with a tool that does CRA receipts natively and treat everything else as a bonus. If it is the people-and-Sunday job (who is serving, what is the plan, who showed up), a flat CAD price for planning, scheduling, and attendance is hard to beat, and you can keep your existing giving arrangement.

Either way, run the trial with your real numbers, issue one sample receipt, and set one volunteer's screening renewal date, before the board meeting, not after.

Want to see the planning side in CAD? Church Planner's free trial never expires: 15 contacts, no credit card, and the price stays $9.99 when you grow into it.

Frequently asked questions

Is there church management software made in Canada? Yes. Church Planner (New Brunswick) covers service and event planning, volunteer scheduling, attendance, and people, billed in CAD from $9.99/mo. Sunergo (British Columbia) covers donation management with CRA-compliant receipts, contacts, events, and volunteer coordination, billed in CAD with pricing on request.

Which church management software bills in Canadian dollars? Church Planner and Sunergo bill in CAD. Planning Center, Tithely Church Management, ChurchTrac, ChMeetings, and Church Social bill in USD, so budget roughly 35 to 40% above the sticker price at 2026 rates and expect the amount to move with the exchange rate.

Does Church Planner issue CRA donation receipts? No. Church Planner has no online giving or receipting today; it is a planning, scheduling, attendance, and people tool. Canadian churches use it alongside a giving or accounting tool that handles official donation receipts.

Does my church have to store member data in Canada? There is no general federal rule requiring it for a church, but some denominations, insurers, or provincial policies have their own expectations, and Sunergo advertises Canadian servers as a feature for that reason. Ask your denomination before you commit; it is usually a quick answer.

What is Plan to Protect and does software need to support it? Plan to Protect is a widely used third-party abuse-prevention program in Canada (no affiliation with any software here). Software does not need to "support" it specifically; what you need is a place to record each volunteer's screening steps and renewal dates and a report of who is due. Check that during your trial.

Prices verified from each vendor's official pricing page on August 18, 2026 (Planning Center's per-module ladder from our July 2026 review); CAD conversions are approximate at August 2026 rates. Sunergo, Planning Center, Tithely, Breeze, ChurchTrac, ChMeetings, Church Social, and Plan to Protect are trademarks of their respective owners; Church Planner is not affiliated with any of them. Found something out of date? Tell us and we will fix it.