Is Amazon Prime Different In Canada?

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Many countries have their own Amazon websites, each with their own offerings. You can even buy many of these products through the Amazon Global Store. However, just because you can shop for imports, doesn't mean each Amazon service works the same way. Just look at Amazon Prime in Canada.

If you shop on Amazon, odds are you're familiar with the Amazon Prime membership and all its hidden perks, and many of these benefits are available through Canada's Amazon Prime. You've got free same-day delivery for orders over $25, access to Alexa+ and Twitch subscriptions, and a bonus Amazon music subscription. Oh, and we can't forget about the complimentary Amazon Prime Video and Luna memberships. However, you can find subtle differences if you know where to look.

For starters, Amazon Prime is cheaper in Canada. If you live in the U.S., you need to pay $14.99 a month or $139 a year for membership (unless you qualify for the cheapest Amazon Prime plan through government assistance programs). Canadian Amazon Prime, meanwhile, only costs $9.99 a month or $99 a year. That's Canadian dollars, which equates to around $7.09 a month and $70.53 a year. And if you want to order food, Amazon Prime membership gets you a free Grubhub+ membership, complete with no delivery fees. But if you live in Canada, you get a DoorDash DashPass subscription with Amazon Prime, which also removes delivery fees. Pretty comparable offerings, all things considered.

Amazon has grown exponentially since its humble beginnings as a small online bookstore. The conglomerate is so big that it owns major brands such as IMDb and Whole Foods. However, unlike Amazon itself, some of these subsidiaries aren't international organizations, so access is restricted across national boarders.

If you live in the U.S., you can access numerous benefits at Whole Foods if you have an active Amazon Prime membership. These include same-day delivery (on orders over $25), exclusive savings, and extra cash back on groceries purchased through Whole Foods if you use your Amazon Prime Visa card. However, even though you can find Whole Foods in two Canadian provinces (British Columbia and Ontario), Canadian Amazon Prime subscriptions don't provide any additional savings. In fact, the Amazon Prime Visa credit card isn't even available in Canada; Amazon Prime members wanting to earn cash back rewards have to register for an Amazon Prime card through the Canadian company MBNA.

These regional exclusions extend to several Amazon Prime benefits. For instance, Amazon Prime subscribers in the U.S. can get RxPass, which offers savings on numerous prescription medications for $5 a month, as well as discounted healthcare via One Medical, which is available for an additional $6 a month ($9 for non-subscribers). People in Canada don't have these benefits, although they do have universal healthcare, so arguably don't need them. Meanwhile, the lineups of movies, shows, and channels available through Amazon Prime Video differ between countries due to local broadcasting rights and licensing deals. You want to watch NHL games every Wednesday? You can do that through Amazon Prime Video, but only if you live in Canada, or use a VPN to stream the content.

Virtually every online shopping platform requires a membership. However, if you know how to game certain systems, you can purchase items unavailable in your region. For instance, you can create a Japanese Nintendo account to purchase digital Switch games exclusive to Japan. However, the same isn't true when buying physical items through Amazon.

Many benefits that come with an Amazon Prime subscription are exclusive to their respective countries, most notably free shipping. You can use Amazon Global to purchase items only available on Amazon Canada and ship them to your house in the U.S. (or vice versa), but unless the order meets requirements such as exceeding cash amounts, you won't qualify for free shipping even with Amazon Prime.

Given this limitation of Amazon Global, you might wonder if you can save money on shipping if you have multiple Amazon Prime accounts — one for your home country, and one for the country you're ordering from. The answer is no since the benefits only apply to items bought in a country's respective Amazon store and shipped to a local address. Then again, if you have friends or family in Canada and frequently buy gifts for them, you can use an Amazon Prime Canada subscription to save on shipping, but only for these purchases. Otherwise, an Amazon Prime account for the US and another for Canada is a waste of money.