Gift card distribution in Canada has transformed how rewards and incentives work for Canadian businesses. Whether you’re managing employee appreciation, customer loyalty, or incentive programs, digital gift cards make your life easier and your rewards better.
📌 At a glance:
• Simplify rewards: Use a digital gift card distributor to automate, bulk send, and track incentives
• 🇨🇦 Local favo(u)rites 😉: Access hundreds of Canadian brands like Tim Hortons, Air Canada, and Roots, plus global options and prepaid cards (i.e. Visa® and Mastercard® incentive cards).
• Flexible delivery: Send rewards instantly via email, SMS, Slack, QR code, or integrate with your software.
In this article, we’ll explore gift card distribution in Canada, sharing how you and your team can leverage the best digital solutions, what brands are available, how to handle taxes, and actionable strategies to make your rewards program stand out.
We’ll also cover common questions, specific instructions for sending popular cards, and tips for supporting fellow Canadian businesses.
Pro-tip: If you decide to work with a gift card company, make sure you find one that lets you pay in CAD and send in CAD.
In other words, avoid companies that will make you pay in USD, send in USD, or both.
This is key to streamlining your finances (and making your life a whole lot easier!).
You've got a couple options if you want to use gift cards in your incentive programs.
You can send someone to the grocery store to buy a stack of physical cards, keep them in a desk drawer, and send them out as needed. Just watch their expiry dates, or you could end up with a stack of unusable cards like Canadian manufacturers Factors Group did.
You also won't be able to lock down any revenue sharing or bulk discounts.
Plus, we know from decades of research that digital rewards simply perform better. For example, we know that 4 out of 5 people prefer digital gift cards to physical ones.
Like Giftbit CCO Nat Salvione says, “digital gift cards get results.” That’s why a streamlined, digital-first approach is the gold standard for Canadian organizations aiming to motivate and delight their audiences.
So if you want to go digital, you might opt to work with one of the 'big guy' gift card distributors, although don't be surprised if their catalog is focused on American audiences, or if you're able to get any hands-on support you might end up needing.
Instead, the smartest way to manage gift card rewards and incentives in Canada is to work with an online Canadian gift card distributor that offers a comprehensive catalog of Canadian and international brands.