Best Affiliate Programs For Beginners Canada

One of the greatest things about affiliate marketing is that you can work from wherever you want for global brands and companies!

While Canada is not necessarily the biggest market in the world, it is a country with quite a strong spending power whilst at the same time having significantly less competition when compared to the U.S.

Best Affiliate Marketing Programs For Canadian Affiliate Marketers

SO therefore… if you’re looking for the best local Canadian affiliate programs or if you just happen to be from Canada and want to earn some money promoting worldwide offers that give high commissions, then consider applying to these affiliate networks and companies.

I’ve personally made thousands of dollars in affiliate commissions with some of the affiliate programs that are mentioned down below with conversion rates ranging roughly around 10%.

If you are good with words and copywriting, the sky is the limit!

Amazon Canada

I am sure we all know Amazon is an e-commerce giant in North America and one of the biggest companies in the world with stellar brand trust and recognition.

While Amazon’s affiliate marketing program commission rates are not the best, averaging 3-4% for most products, Amazon is ONE OF THE MOST highest-converting websites out there AND the commission rates for Canadian markets actually pay significantly better compared to their U.S. counterpart.

It’s one of the highest paying affiliate programs when it comes retail and e-commerce within Canada, so it’s my first recommendation if you happen to be an affiliate marketer from Canada.

From my experience, you can expect a 10-15% conversion rate for every affiliate link click.

Preferably you want to promote products that are around the $300 to $1000 range because such purchases do not require a long decision-making period. I was making a few thousand dollars a month as an affiliate for ottoman furniture, which is quite niche-specific, but you can find other products that pay just as much or even more.

The cookie period for Amazon however is only 24 hours, which is one of the only cons I can think of, but on the bright side, when someone adds other products to their cart and buys them, you also get the commission for them, so upselling or recommending other Amazon products along with your main product is a good way to make more money.

Walmart Canada

Walmart is another retail giant that is a direct competitor to Amazon.

It owns about 10% of the whole Canadian market share according to Statista, so there is a lot money to be made with Walmart Canada’s affiliate program.

Commissions are on the lower end however, ranging from 1% to 3% for every sale you make, but the good news is that you get 48 hours of cookie period compared to Amazon’s 24 hours, so theoretically you could make as much, if not more than Amazon associates program because of the cookie window.

You can almost find anything related to retail from clothes, and furniture, to household items and appliances, so there is a broad selection of categories and products for you to promote.

You can sign up for Walmart Canadas’ affiliate marketing program through FlexOffers here.

https://www.flexoffers.com/affiliate-programs/walmart-canada-affiliate-program/

eBay Canada

eBay is another competitor of Amazon and they offer a pretty similar affiliate program.

eBay virtually hosts all kinds of products that you could imagine, on par with Amazon, and offers great analytics tool for tracking your performance, but one thing that sets eBay apart from Amazon is their auction feature.

You get 1-4% commission whenever someone buys a product through your referral link OR when someone makes a bid in auctions within a 24-hour period window.

Sellers can auction their products on eBay and the highest bidder gets the deal, so you’re also able to make commissions from the 2nd hand market.

This is quite unique when it comes to the affiliate marketing industry and ecommerce businesses, because eBay Partner Network seems to be only one that is offering commissions on auctioned items.

Join their affiliate program: https://partnernetwork.ebay.com/our-program/rate-card

Best Buy Canada

For tech enthusiasts, why not try promoting Best Buy products?

As mentioned, Canada has quite a bit of spending power and new gadgets, tools, and electronic goods are always in hot demand in North American / Canadian markets.

Best Buy’s commission is 1%, but don’t let that fool you because you can sell electronic goods that are a few hundred dollars to a few thousand without much issue due to Best Buy’s brand name and built-up trust. So assuming you sell a camera or a computer that costs $800, you can make $80 on your sale.

The cookie duration is 7 days, so unlike other affiliate programs like Walmart eBay or Amazon with, you will be properly rewarded for your referrals and get paid handsomely for high-ticket items.

From experience, I would say it’s a better approach to start a YouTube channel and promote any tech and electronic goods by offering helpful consumer information that will make it easier for them to make a buying decision. While blog post and what not can work as a way to promote Best Buy goods, the conversion rate for articles is lower compared to videos, and I personally find making review videos so much easier (as long as you are not shy about being on camera).

AND NO, you don’t have to be the likes of YouTube giants such as Linus Tech or Marques Brownlee. As long as you have an authentic and genuine review, people will feel it and buy through your referral link.

There is nothing wrong with doing a direct review inside the store without necessarily having to buy the product, IF there are Best Buys near you.

Join Best Buy’s Affiliate Program: https://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/about/affiliate-program/

Web Hosting Canada

Hosting has always been a great way to earn some affiliate commissions. As an affiliate marketer who targeted countries with a population of only a few million people, I was still making a few hundred dollars promoting hosting such as Hostinger, Namecheap, etc.

However, Canadian hosting companies do have good reputations and it’s easier to sell local hosting companies than foreign ones, and Web Hosting Canada happens to be one of the most trusted and well-known brands within Canada.

They pay up to 300 CAD which is a crazy high commission considering most other hosting companies pay half that amount at best or ¼ of that, so commissions are really good, but it depends on which plan you sell.

Hosting services can range from 25 – 300 CAD, with the commissions being almost 1 to 1 ratio.

However, if you want to be successful in this niche, it’s better to make YouTube tutorials and build a social media following, THEN offer Web Hosting Canada as their web hosting provider, because there is too much competition if you decide to do SEO and PPC.

You’ll just burn through your money honestly.

Or after joining their affiliate marketing network, you can offer to build WordPress sites. Offering their hosting packages will just be an additional source of income for you.

Join their affiliate program: https://whc.ca/affiliates

Ancestry Canada

Lastly, we have a very interesting affiliate program, Ancestry.com

People have recently been very keen on learning more about their ancestry and genealogy, thus all these companies like 23andMe, Genomelink, and Ancestry.com have been very successful in the past few years.

Usually, a DNA breakdown of your genealogy and ancestry costs about a hundred dollars, but Ancestry’s pricing model is a little unique because they offer mostly a subscription-based service.

It’s only open to North American, UK and Australian residents, so kind of exclusive and less competition from other affiliate marketers.

While it may not be the best affiliate programs out there, their commission structure is 10% of all sales and 20% recurring revenue with 30 day cookie whenever someone gets a monthly subscription, so it is a good source of passive income if you can refer a few people.

You do get banners, images, and creative that you can use for your affiliate link to promote Ancestry.com, so running Pay Per Click campaigns on social media and Google ads might work for this offer.

Join Their Affiliate Program: https://www.ancestry.com/c/affiliates

Questrade

Compared to other countries around the world, North Americans and Canadians are big into investing and finance. If you happen to be someone who is knowledgeable in the finance niche, then Questrade is a great offer to promote.

They have an enticing $50 rebate offer which you can advertise to sign up people.

Whenever someone opens an account, they get $50 in trade commissions or cash bonus for any Forex and CFD (Contract for Difference) trades. Not only that, but they are also offering one year of free $10,000 portfolio management. Generally it costs, hundreds of dollars per hour just to get portfolio management consultation, so it’s a very good deal for anyone who is looking to make money work for them.

The cookie lasts for 60 days which is longer than most affiliate programs, and you get $70 for every user that you refer, but the caveat is they have to make a few self-directed trades.

Join Their Affiliate Program: https://www.questrade.com/affiliates/overview-old

Global Affiliate Programs and Networks For Canadians

If you want to try dabbling in global markets with the possibility of reaching a more than just Canadian audience, then try these affiliate networks besides the Canadian affiliate programs mentioned above.

These are open to applications from pretty much everyone around the world.

Secrets of Success Affiliate Program

If you are not familiar with Russell Brunson, he is one of the most well-known digital marketers and entrepreneurs out there.

Recently he launched the platform Secrets of Success which holds a library of entrepreneurs, businesspeople, and new age / old age authors of mysticism such as Napoleon Hill, P.T Barnum, Charles F. Haneel, etc.

Brunson spent millions of his own money to get first-edition books, lost transcripts, and texts from hundreds of years ago. I personally find books from the 18th, 19th century to be jam-packed with wisdom and information because authors from back then published books to share their experience and knowledge rather than make money, so they’re mostly straight to the point without any fluff.

But that’s not all… Subscribers get a personal roadmap for their future success.

So if you are more into the personal development and entrepreneurship niche, then Secrets of Success is a product to promote for affiliate marketers.

You get 40% of all recurring commissions AND 10% commissions from any 2nd tier affiliates who sign up under you, so if you do well to promote it, you can just sit back relax, and enjoy the money rolling in from any affiliates you sign up under yourself.

GoHighLevel

GoHighLevel is one of the most trending and popular CRMs out there.

Founded in 2018, GoHighLevel team has come a long way and still offers one of the most value-based products in the SaaS & Digital Marketing niche.

It’s an all in one marketing solution for agencies and even affiliate marketers alike, starting at only $97/month with so many tools and features that you might actually think that they might be laundering money and using it as a business front haha.

Their marketing software comes with built-in emailing, SMS & call, AI writing, and workflow tools, which are bound to help improve anyone’s sales and revenue. Users can save countless hours with simple automations and its all-in-one marketing solution.

If you want, you can even sign up for their Starter Plan or Unlimited Plan for 30 days FOR FREE, get acquainted with their tools, AND THEN register local businesses under you for a certain monthly fee. It’s a win-win for both you and your customer because you can make money and your customer can save hundreds of dollars per month instead of spending it on CRMs that cost 3-4 times as much without having any significant advantages.

OR in case you just want to promote GoHighLevel as a product and become an affiliate, you get a whopping 40% recurring monthly commission for any clients you refer and 90 days cookie period! Yes, 90 days cookie period!

Take for example, you sign up 2 people under their Unlimited Plan which is $297/month, that’s $240/monthly recurring commission FROM ONLY TWO REFERRALS!

Get the special 30-day trial: https://gohighlevel.com/sen

Semrush

If you’ve heard about ahrefs, then you should know Semrush 🙂

It’s the direct competitor of ahrefs that does pretty much the same thing when it comes to SEO. As an SEO tool, you can use it to audit your website, improve rankings and get more organic traffic, which can directly result in more sales and revenue.

While I did find the user interface more complicated, once you get the hang of it, it’s a pretty nifty tool and the pricing is significantly better than ahrefs without any limited credits or usage limit, so beginning in 2023, a lot SEO specialists have moved over to Semrush instead of using ahrefs.

On top of that, Semrush offers one of the best commissions in the SEO niche.

You can get $200 per sale and $10 for any new leads you refer to Semrush, so even if your visitors don’t become a client, you’re still getting paid for giving Semrush leads and potential customers.

They have an amazing 120-cookie duration, so when someone does decide to sign up for a paid plan, you’ll be getting that juicy $200 commission.

Whether you are Canadian or not, it’s a great affiliate program for anyone who is in the digital marketing – SEO niche and wants to promote one of the best SEO auditing tools out there.

Join Their Affiliate Program: https://www.semrush.com/kb/97-affiliate-program

ClickBank

ClickBank is one of the best affiliate marketing programs/affiliate network in the world with thousands upon thousands of offers, courses, products, and services imaginable that you can promote.

For non-Western countries, the registration process is a little more strict, but for Canadian affiliates, it should be very easy to sign up and get things rolling.

I found that there are a bunch of courses or subscription offers that pay 50-80% commissions.

So if you are able to sell a course that costs $ 299 or something, you can make almost $200 just from that transaction. Best of all is that in ClickBank, there are a bunch of offers with up-sells and cross-sells where you get to make commissions on all of them as well, so you can easily make hundreds of dollars per order.

CJ Affiliate Network

CJ affiliate, formerly known as Commission Junction is one of the largest affiliate networks out there. It was founded in 1998 and has over 3800 brands in its network with a bunch of offers ranging from Cost Per Action, Cost Per Sale, Cost Per Click, etc.

No matter the niche, you will most likely find an offer or product to promote as a CJ affiliate. You will find plenty of Canada affiliate programs and companies listed there as well.

Commission rates and cookie durations depend on what brand services or products you will be working with. Some are on the lower end while some offers pay up to 80%.

CJ affiliate reporting and linking tool is quite comprehensive and provides very good insights, so optimizing your campaigns and ads is quite easy.

Join Their Affiliate Program: https://www.cj.com/join

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some of the most commonly asked questions regarding affiliate programs and networks for Canadian affiliates.

What is the best Canadian affiliate program or network?

There are a few Canadian affiliate programs, with the most popular affiliate networks being Amazon Canada, Walmart, Lowe’s etc where they have a sizeable market share in Canada. Since they are well-trusted big brands and websites with billions of revenue per year, rest assured you will be paid on time without any problems.

You can find Canadian affiliate programs different than the ones suggested however, and affiliate marketing is what you make out of it. If you have a certain edge and advantage in a certain niche or field, then it’s better to sign up for multiple affiliate networks that offer significantly higher commissions, while having less competition.

What is the difference between affiliate program vs network?

An affiliate network such as ClickBank, CJ, or FlexOffers has thousands of offers and products that brands and companies want to promote, with their own conditions, whether it’s Cost Per Action, Cost Per Sale, or Cost Per Click, you have a variety of choices to choose from.

Whereas an affiliate program is generally for a specific company or a product where the company themselves selectively choose who to work with based on the applicants’ info, but generally they are open to working with newbies and veterans alike as long as you follow their guidelines.

For new affiliate marketers, they might even provide dedicated affiliate managers to help them become successful affiliates.

How to earn money as a Canadian affiliate?

For beginners, it’s always a better idea to work in a niche that you are familiar with if you want a decent affiliate revenue and build an online business.

If you have an in-depth knowledge of a certain product, company, service, or whatever then better to laser focus on such micro online business niches before you tackle more competitive and broad niches.

Most importantly, STAY CONSISTENT and just do the work. Most affiliates worry too much about the hows and whats, instead of just doing what needs to be done when starting an affiliate marketing company or business. Your affiliate income will determined by the amount of work you put into it.

Top Canadian Affiliate Programs In 2024 (Best Offers)