Boreal Lab Studio · Small business website guide
What website maintenance costs each month.
What a care plan covers, what hosting alone covers, and what goes wrong when nobody is looking after the site.
The short answer
Looking after a small business website in Canada usually costs between $20 and $250 CAD a month. The low end is hosting only. The high end adds security updates, backups and an hour or two of changes every month. Published Ontario care plans we checked in October 2026 ran from about $49 a month with no edits to $130 to $250 with edit time included.
What you are paying for
- Hosting: the computer that serves your site, and the certificate that puts the padlock in the address bar.
- Updates: on WordPress, the core, theme and plugins need updating, or the site becomes easy to break into.
- Backups: a copy from yesterday, so one bad edit is not a disaster.
- Watching: someone is told when the site goes down or a form stops sending.
- Edits: new hours, a new service, a new photo. Plans count these in hours or in a number of changes.
How the platform changes the bill
- Squarespace, Wix, Shopify: hosting and security are inside your plan fee. You pay a person only for changes.
- WordPress: hosting is separate, and updates are regular work. This is where a care plan earns its fee.
- Custom-built sites: very little to update. The cost is hosting and the edits you ask for.
What happens with no upkeep
- The domain or certificate expires, and visitors see a warning page.
- The contact form stops delivering, and nobody notices for months.
- An old plugin is hacked, and the site starts sending visitors somewhere else.
- The hours and prices drift out of date, and customers stop trusting the rest.
What Boreal Lab Studio charges
Hosting only is $19 a month or $150 a year, with edits at $50 each. Care plans are $59 a month for a one-page site and $99 or $149 a month for a full site, with edit time included. See every plan.
Boreal Lab Studio builds small business websites
Boreal Lab Studio is a website studio in Toronto, Ontario. It builds websites for small businesses across the GTA, Ontario and the rest of Canada, including home services, professional practices, health and wellness, hospitality and retail, with a specialty in trucking and logistics.
- What it builds
- Custom websites for small businesses with enquiry or booking forms, logos and matching email signatures, plus builds on Squarespace, Wix, WordPress, Shopify, Webflow and Framer.
- Starting prices (CAD)
- Launch, one page: from $399. Starter: from $750. Full site, up to 6 pages: from $1,500. See every plan.
- How it starts
- A free homepage concept of your own site, on desktop and phone. You pay only after you approve it.
- Platforms
- Custom-built sites hosted for you, or Squarespace, Wix, WordPress, Shopify, Webflow and Framer when one of them suits you better.
- Contact
- hello@boreallab.ca · (647) 547-7709
See the studio’s work and every plan, with full sites you can click through.
Common questions
How much does website maintenance cost per month?
For a small business in Canada, usually $20 to $250 CAD a month, depending on whether edits are included. At Boreal Lab Studio, hosting only is $19 a month and care plans are $59 to $149 a month.
Do I need a maintenance plan for a Squarespace or Wix site?
Not for security or hosting, which are part of your plan. You may still want someone on call for changes you do not have time to make.
What does it cost to maintain a WordPress site?
More than other platforms, because the core, theme and plugins need regular updates and a backup before each one. Published Ontario plans with updates and an hour of edits are commonly $130 to $250 a month.
Can I pay per change instead of monthly?
Often, yes. Boreal Lab Studio charges $50 per edit for sites on hosting only.
More small business website guides
- How much a small business website costs in OntarioBuilder, freelancer, studio or agency, and our own prices in plain numbers.
- Hiring a Squarespace, Wix or WordPress designerWhen to keep your platform, what a designer should do on it, and who owns what.
- Professional email signatures for a small businessWhat a signature should hold, and how to make it look right in Gmail, Outlook and on phones.
- Logo design for a small businessWhat you should get from a logo project, the files you need, and how to brief a designer.
- How much a website costs in CanadaPrice ranges by who builds it, what moves the number, and the yearly costs after launch.
- A free homepage mockup before you payWhat a free concept should include, what it does not, and how to tell a real free offer from a deposit.
- How to choose a web designerFreelancer, studio or agency, and twelve questions about ownership, price and the work.
- What a website redesign costsWhen to redesign, when to fix what you have, and how to keep your Google rankings through the move.
- Shopify store design and setupWhat a store needs before it opens in Canada: theme, products, taxes, shipping and payments.
- Hiring a Webflow or Framer designerWhich of the two fits your site, what each is good at, and what stays in your name.
- Website design for contractors and tradesWhat a plumber, electrician, roofer or landscaper needs online to get calls from the right jobs.
All guides · Guides for trucking companies: What the best trucking company websites have · How much a trucking website costs in Canada · Wix, Squarespace, WordPress or custom for a trucking company · A website for an owner-operator · A driver recruiting page that gets applications · How to choose a trucking website designer · Trucking company website design in the GTA