Switch Guide: Moving from HubSpot to a Canadian CRM

HubSpot is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Its servers are in the United States. For Canadian businesses navigating data sovereignty requirements, PIPEDA obligations, or simply the desire to keep customer data in Canada, switching to a Canadian-built CRM alternative is a meaningful move — and it's more practical than most teams expect.

Which Canadian CRM Is Right for You?

There isn't one universal replacement — the right Canadian CRM depends on your business size and use case:

• Ownr (by RBC): Best for very small Canadian businesses and sole proprietors who need lightweight contact management alongside business registration and compliance tools. Ownr is built specifically for the Canadian small business context — it understands incorporation, GST/HST, and the Canadian regulatory landscape. It's not a full marketing automation platform, but for a small team that wants a simple, Canadian-built contact and client management system, it's a solid starting point.
• Maximizer CRM: Best for small-to-mid-sized Canadian businesses that need a proper CRM with pipeline management, activity tracking, and reporting. Maximizer has been built in Vancouver since 1987 — it's one of Canada's oldest software companies — and it explicitly competes with HubSpot and Salesforce on price and Canadian data residency.

What You'll Gain

• Canadian data residency: Both Ownr and Maximizer store data in Canada, keeping you aligned with PIPEDA and provincial privacy laws.
• CAD pricing: No more currency fluctuation surprises — pay in Canadian dollars.
• Lower cost: HubSpot's paid tiers can run $500–$5,000+/month CAD for a mid-sized team. Maximizer typically comes in at 30–50% less for equivalent functionality.
• Canadian support: Both companies offer support in Canadian timezones, with teams that understand Canadian business context.
• CASL compliance: Canadian-built marketing tools are designed with CASL (Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation) in mind from day one.

What You Might Miss

• HubSpot's breadth: HubSpot's marketing hub — landing pages, ad management, SEO tools, A/B testing — is genuinely impressive. Canadian alternatives don't match it feature-for-feature at the same price point. Budget to use separate specialized tools for advanced marketing automation.
• Integrations ecosystem: HubSpot has 1,000+ integrations. Maximizer and Ownr have smaller ecosystems — verify your key integrations before switching.
• Free tier: HubSpot's free CRM tier is hard to beat as an entry point. Maximizer starts at a paid tier.

Migration Checklist

1. Export your HubSpot contacts — Navigate to Contacts → Export → select all properties → download as CSV. Do the same for Companies and Deals.
2. Export email history — Download any email sequences, templates, and campaign data you want to preserve as reference.
3. Export form submissions and landing page data — Screenshot or PDF any assets you'll want to rebuild.
4. Set up your Canadian CRM — Start a trial of Maximizer or create your Ownr account. Configure your business profile, currency (CAD), and user permissions.
5. Import contacts — Map your HubSpot CSV columns to the destination CRM fields. Clean your data before import — deduplicate, fix formatting issues.
6. Recreate your pipeline stages — Rebuild your sales pipeline stages and deal categories in the new CRM.
7. Migrate active deals — Re-enter open opportunities with current stage, value, and close date.
8. Reconnect integrations — Re-establish your email, calendar, and any tool integrations in the new platform.
9. Run parallel for 30 days — Log new activities in both systems during transition to validate data integrity.
10. Cancel HubSpot — Export a final archive backup before your HubSpot subscription lapses.

Data Export Tips from HubSpot

In HubSpot, go to Contacts → Actions → Export for your full contact database. For deals, go to Sales → Deals → Actions → Export. HubSpot allows you to include all properties or a custom selection — export all properties to preserve maximum flexibility during import. Note that HubSpot's free export is limited; if you have a large database, ensure your account is active during the export window.

Timeline Estimate

Small teams (under 1,000 contacts, simple pipeline): 1–2 weeks. Mid-sized teams (1,000–10,000 contacts, complex pipeline): 3–6 weeks. Involve your sales ops team early — they'll have strong opinions about field mapping and pipeline structure that are worth incorporating before import day.

See all Canadian alternatives to HubSpot →