---
title: "Best UX/UI Design Agencies in Canada (2026)"
description: "Five Canadian UX/UI agencies and our own studio, checked on one six-point scorecard and re-read on 26 Oct 2026, with what we could not verify said plainly."
category: "UX & Redesign"
question: "Who are the best UX/UI design agencies in Canada?"
datePublished: 2025-08-28
dateModified: 2026-10-26
readingMinutes: 6
status: published
author: "UXPro Design Studio"
authorType: "Organization"
editorialProcess: "Prepared with AI assistance and checked against the listed sources."
authorUrl: https://uxpro.ca/about
canonical: https://uxpro.ca/blog/best-ux-ui-design-agencies-canada
image: https://uxpro.ca/covers/best-ux-ui-design-agencies-canada.webp
license: "Quote freely with a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Best UX/UI Design Agencies in Canada (2026)

## Key facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Agencies checked | Five Canadian agencies plus UXPro, in Ontario, Alberta and Nova Scotia, read 10 Oct 2026 and again 26 Oct 2026 |
| Range of sizes | From a multi-office network that is part of Omnicom (Critical Mass) to studios of under 50 people |
| One hard price marker | Lift Interactive lists a $25,000+ minimum project on Clutch |
| UXPro's breadth | Product and app UX, websites, brand, pitch decks, SEO and AI search; website prices published from $1,500 CAD + HST |
| What we did not verify | Client outcomes, references and current pricing — confirm directly before signing |

**There is no single best UX/UI design agency in Canada. There is a best fit for the size of your product, your industry and how many people need to sign off. This guide gives you a six-point scorecard, applies it to five independent Canadian agencies, from a global network to small regional studios, and applies it to our own studio, UXPro, which designs products, mobile apps, websites, brands and pitch decks for small businesses, practices and startups.**

We are not neutral, so we show what we checked on each firm's own site and one independent listing, and what we could not verify from outside: client outcomes, references and current pricing. Use the scorecard on anyone else on your shortlist. UXPro is a design studio in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, for small businesses, practices and startups: websites, apps, brand, pitch decks, SEO and marketing.

_First published on 28 August 2025 on our previous site. Rewritten in full on 10 October 2026, and every entry re-checked again on 26 October 2026._

## How we checked

For each agency below we read its own site on 10 October 2026 and again on 26 October 2026, and where a site said little we used one independent listing (Clutch). We recorded four things: where it is based, how long it says it has operated, the size of work it is built for, and what it says it does. We did not commission test projects, interview clients or take payment for inclusion. Everything in the table is a fact you can check on the source we name.

What we could not verify: client outcomes, review authenticity and current pricing. We say so where it matters rather than repeat marketing copy as fact.

## The scorecard (use it on anyone)

| # | Criterion | What good looks like | How to check it yourself |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Portfolio match | Two case studies close to your product's size and sector, not just famous logos | Ask for them by name before the first proposal |
| 2 | Who does the work | The people on the pitch are the people on the project, or you meet the ones who are | Ask: "who will be designing my screens?" |
| 3 | Process in plain words | Can say what happens in week one and how decisions get signed off | Ask for a sample timeline from a past project |
| 4 | Independent listing | A third-party profile (Clutch, Google Business Profile) with reviews you can read off-site | Search "[agency] Clutch" |
| 5 | Written scope and change control | An itemised scope and a stated rule for changes mid-project | Ask what happens if you add a screen halfway through |
| 6 | After launch | A stated support period, or a clean handover of files and code you own | Ask who fixes the first bug after launch, and who owns the Figma files |

## The agencies we checked

Listed alphabetically. This is not a ranking.

| Agency | Based | Operating since (as stated) | Built for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Akendi | Toronto and Ottawa, ON | "18+ years" (its site) | UX research, strategy and design for large organisations |
| Critical Mass | Calgary, AB, with offices in several countries | 1995 (the founding date in its own site markup) | Digital experience design for global brands; part of Omnicom |
| Echo9ine Creative | Kitchener-Waterloo, ON | "Over 6 years" (its site) | Web design and SEO for local businesses, clinics and practices |
| Lift Interactive | Edmonton, AB | 2002 (Clutch profile) | Brand-led web and UX design; $25,000+ minimum project on Clutch |
| MindSea | Halifax, NS | "18 years serving clients" (its site) | Mobile app design and development, including health products |
| UXPro (this studio) | Kitchener, ON | Not stated here | Product and app UX, websites, brand identity, pitch decks, SEO and AI search, for small businesses, practices and startups |

**Akendi** says it has "18+ years" of experience and publishes its own counts: 190+ product strategy projects, 352+ [user research](/glossary#user-research) projects, 529+ UX design projects and 220+ clients. Those are its numbers, not audited by us. They describe a research-heavy practice built for organisations with several stakeholders, which may be more process than a five-person business needs.

**Critical Mass** is the largest firm here by a wide margin: a network of offices with Calgary among them, and listed on its own site as part of Omnicom. Its site markup gives 1995 as its founding date. It is a real option for a multi-market brand that needs UX inside a larger marketing and technology programme, and the wrong scale for a single-location business.

**Echo9ine Creative** is a Kitchener-Waterloo studio whose site, read on 26 October 2026, says its web design and SEO team has over six years of experience building custom sites for local businesses, and names medical clinics, dental offices, physiotherapists and other practices among them. It is the closest in size and market to our own studio on this list.

**Lift Interactive** is an Edmonton studio that, on its Clutch profile, has operated since 2002, has 10 to 49 people, lists a $25,000+ minimum project and $150 to $199 an hour. That minimum is a useful marker of the size of work it takes on.

**MindSea** is based in Halifax and says it has served clients for 18 years, with 250+ projects. Its site describes "HIPAA-Ready Development", which matters if you are building a patient-facing app rather than a marketing site.

**UXPro** is our own studio, included so it gets the same checks rather than left out to look neutral. We are a design studio for small businesses, practices and startups: product and app UX, websites, [brand identity](/glossary#brand-identity), pitch decks, and SEO and AI-search support. The honest comparison is with the studios in the middle of this table, not with Critical Mass. Our product work is shown on [Stride](/work/stride), a study-habit iOS app (client work, anonymised at the client's request, no business metrics claimed). Our website prices are published, from $1,500, $3,500 or $7,500 CAD plus HST; app and product work is scoped and quoted before we start.

## What a Canadian UX/UI engagement costs

Most agencies on this list publish no price, so we do not print a range we cannot source. The one hard public marker is Lift Interactive's $25,000 minimum project on Clutch; Kinex-sized firms and global networks sit well above a small business's budget, and boutique studios quote per project. Ask any agency for a written, itemised scope before comparing two numbers, and read our [guide to what UX agencies charge in Canada](/blog/ux-agency-cost-canada) for the lines a fair quote should contain.

## Boutique studio, full-service agency or freelance team

- **Boutique studios** (Echo9ine, Lift Interactive, MindSea and UXPro among them) usually give you direct access to senior people and faster decisions, with less bench depth if someone is away.
- **Full-service and enterprise agencies** (Critical Mass, Akendi) bring research, strategy and design under one roof for projects with many stakeholders, at a higher cost and a longer approval chain.
- **Freelance teams** can be cost-efficient, but the project management and quality control sit with you.

A startup that needs an app, the website that sells it and the deck that funds it is usually better served by one studio that does all three than by three vendors who never talk to each other. That is the case for a breadth-first studio; it is not a case for any one name on this list.

## Questions to ask before you sign

- "Show me a project like mine, and tell me what you would do differently now."
- "Who designs the screens day to day, and can I meet them?"
- "What happens in week one?"
- "Who owns the design files and the code when we are done?"
- "What would make you tell me this isn't the right project for your team?"

## FAQ

### Who are the best UX/UI design agencies in Canada?
There is no single best agency: the right one depends on the size of your product, your sector and how many people sign off. Run the six-point scorecard above on every name on your shortlist, including ours, and ask each for two projects close to yours.

### How much does UX/UI design cost in Canada?
It depends on scope more than on the agency, and most Canadian agencies publish no price at all. The one hard public marker on this list is Lift Interactive's $25,000 minimum project on its Clutch profile. Our website prices are published from $1,500, $3,500 or $7,500 CAD plus HST; app and product work is scoped and quoted before we start. Our [guide to UX agency costs in Canada](/blog/ux-agency-cost-canada) goes through each line of a quote.

### Should a startup hire a boutique studio or a large agency?
Match the agency to the size of the decision-making group on your side. A founder and two advisers usually move faster with a boutique studio where senior people do the work; a product with legal, brand and IT sign-off may need the bench depth of a larger agency.

### Can one studio design the app, the website and the pitch deck?
Yes, and for an early-stage company it often helps: one team keeps the product, the site that sells it and the deck that funds it saying the same thing. Ask to see examples of each discipline, not just the one the studio leads with.

## Next step

See everything we design on [our services page](/services), or the [UX and UI design](/services/ux-ui-design) and [mobile app design](/services/mobile-app-design) pages if you are building a product. The questions to send every studio on your shortlist are in [how to choose a UX design agency](/blog/how-to-choose-a-ux-design-agency). If you already have a site or an app's marketing page, start with [a free Redline](/redline): we mark up your homepage by hand at phone width, with what to cut, what to add, and why. And if a larger agency above is the better fit for your project, we will say so.

*Sources:* each firm's own site and, where noted, its Clutch profile, read 10 October 2026 and re-read 26 October 2026 (listed below).

## Sources

- [Akendi Canada (home page)](https://www.akendi.com/ca/) (accessed 2026-10-26)
- [Critical Mass](https://www.criticalmass.com/) (accessed 2026-10-26)
- [Lift Interactive, Clutch profile](https://clutch.co/profile/lift-interactive) (accessed 2026-10-26)
- [MindSea](https://mindsea.com/) (accessed 2026-10-26)
- [Echo9ine Creative](https://echo9inecreative.com/) (accessed 2026-10-26)