No single service is always the cheapest way to send money from Canada to the Philippines. The order changes with the amount you send and the day you send it, so the comparison below fetches live quotes and ranks providers by how many pesos arrive.
Today's mid-market rate
loading…This is the benchmark, not an offer. Most providers give you less than this rate and keep the gap; the few that don't charge a fee instead. Either way, the real cost is the fee plus the gap, and the only number that shows both is what your recipient actually gets.
What your recipient gets, by provider
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Rank by what arrives
The transfer fee is the number providers advertise. The exchange-rate margin is the one they leave out, and on most transfers it costs more than the fee. Ranking by the amount received counts both. Why the fee misleads explains the gap in full.
Run the comparison at the amount you actually send. A service that wins at $200 can lose at $2,000: a fixed fee weighs most on a small transfer, and a percentage margin weighs most on a large one.
Choose how the money lands
The same provider prices each payout method differently, and the person receiving is the one who knows which method they can use.
- Bank deposit. Usually the cheapest payout. You need the account number and the bank's name exactly as the bank has them.
- E-wallet (GCash, Maya). The money arrives on a phone, which helps when the recipient has no bank account. Wallets cap how much one account can receive, and the cap depends on how fully the account is verified. Ask the recipient to check before you send a large amount.
- Cash pickup. Collected at a pawnshop or remittance counter such as Cebuana Lhuillier, Palawan Express or M Lhuillier. It reaches people far from a bank, usually costs more, and the recipient needs a valid ID at the counter.
The recipient's name has to match their ID or account exactly, including a middle name if the account carries one. A mismatch is a common reason a transfer is held for review or sent back.
How much goes from Canada
In 2025 Canada was the source of 3.5% of the cash remittances the Philippines received, out of a record US$35.6 billion (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, reported by GMA News, 16 February 2026).
That share may understate Canada. The central bank says money sent through couriers cannot be traced to the country it came from, so it is recorded under the courier's head-office country, often the United States.
Before your first transfer
- Check the provider is registered with FINTRAC. How to compare remittance services shows where.
- Send a small amount first, to confirm the details are right before the large one.
- Ask the recipient which payout they can collect without a long trip.
- Run the comparison again every few months. Margins drift, and nothing tells you when they do.
How much you can afford to send is a separate question, and how much to send home works through it.