What a click costs in Montreal, by trade
In Montreal, the bid to show at the top of Google runs from under $2.50 for a barber to almost $32 for a roofer. I pulled these figures from Google's Keyword Planner on October 26, 2026 (searchers in Montreal and Laval): searches are the October 2025 to September 2026 average, and bids cover the last 30 days.
| Search | Searches a month | Top-of-page bid (low to high) |
|---|---|---|
| roofing montreal | 480 | $5.28 to $31.99 |
| electrician montreal | 480 | $7.75 to $18.88 |
| plumber montreal | 1,000 | $3.91 to $13.84 |
| lawyer montreal | 390 | $3.33 to $11.99 |
| accountant montreal | 390 | $2.59 to $10.22 |
| dentist montreal | 1,900 | $2.52 to $9.02 |
| chiropractor montreal | 1,300 | $1.08 to $3.40 |
| barber montreal | 2,900 | $0.79 to $2.35 |
These are bids, not what you will pay per click: the range runs from the 20th to the 80th percentile of top-of-page bids, according to Google's documentation. The volumes count only searches that name the city. My cost-per-click study by trade covers more sectors, and the Google Ads budget calculator turns a bid into a monthly budget.
Montreal or Laval: off the island is not always cheaper
The French searches show it. A plumber pays more in Laval: "plombier laval" runs $4.71 to $19.78, against $3.92 to $12.54 for "plombier montréal", and it is searched 880 times a month against 390. For electricians, the top of the range is within 20 cents, but Laval's low end is almost double ($7.39 against $3.89). For accountants, it is the reverse: "comptable montréal" costs more at both ends. If you serve both, run one campaign per city with its own budget, so the pricier market cannot take all the money.
English and French: two sets of ads, not a translation
A Montreal campaign starts in French, and English runs alongside it when your customers search in English, which many do. For these three trades, the English search with the city name is typed 2.6 to 5.6 times as often as the French one:
Bids differ in both directions: "electrician montreal" starts at $7.75 against $3.89 in French, while "comptable montréal" tops out at $16.92 against $10.22 for "accountant montreal".
French still comes first. Section 52 of the Charter of the French Language requires commercial documents available to the public to be in French, online ones included, and the OQLF applied it in March 2025 to a Montreal business's Facebook and Instagram posts. Since September 2026, Google has been removing the campaign language setting from Search campaigns, matching each ad by its own language and favouring the ad and landing page in the language of the search; my guide to Google Ads management costs in Montreal covers both rules. In practice:
- French ads point to French pages and English ads to English pages, in separate ad groups.
- No English campaign without the French one.
- Copy written in each language, not machine-translated.
This is general information, not legal advice.
Radius, borough or postal code: which area to target
Google Ads sets your area with a radius around an address, of at least 1 km according to Google Ads Help, or with a list of places. In Montreal, Google's location list (October 6, 2026 version) lets you target each of the 19 boroughs, as well as three-character postal codes (H2X, for example). It also lists 12 of the island's 14 reconstituted cities, including Westmount, Mount Royal, Dorval and Pointe-Claire, as places separate from "Montreal"; Hampstead and Montréal-Ouest are not on it.
| Your situation | Suggested targeting | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A clinic in Rosemont that mostly treats the neighbourhood | A radius of a few kilometres around the clinic, or the Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie borough and its neighbours | A click from Pointe-Claire is billed all the same |
| A contractor who works anywhere on the island | "Montreal" plus each reconstituted city you serve, outline checked on the map, areas you skip excluded | Google treats those cities as separate places |
| A business serving Montreal and Laval | Two campaigns, one per city | Bids differ from one city to the other |
| A moving company | The default option, "Presence or interest" | Someone in Ottawa moving to Montreal is a real customer |
By default, Google also reaches people who have shown interest in your area without being there, and it recommends that setting. For a clinic or a trade that only serves the island, "Presence" avoids paying for clicks from outside.
What to ask a Google Ads agency in Montreal
Whether you call it a Google Ads agency, a PPC agency or, by the old name, an AdWords agency, ask these five questions before you sign, and get the answers in writing:
- Who writes the French and the English ads?
- Which places exactly will you target, with which option? Ask for the list.
- Whose name is the Google Ads account in? The right answer: yours.
- How long is the commitment, and what is the notice period?
- How do you count calls and forms? The report should show a cost per lead, not just clicks.
The contract clauses to check (account ownership, cancellation, fees) are in my guide to Google Ads agency contracts. The agency's address changes nothing in your ads: what matters is who opens your account every week.
What Always Booked's management includes
| Item | What you get |
|---|---|
| Setup | From $900 |
| Management | $450 a month, month to month |
| Ad budget | Set by you and paid directly to Google; the $450 covers management only |
| Google Ads account | In your name, paid with your card; I work in it through my manager account, and you keep it if you leave |
| Conversion tracking | Calls and forms counted from day one |
| Dedicated landing page | Included when I built your site |
| Report | Every month, in plain language, with the changes planned |
| Meetings | By video or phone; in person around Laval when useful |
A Laval studio for Montreal businesses
Always Booked is a web studio based in Laval. I am the only person who works on your account, from the 15-minute call to the monthly report, in English or in French. The full offer is on the Google Ads management page, and if your site is not ready for paid traffic, see web design in Montreal.
Questions
Can my Google Ads in Montreal run in English only?
Plan a French version in every case. Section 52 of the Charter covers commercial documents whatever the medium, and the OQLF has applied it to social media posts; English ads can run alongside, with their own pages.
What budget should I start with in Montreal?
My rule of thumb, not a Google rule: enough to buy 150 to 200 clicks in the first month, so you can see which searches turn into calls. At the bids recorded for "plumber montreal", that is about $590 to $2,770; for "barber montreal", about $120 to $470.
Can a Montreal agency hold me to a 12-month contract?
Only if you sign one. Ask for the term and the notice period in writing, then compare the total cost over 12 months. At Always Booked, management is month to month.
Should the Google Ads account be in my name?
Ask that of any agency: an account in your business's name, paid with your card, that the agency is given access to. If you change managers, you keep your campaign and conversion history.
Want this done for you?
Google Ads: from $450 / month. A 15-minute call to see if it is a good fit.
Sources
- Google Ads API, KeywordPlanHistoricalMetrics (20th and 80th percentile bids)
- Google Ads Help, about Keyword Planner forecasts (bid ranges from the last 30 days)
- Éducaloi, language rights: is your website compliant?
- OQLF, letter to a Montreal business on section 52 of the Charter (March 27, 2025)
- Google Ads Help, about language targeting (September 2026 change)
- Google Ads Help, target ads to geographic locations
- Google Ads API, geo targets (October 6, 2026 version)
- Ville de Montréal, agglomeration council
- Google Ads Help, about advanced location options