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🗓️ Last updated: June 2026·User-input estimate · CAD · no government rates
🍁 Canada Tool

🇨🇦 Canadian Freight Broker Margin Calculator

See the margin you make on a load in CAD. Enter your customer (shipper) rate and carrier (buy) rate, optional fuel surcharge and accessorial spreads, an optional factoring/quick-pay fee and overhead, and an optional GST/HST rate to get gross margin, net margin, margin %, and carrier pay % — with no freight, carrier, factoring, GST/HST, or government figures baked in.

🍁 The Load (CAD)
What you bill the shipper for the linehaul.
What you pay the carrier for the linehaul.
⛽ Fuel Surcharge & Accessorials (optional)
Fuel surcharge billed to the shipper.
Fuel surcharge paid to the carrier.
Detention, layover, etc. billed to the shipper.
The same accessorials paid out to the carrier.
💸 Your Costs (optional)
Your own rate, applied to the factored receivable. None is assumed.
Your allocated cost to cover this load (software, staff, etc.).
Informational only. Shown as a pass-through collected for the CRA — never added to or subtracted from your margin. Use your own rate; none is assumed.
Projects gross and net margin across this many similar loads.
Gross Margin
—CAD
customer revenue minus carrier cost
Net Margin (after factoring & overhead)
—CAD
gross margin minus factoring/quick-pay and overhead
Net Margin %
—
Gross Margin %
—
Carrier Pay %
—
Linehaul Spread
—
Fuel Surcharge Spread
—
Accessorial Spread
—
Factoring / Quick-Pay Cost
—
Period Gross Margin
—
Period Net Margin
—
For information only — not financial, tax, legal, or business advice. QuicklyFig does not provide or verify freight rates, carrier rates, fuel surcharges, factoring fees, GST/HST, or any provincial or federal rate. Lane rates move constantly — enter the actual numbers from your own rate confirmations and agreements. Confirm pricing and tax treatment with your carriers, customers, accountant, or qualified advisor.
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Paying a dispatcher too? Use the Canadian Dispatcher Fee Calculator to see the carrier-side dispatch cost on a load.
Want the load's profit after every cost? Use the Canadian Load Profitability Calculator to see net profit per load.
Factoring your invoices? Use the Canadian Freight Factoring Cost Calculator to price the cost of factoring on each load.

How freight broker margin is calculated

A freight broker (or freight agent) buys capacity from a carrier and sells it to a shipper. Your margin is the spread between the two. This calculator starts with the linehaul spread — your customer (shipper) rate minus your carrier (buy) rate — and adds the fuel surcharge spread and accessorial spread if you bill and pay those separately. Together these are your gross margin in CAD. Subtract any factoring or quick-pay fee and your overhead per load, and you get the net margin you actually keep.

The margin % shows your net margin as a share of total customer revenue, and the carrier pay % shows how much of the customer's money flows through to the carrier. Add a number of loads to project the gross and net margin across a week or a month. Every number comes from your own rate confirmations and agreements — none is supplied or assumed.

FigureFormula
Total customer revenuecustomer rate + customer FSC + accessorial revenue
Total carrier costcarrier rate + carrier FSC + accessorial cost
Linehaul spreadcustomer rate − carrier rate
Fuel surcharge spreadcustomer FSC − carrier FSC
Accessorial spreadaccessorial revenue − accessorial cost
Gross marginlinehaul spread + FSC spread + accessorial spread
Factoring / quick-pay costtotal customer revenue × factoring %
Net margingross margin − factoring cost − overhead per load
Net margin %net margin ÷ total customer revenue × 100
Carrier pay %total carrier cost ÷ total customer revenue × 100
Period gross / net marginper-load figure × number of loads
GST/HST collectible (info)gross margin × GST/HST % — pass-through, not in margin

Run the numbers with and without the fuel and accessorial spreads, the factoring fee, and overhead to see where your real margin ends up. A healthy-looking linehaul spread can shrink quickly once a quick-pay fee and overhead come off — the net margin and net margin % are what actually matter.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you calculate freight broker margin in Canada?
Freight broker margin is the spread between what you charge the shipper and what you pay the carrier. This calculator takes your customer (shipper) linehaul rate and subtracts your carrier (buy) rate to get the linehaul spread, adds any fuel surcharge spread and accessorial spread you enter, and shows the gross margin in CAD. It then subtracts any factoring or quick-pay fee and overhead per load you enter to show the net margin, plus margin percent and carrier pay percent. Every figure is yours — nothing is assumed.
What is a good freight broker margin?
There is no single correct number, and this tool does not set one. Margin depends on the lane, the market, your carrier relationships, and your costs. Use the calculator with your own customer and carrier rates to see your gross margin and net margin after factoring and overhead, then compare it against your own targets. QuicklyFig does not provide benchmark rates or guarantee any margin.
Does GST/HST get added to a freight broker's margin?
GST/HST is not part of your margin — it is tax you may collect on behalf of the CRA and remit, not income you keep. Freight transportation services in Canada can be zero-rated or subject to interlining rules, so the treatment depends on your situation. If you want to see the GST/HST that would be collectible on your brokerage, enter the rate and the tool shows it as a separate informational line only; it is never added to or subtracted from your margin. Confirm your own GST/HST treatment with the CRA and your accountant.
Does this calculator use set freight or carrier rates?
No. The tool uses only the figures you enter and does not apply any built-in or "market" freight rate, carrier rate, fuel surcharge, factoring fee, GST/HST, income tax, or government figure. Rates move constantly by lane and season, so enter the actual numbers from your rate confirmations and agreements. It is a planning estimate only — confirm pricing and tax treatment with your carriers, customers, and a qualified advisor.
How is this different from the Freight Broker Profit Margin Calculator?
This Canadian tool is CAD-native and adds an optional GST/HST pass-through line plus Canadian framing (zero-rating and interlining notes), and focuses on the per-load margin a broker or freight agent keeps after factoring and overhead. The general Freight Broker Profit Margin Calculator is built around U.S. dollars and monthly overhead modelling. Use this one when you work in CAD and want a quick, clean per-load broker margin; nothing in either tool is a quote or a guaranteed rate.

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