The short answer: most Surrey businesses pay between $95 and $250 per user, per month for managed IT services in 2026. Where you land depends on how much is included: a basic remote help desk sits at the low end, while fully managed IT with onsite support, a complete security stack and compliance work sits at the top.
For a typical 20-person Surrey office on a mid-level plan, that works out to roughly $2,800–$3,900 a month, plus a one-time onboarding fee of about one month’s cost and your Microsoft 365 licences. This guide breaks down where those numbers come from, so you can compare quotes properly.
The Three Common Plan Levels
Most managed IT providers in Surrey and Metro Vancouver price per user (each person who uses a computer) and offer two or three plan levels. Names vary, but the contents are similar. These are typical 2026 ranges:
Plan
Includes
Per user / month
10 staff / month
25 staff / month
Essentials
Remote help desk, monitoring, patching, antivirus/EDR and Microsoft 365 admin.
$95–$140
$950–$1,400
$2,375–$3,500
Complete
Essentials plus onsite visits, the full security stack, Microsoft 365 backup and network management.
$140–$195
$1,400–$1,950
$3,500–$4,875
Complete + Compliance
Complete plus quarterly strategy reviews, written policies and privacy / cyber-insurance readiness.
$185–$250
$1,850–$2,500
$4,625–$6,250
Published ranges from Canadian providers in 2026 cluster in the same place: roughly $100 to $250 per user per month for fully managed service, with some advertising entry plans from about $165. Anything far below $95 per user usually means a remote-only help desk with security, backup and onsite work billed on top.
// Cost estimator
Estimate Your Monthly Cost
Pick your number of staff and a plan level. The figures use the same ranges as the table above.
Essentials plus onsite visits, the full security stack, Microsoft 365 backup and network management.
Showing 20 staff on the Complete plan.
estimate
Per month
Per user, per month
Per year
One-time onboarding
For comparison, one full-time in-house IT generalist in Metro Vancouver costs about $75,000–$100,000 a year including benefits, and covers one person’s skills and hours.
Estimate only. Servers, extra sites and specialist software are priced per device (servers typically $150–$300 a month each). Microsoft 365 licences are billed separately at Microsoft’s price. How pricing works
What’s Included, and What Usually Costs Extra
The per-user price is only useful if you know what it covers. A well-built managed IT plan normally includes:
Help desk support by phone, email and portal, usually unlimited during business hours.
Monitoring and patching of every computer and server, around the clock.
Endpoint security: antivirus or EDR on every device.
Microsoft 365 administration: users, mailboxes, licences and security settings.
Backups of servers and Microsoft 365, with monitoring and restore tests (mid-level plans and up).
Network management of your firewall, switches and Wi-Fi.
Onsite visits when remote support can’t fix it (often mid-level plans and up).
Things that are usually billed separately: Microsoft 365 and other software licences, new hardware, projects such as office moves or server migrations, after-hours work that isn’t an emergency, and servers or extra sites, which are often priced per device at around $150–$300 a month each.
What Pushes the Price Up or Down
Two Surrey businesses with the same headcount can get very different quotes. The main reasons:
Servers and sites. An office that runs entirely in Microsoft 365 is cheaper to support than one with two on-site servers and a warehouse.
Security and compliance requirements. Clinics, financial firms and anyone filling in a cyber-insurance form need more security tooling and documentation.
How much onsite help you need. A shop floor or a clinic front desk needs more hands-on support than a team that works on laptops.
The state of what you have. Old equipment and undocumented setups take more work, which shows up in onboarding cost or a higher monthly rate.
Hours of coverage. Extended or 24/7 support for production systems costs more than business-hours support.
Compare like with like. Line up what each quote includes before comparing the price.
One-Time Costs to Budget For
Beyond the monthly fee, plan for a few one-time items when you start:
Onboarding: typically about one month’s fee. It covers documenting your systems, installing monitoring and security tools, securing admin accounts and fixing anything urgent the assessment found.
Catch-up hardware: computers too old for Windows 11 (Microsoft ended regular Windows 10 support on October 14, 2025), out-of-support firewalls or consumer-grade Wi-Fi.
Projects: moving email, replacing a server, re-cabling or an office move. These should be quoted separately, with a fixed price where possible.
A good provider tells you which of these are urgent and which can wait, so you can spread the cost.
Managed IT vs In-House vs Break-Fix
Managed IT isn’t the only way to run IT, so it helps to put the numbers side by side.
In-house: a full-time IT generalist in Metro Vancouver costs roughly $75,000–$100,000 a year once salary and benefits are included, before tools and training. You get one person’s skills, and no cover when they are sick, on holiday or leave.
Break-fix: paying a technician by the hour, typically $125–$175 an hour in the Lower Mainland, looks cheaper until something serious goes wrong. Nobody is paid to prevent problems, so you pay most when you can least afford it.
Managed IT: a 20-person office at about $168 per user pays around $40,320 a year, for a whole team with monitoring, security and documentation included. For most businesses between 5 and 150 staff, that is the most coverage per dollar.
Break-fix
In-house IT
Managed IT
Cost pattern
Hourly, typically $125–$175/hr. Unpredictable
$75k–$100k a year per person
Fixed per user, per month
When problems get fixed
When someone is free
When your person is in, not sick or on holiday
Response targets in writing, team cover
Prevention
None. Reactive only
Depends on the person
Monitoring and patching 24/7
Security
Ad hoc
Often stretched thin
MFA, EDR, filtering, training built in
Documentation
Rarely
Often in one person’s head
Maintained, and yours to keep
Best for
A handful of devices, low risk
Large teams with complex in-house systems
Businesses with 5 to 150 staff
How to Compare Managed IT Quotes
When you have two or three proposals in front of you, ask the same questions of each:
Per user or per device? And what counts as a user: is a shared shop-floor PC extra?
What does “unlimited” mean? Remote only, or onsite too? Business hours only?
Is security included, or is MFA, EDR, email filtering and training a separate line?
Is backup included, including Microsoft 365, and are restores tested?
What are the response targets, in writing, by priority?
What does project work cost, and is it quoted as a fixed price?
What is the term and notice period? Look for automatic renewals.
What happens when you leave? Documentation, passwords and admin access should be handed over without a fight.
If a quote is much cheaper than the rest, the difference is almost always in one of these answers. Call 604-359-5284 if you’d like a second opinion on a proposal.
// FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
How much do managed IT services cost per user in Canada?
In 2026, most Canadian providers charge roughly $100 to $250 per user per month for fully managed IT. In Surrey, typical ranges run from $95 for a basic remote plan to $250 for fully managed IT with compliance support.
Is managed IT cheaper than hiring an IT person?
For most businesses under about 150 staff, yes. One in-house generalist costs $75,000–$100,000 a year in Metro Vancouver, while a 20-person office on a mid-level managed plan pays about $33,600–$46,800 a year for a whole team.
Why do some providers charge so much less?
Usually because less is included. Low quotes often leave out security tools, Microsoft 365 backup, onsite visits or after-hours support, which then appear as extra charges.
Do we pay for Microsoft 365 on top?
Yes. Microsoft 365 licences are billed at Microsoft’s price on top of the managed IT fee. A provider should help you choose the right plan for each person so you don’t overpay.
