Everybody asks us the same question: "Can I get custom t-shirts for under $10 each in Canada?" The honest answer is: sometimes yes, usually no — and we'll tell you exactly why.
What a custom t-shirt actually costs to make
A decent cotton tee blank (Gildan 64000 or Bella+Canvas 3001) costs Canadian print shops between $4.50 and $8 wholesale. Then add:
- Decoration (screen print or DTG): $3–$6/shirt for 1 colour, more for multi-colour
- Setup fees (screen print): $25–$40 per screen (amortized across quantity)
- Shipping: $1.50–$3/shirt in Canada
- Margin: 35–55% for the print shop
Minimum realistic landed cost per shirt in Canada: $10–$13 for 24+ qty, $15–$22 for single-unit POD.
Three ways to actually hit $10/shirt
1. Bulk screen print (24+ qty)
At 24+ units of the same design, screen printing drops to $8–$11 per shirt for a 1-colour design on a mid-range blank. Setup fees spread across more shirts. This is how charities, sports teams, and camps hit the low price point. Use suppliers like T-shirt.ca (Etobicoke) paired with a local screen printer.
2. Loss-leader entry SKU
Some stores offer a basic Canadian-made tee with a small discreet branded neck tag at $9.99 as a lead-generation play. Don't expect premium decoration — it's either plain or tiny-print branding.
3. Design-only package
If you already have a decorator in your town, you can get just the design done for $10–$25 at services like our AI Design Assistant, then bring that print-ready file to your local screen printer.
Canadian t-shirt supplier landscape
- Printful Canada (Toronto) — DTG, no-minimum, ~$18–$28/shirt. Best for e-commerce POD.
- Printbest (Markham, by SinaLite) — similar pricing, Canadian fulfillment, blind shipping.
- T-shirt.ca — Blank wholesale, pair with your own screen printer.
- SanMar Canada — Premium blanks (Port Authority, Nike, OGIO).
- S&S Activewear Canada — Mid/premium blanks, fast CA shipping.
- Trimark Sportswear (Woodbridge, ON) — Canadian-owned, in-house decoration.
The right path for you
- Need 1–5 shirts? Use POD (Printful/Printbest) — yes you'll pay $20–$28 but zero min, fast ship.
- Need 24–99? Screen print local — this is where you hit $10–$13 landed.
- Need 100+? Screen print local at premium quality, $8–$11 landed.
Start your order
Browse our apparel collection or use the AI Design Assistant to design it first, then decide how to produce it.