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Google Ads calculator for what to spend and what you get back

Enter your monthly budget or the customers you want. See the clicks, inquiries and customers it brings, what each one costs you and the highest CPC that still pays, in Canadian dollars.

Google Ads calculator

What do you want to work out?

Fills in cost per click and conversion rate with the industry benchmark.

What you pay Google, not including management.

Starting point: what 30 leads a month cost in your industry. Change it to your budget.

Leads: 30Cost per lead: CA$93.03

What you pay on average each time someone clicks your ad.

All industries benchmark: CA$7.61. U.S. data (LocaliQ 2026) converted to Canadian dollars at the ECB rate of October 21, 2026. Adjust it to your own.

Out of 100 clicks, how many call, text or fill out your form.

All industries benchmark: 8.18%.

If you close 3 out of 10 leads, enter 30.

One sale or job, before tax.

Fine-tune profitability (optional)

What a customer is worth in total if they come back. Replaces the average sale in ROI.

What you keep from each sale after the cost of the product or service.

Agency or in-house. Added to cost per customer.

What you get each month

Clicks
369
Leads
30
Cost per lead
CA$93.03
Minimum to know if it works
CA$2,791
  • Google recommends judging a campaign on at least 30 conversions in 30 days. At your cost per lead, that's CA$2,791 a month.
  • Enter the share of leads that become customers to see customers, cost per customer and break-even CPC.

If your website converted better

Same budget, different website conversion rate. Improving the page the click lands on usually costs less than buying more clicks.

050100154.09%6.13%308.18%Today10.23%12.27%6016.36%
Leads per month
Website conversion rateLeads per month
4.09%15
6.13%23
8.18%30
10.23%38
12.27%45
16.36%60

This is an estimate based on your numbers and public benchmarks, not a promise: cost per click changes with competition, location and season.

Do the numbers work for you?

In the free audit we check them against real searches in your area and tell you whether to start with ads, your website or both.

Get my free audit with these numbers

A Google Ads budget works like this: divide your spend by the cost per click and multiply by your conversion rate to get inquiries. Add how many of those you close and your average sale, and you get customers, revenue, ROI and the highest CPC you can pay without losing money.

How to use the Google Ads calculator, step by step

Start with your industry's benchmark and swap in your own numbers as soon as you have them.
  1. Pick your industry

    It fills in cost per click and conversion rate with a sourced benchmark. If you already run ads, use the numbers from your account.

  2. Choose a mode

    “I have a budget” shows what it buys. “I want customers” shows what you'd need to spend each month to get there.

  3. Add your sales numbers

    Out of 10 leads, how many buy? What does a customer pay on average? Without these there are no customers, revenue or ROI.

  4. Check the break-even CPC and the chart

    If your CPC is above break-even, every click loses money. The chart shows what happens if your website converts better.

    Share the link: it keeps your numbers.

Google Ads benchmarks by industry

Search advertising averages from LocaliQ 2026, based on U.S. campaigns. The cost per lead in the table is LocaliQ's own average; the calculator recomputes it from cost per click and conversion rate, so it can differ by a few cents.
IndustryCost per clickCTRConversion rateCost per lead
All industriesCA$7.616.64%8.18%CA$93.67
Animals and petsCA$5.707.49%16.22%CA$44.24
Apparel, fashion and jewelleryCA$6.246.64%4.50%CA$136.96
Arts and entertainmentCA$2.2912.75%5.91%CA$37.70
Auto repair, service and partsCA$6.115.56%15.51%CA$42.08
Beauty and personal careCA$6.496.75%10.35%CA$55.13
Business servicesCA$8.246.10%4.85%CA$131.59
Car dealersCA$3.198.28%6.01%CA$62.17
Careers and employmentCA$8.165.88%3.05%CA$94.61
Dentists and dental servicesCA$11.245.66%10.67%CA$102.49
Education and instructionCA$6.767.56%13.14%CA$108.83
Finance and insuranceCA$4.769.83%2.64%CA$104.56
FurnitureCA$5.586.57%2.99%CA$149.87
Health and fitnessCA$8.675.81%6.94%CA$94.61
Industrial and commercialCA$8.246.57%8.20%CA$105.61
Lawyers and legal servicesCA$13.865.87%5.55%CA$184.88
Personal servicesCA$10.077.16%12.34%CA$76.69
Physicians and surgeonsCA$6.696.61%12.43%CA$56.24
Real estateCA$4.527.61%3.70%CA$143.98
Renovations and home servicesCA$11.706.47%8.05%CA$127.70
Restaurants and foodCA$2.886.83%8.05%CA$42.94
Shopping, collectibles and giftsCA$5.818.28%4.01%CA$69.39
Sports and recreationCA$3.898.75%7.69%CA$62.17
TravelCA$3.019.32%5.83%CA$62.78

Amounts in Canadian dollars at the ECB rate of October 21, 2026 (published in U.S. dollars). Use them as a starting point. LocaliQ, Search Advertising Benchmarks for Every Industry (2026)

Download the table (CSV)

How the numbers are calculated

Every formula is on the page. What we can't know about your business, you fill in.
Clicks per month
budget ÷ cost per click
Leads
clicks × website conversion rate
Customers
leads × close rate
Cost per lead
budget ÷ leads
Cost per customer
(budget + management fee) ÷ customers
ROAS
revenue ÷ budget
ROI
(customer value − budget − fee) ÷ (budget + fee)
Break-even CPC
customer value × margin × conversion × close rate ÷ (1 + fee ÷ budget)
Minimum to know if it works
30 leads × cost per lead
“I want customers” mode
customers ÷ close rate ÷ conversion × cost per click
  • Customer value is lifetime value if you enter it; otherwise, the average sale. Without a margin, profitability is calculated on revenue.
  • The 30 comes from Google Ads Help, which recommends judging a campaign on at least 30 conversions over the last 30 days.
  • Industry benchmarks come from LocaliQ's 2026 search advertising study, based on U.S. campaigns. Amounts are converted to Canadian dollars at the European Central Bank rate of October 21, 2026. Costs per click here can be different: if you have your own numbers, use them.

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How to cite this calculator

If you use its data or results in an article, a report or a class, cite it like this:
Scalia (2026). Google Ads calculator. Retrieved October 22, 2026, from https://scalia.agency/en-ca/tools/google-ads-calculator

Questions about Google Ads budgets in Canada

Are the cost-per-click benchmarks Canadian?

No. The industry figures come from LocaliQ's 2026 study of U.S. campaigns, converted to Canadian dollars at the ECB rate, because there's no comparable public Canadian study. Treat them as a starting point; the costs in your own Google Ads account, or in Keyword Planner set to Canada or your province, come first.

How much should a small business in Canada spend on Google Ads per month?

Enough to buy the inquiries you need at what a click costs in your trade and city. A useful floor: what 30 inquiries a month would cost, since Google recommends judging a campaign on at least 30 conversions in 30 days. The calculator works that out from your industry's benchmark.

Does Google set a minimum Google Ads budget in Canada?

No, so you can start small. The risk of going too low is getting so few inquiries that you can't tell whether the campaign works, which is why the calculator shows the minimum to find out next to your results.

What is a break-even CPC?

The most you can pay for a click without losing money, worked out from what a customer is worth, your margin, your conversion rate and how many inquiries you win. Below it every click pays; above it, the more you spend, the more you lose.

What ROAS does my business need to be profitable?

One that covers your costs. On a 40% margin you need a ROAS of at least 2.5 to break even (1 ÷ 0.4), which is why the calculator asks for your margin: a high ROAS on a thin margin can still lose money.

What's a typical Google Ads conversion rate?

In LocaliQ's 2026 benchmarks (U.S. campaigns) the average across industries is 8.18% of clicks becoming an inquiry, from 2.64% to 16.22% by industry. The page the click lands on moves it more than anything else.

Should I include the agency fee in the calculation?

Yes. Enter it in the “Management fee per month” field. It's added to the cost per customer, the ROI and the break-even CPC, because it's money you spend even though it isn't a click.

Want these numbers for your own city? We'll review your account for free.

In the free audit we look at what people search for near you, what each click costs, your Google Ads account if you have one and whether your site turns clicks into inquiries.

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