How to Get Coupons in Canada – My Favourite Sources
Today I’m going to show you exactly how you can get coupons in Canada.
For some reason, people seem to think that it’s impossible to get great, high-value coupons in Canada, but I am here to tell you that it is not hard at all. There are coupons everywhere – if you know where to look.
Canadian coupons – what are they?
A coupon is a certificate, voucher or ticket that entitles a consumer to a discount or rebate when purchasing a product (or multiple products). Coupons are often issued by manufacturers of consumer products or by retailers, to be used as a sales promotion for their products or services.
Coupons are distributed in many ways: in the mail, online, local newspapers, magazines, mobile devices and directly from the retailer or manufacturer.
Some stores will issue coupons to consumers who spend a lot of money at their store. They will give these coupons to customers to show appreciation for their loyalty.
Coupons can be used in many places such as grocery stores, clothing stores, and restaurants, in exchange for their goods and services or for a part of the cost. Coupons are very useful, and enable you to save a substantial amount of money on your purchases, and at the same time promoting a brand or product.
You can find coupons in stores (tear pad coupons), online (printable coupons), in newspapers (coupon inserts), directly from the manufacturer, in magazines, and even from your cell phone.
Fun Coupon Fact: The first coupon ever released was a coupon for a free glass of Coca-Cola, in 1888.
These are my favourite places that you can find coupons in Canada:
Tear Pad Coupons
Now, since Extreme Couponing aired a few years ago, it has become increasingly more difficult to find tear pad coupons in stores – but I promise you, they are still out there. Do your best to try and get to the stores at least once a week so that you can look around for coupons on tear pads.
Tear pad coupons are those coupons that you find in front of products at the store, usually on a plastic or cardboard backing.
Please only take about 3-10 coupons that you are going to use. Do not take coupons if you’re not going to use them, unless you’re going to take 1 or 2 for coupon trading or coupon trains – that’s fine.
Also, do not take entire tear pads of coupons – that is poor coupon etiquette, and not nice – so don’t do that.
Coupon Websites
Here are 4 of the best coupon websites in Canada:
- Save.ca
- Websaver.ca
- Brandsaver.ca
- GoCoupons.ca
All 4 of these websites will actually mail coupons to your house for FREE. That’s right, you can go on their website, pick the coupons that you want, and they will mail them to your house for free. Awesome, right? I know. It’s my favourite.
You can only order a certain amount of coupons at a time – there are different rules for each site (read the rules/details right here).
Printable Coupons
Let’s not forget about the good ol’ printed coupon. Just like tear pad coupons, these are becoming a bit more difficult to come across (high-value printable coupons, anyway), and that is because of counterfeit coupons.
Unfortunately there are some bad people out there making counterfeit coupons, and they’re ruining it for the rest of us. However, there are still good printable coupons out there. Check out our coupon database and you will find hundreds of different printable coupons that you can use in Canada.
You can also check out the websites of your favourite manufacturers, and you will often find printable coupons on those, as well.
Coupon Inserts
Unlike over in the US, we do not get coupon inserts every Sunday in our papers. We get coupon inserts every 2-3 weeks. The coupon inserts that we receive every 2-3 weeks are SmartSource and Redplum. You can also find a Brandsaver coupon insert every few months, as well.
Where do you get these coupon inserts if you don’t get the newspaper delivered to you (read here for more information)? That’s a whole other story, really, but if you are not getting them in your paper and you get the paper delivered to you, contact your local newspaper.
Unfortunately, it may be possible that your newspaper carrier is taking them, or your neighbours are taking them… they will do some research for you and find out where these coupons are going, because if you’re getting the paper, you should be receiving your coupons.
Grocery Coupons
There are two different types of grocery coupons: manufacturer coupons and store specific coupons. Manufacturer coupons are the most popular and can be used at any store that accepts coupons. Store specific coupons can only be used at one store (for example, all Loblaws banner stores offer grocery coupons that can only be used at their stores).
Coupon Codes
Another type of coupon is a coupon code. Coupon codes are for use online and save you a set amount of money, a percentage, or they offer you a free product or free shipping. Coupon codes are a great way to save money when shopping online.
Taxes on Coupons
People often ask: Do I have to pay taxes on coupons? The answer is both yes and no. If you have a coupon that entitles you to a product for free, depending on the coupon policy for the store you are shopping at, you do not have to pay taxes on the free item (Walmart is one store that does not charge tax on free items). You will, however, be charged taxes on all cents/dollar off coupons.
So, those are my favourite places to get coupons in Canada. There are bunch of other ways that you can find coupons – there are coupons all over the place, but this is a start.
I hope that if you have not started to use coupons in Canada yet, that you will, because it is so much fun – you save so much money and can get a nice big stockpile of groceries (that you can get for free or very close to it).
Comments
My son is a paper delivery boy. The paper in our town is free, and is to go to every house unless the occupant has requested we don’t deliver to their home. They always give us extras which we are told to recycle if they are left over. As well sometimes we come to a house that is vacant, and we are not to deliver to vacant homes. Of course the inserts come home with us before we recycle the remaining papers. 😉
I know someone who maintains an apartment building. She asked tenants to leave their inserts (after they took the ones they wanted) in a bin and she had tons! She even passed some on to me! 🙂
Two other sources for coupons I’ve found: on the packages of products there are often coupons printed on the back. Examples: taco kits will have coupons for refried beans, cheese, salad. Cereal boxes often have coupons for various items. Always check the package!
The other place I’ve found coupons is in free sample packages sent by manufacturers, or in their self-promo “magazine/flyers.” Example: Kraft’s What’s Cooking magazine sometimes contains coupons for new products they are introducing. Health and beauty product samples mailed to me often contain coupons for the product being sampled.