Currency

Americans have had to deal with multiple Amazon Prime rate hikes over the years, but not Canadians — these northern neighbors have paid the same $8 CAD per month or $79 CAD per year since Prime became available there in 2013. The good times are coming to an end, however. MobileSyrup has learned Amazon Canada is raising Prime rates to $10 CAD per month and $99 CAD per year. That’s still a relative bargain when Americans pay $15 per month or $139 per year, but Canadians won’t get to (politely) gloat as much as they did before.

Current Prime users will see the increase take effect with their next renewal after May 13th. New customers will already have to pay the higher rates. Prime Students members will also have to pay $5 CAD per month instead of the previous $4.

The explanation is a familiar one. In a statement, Amazon said it “continues to invest heavily in Prime” between the fast shipping, a larger Prime Video catalog and perks like Music and Prime Gaming. It costs a lot to offer the Lord of the Rings series and other content, in other words. Whether or not you agree with Amazon, it’s almost surprising the company hadn’t raised prices earlier given its aggressive spending on movies and TV shows.