When I Work is a general-purpose scheduling app used by retail, hospitality and healthcare teams across North America. It is priced per user, which suits small teams, and it has a strong mobile app. Its payroll product, like most US tools, does not cover Canada. This comparison looks at what that means for a Canadian café or shop.
Bottom line up front: When I Work is a capable scheduler with a good mobile experience. ShiftMaster is cheaper for any team above a couple of people, includes AI scheduling in the base price, and produces Canadian payroll numbers that When I Work cannot.
Side-by-side feature comparison
| Feature | 🍁 ShiftMaster | When I Work |
|---|---|---|
| Free option | ✅ 30-day free trial, no card | ⚡ Free trial; no permanent free plan |
| Paid pricing | ✅ $5 CAD/month flat, every feature, any team size | ⚡ Per user per month in USD; a 15-person team lands around $40–$120 USD/month depending on tier |
| Built in Canada 🍁 | ✅ Canadian company, Canadian pricing | ❌ US-based; serves Canada |
| Canadian payroll deductions | ✅ Built in: CPP/QPP, EI, QPIP, federal + provincial tax | ❌ When I Work Payroll is US-only |
| Every province and territory | ✅ All 10 provinces and 3 territories, 2026 CRA and Revenu Québec tables | ❌ Not applicable |
| AI auto-scheduling | ✅ Included: trained on your own past schedules | ⚡ Auto-scheduling on higher tiers |
| Employee availability | ✅ Yes, with conflict warnings when you book | ✅ Yes |
| Shift swaps | ✅ Yes, coworker accepts, manager approves | ✅ Yes, swap and drop with approval |
| Publish and notify | ✅ One click, each person emailed their own shifts | ✅ Yes, with push notifications |
| Labour cost tracking | ✅ Live projected labour vs weekly budget | ✅ Yes, with overtime alerts |
| Mobile for staff | ⚡ Browser portal on any phone, nothing to install | ✅ Native iOS and Android apps |
| Time clock / punch-in | ❌ Not yet | ⚡ Add-on tier |
| Team messaging | ❌ Not yet (email notifications only) | ✅ Yes, team messaging |
| POS integrations | ❌ None | ⚡ Payroll and HR integrations rather than POS |
| Setup time | ✅ Under 10 minutes | ⚡ 20–30 minutes |
| Team size sweet spot | ✅ Built for 5–30 staff | ✅ Small to mid-size teams |
When I Work details are from its public website and pricing page as of September 2026, converted loosely to give a sense of scale; plans and prices change, so confirm on their site. ShiftMaster's column describes the current product.
Best for Canadian small businesses: ShiftMaster
Every shift becomes a payroll line with CPP or QPP, EI, QPIP where it applies, and federal and provincial income tax for all 13 jurisdictions, at $5 CAD a month. When I Work needs a separate payroll tool to get the same numbers.
Where When I Work still has an edge
To be fair, When I Work has things ShiftMaster does not have yet:
- Mobile app — one of the better staff apps, with push notifications and shift trading
- Time clock — available as an add-on, with GPS clock-in
- Integrations — exports to ADP, Gusto, QuickBooks and other US payroll and HR tools
- Scale — works for hundreds of staff across many sites
Choose When I Work if you need a native app with push notifications, a GPS time clock, or exports into a US payroll provider.
The Canadian payroll difference
Per-user pricing also grows with your team: every seasonal hire adds to the bill. ShiftMaster is a flat $5 CAD however many people you schedule.
With When I Work in Canada the monthly routine still looks like this:
- Export hours from When I Work
- Import them into a Canadian payroll service (typically $40–$150 CAD a month) or a spreadsheet
- Reconcile the two sets of numbers
- Work out CPP or QPP, EI, QPIP and income tax for each person
- Remit to the CRA (and Revenu Québec) separately
ShiftMaster does steps 1 to 4 inside the schedule. Open a pay period, expand an employee, and the gross, deductions, net pay and employer cost are there. You can check the math against our free Canadian payroll deductions calculator, which runs on the same engine.
Try ShiftMaster free for 30 days
No credit card. Drag-and-drop scheduling, an AI that drafts next week from your own history, staff shift swaps, and Canadian payroll for every province.
Start Free Today →Verdict
Choose ShiftMaster if: you are a Canadian café, restaurant or retail shop with 5 to 30 staff, you want the schedule and the payroll numbers in one place, and you want to be set up in an afternoon.
Choose When I Work if: you need a native app with push notifications, a GPS time clock, or exports into a US payroll provider.