The Average Canadian Has $720/Year in Forgotten Subscriptions

A 2025 survey by the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada found that the average Canadian household has 12 active subscriptions — and doesn't realize they're paying for at least 3 of them. At an average of $20/month per forgotten subscription, that's $720 wasted every year.

The Most Common Forgotten Subscriptions

These are the charges that show up every month without most Canadians noticing:

• Free trials that auto-renewed: Apple TV+, Paramount+, Crave, Amazon Prime, YouTube Premium
• Gym memberships: GoodLife Fitness, Orangetheory, F45 ($40-80/month)
• App subscriptions: iCloud storage, Dropbox, Calm, Headspace, dating apps
• Software: Adobe Creative Cloud, Microsoft 365, antivirus subscriptions
• Music/streaming overlap: Paying for both Spotify and Apple Music, or Crave and Netflix
• Insurance add-ons: Phone insurance, extended warranties, credit card protection

Why It's So Hard to Track

Subscription companies are experts at being invisible. They use merchant names that don't match the product (“AMZN Digital” for Prime, “APPLE.COM/BILL” for any Apple subscription), bill on different dates, and make cancellation confusing on purpose.

If you're checking your bank statement manually, you'll miss things. Strange merchant names, small amounts, and annual charges that only hit once a year all slip through.

How to Find Every Hidden Subscription

Option 1: The Manual Way

1. Download 90 days of bank and credit card statements
2. Search for recurring charges (same merchant, same amount, monthly or annual)
3. Check your email for subscription confirmation emails
4. Check app store subscriptions (iPhone: Settings → Apple ID → Subscriptions; Android: Play Store → Payments → Subscriptions)
5. Make a list of everything and decide what to keep

This works, but it takes 2-3 hours and you'll still probably miss a few.

Option 2: The Automatic Way

SubSight connects to your Canadian bank account (read-only through Plaid) and automatically scans 90 days of transactions using AI. It identifies every recurring charge — including the ones hiding under weird merchant names — and shows them all in one dashboard.

From there, you can cancel unwanted subscriptions with one click. SubSight generates a cancellation email and sends it directly to the merchant. The whole process takes about 2 minutes.

The Subscriptions Most Canadians Should Cancel

Based on SubSight's data from Canadian users, here are the most commonly cancelled subscriptions:

1. Duplicate streaming services — Do you really need Netflix AND Crave AND Disney+? Pick 2 and rotate the third.
2. Gym memberships you don't use — If you haven't gone in 30 days, cancel. You can always re-sign up.
3. Cloud storage you don't need — Paying for both iCloud and Google Drive? Pick one.
4. Premium app versions — The free tier of Spotify, Canva, and LinkedIn is enough for most people.
5. Extended warranties and insurance — Phone insurance, credit card protection plans, and extended warranties are rarely worth the cost.

How Much Can You Save?

Most Canadians who audit their subscriptions save between $40 and $120 per month. That's up to $1,440 per year — enough to fund a TFSA contribution or a weekend trip.

The first step is knowing what you're paying for. After that, the cancellations are easy.