There's a debit card system in Canada called Interac that should be free, but depending on the bank and account type, the bank will give you a very limited number of transactions per month (like 10 or 20). After that, every time you use your card you get charged a significant fee.
Canadians get ridiculously nickel-and-dimed by banks, telecoms, retail, etc, compared to most other countries, which is part of why our cost of living is ridiculously high.
This is weird. I've never been charged a fee for using Interac. Sure, there are accounts for which you are discouraged from transacting daily, but this is true in the United States as well, in my experience. No one is being forced to use an inappropriate account type as a daily driver. Most accounts have a minimum balance requirement, which is usually pretty low, to avoid any fees. ATM fees on the other hand are a different story.
In other words, it's trivial to maintain an account and use Interac for... everything. I know of many folks who do not even have, and have never had, a credit card.
This is mostly a problem that affects poorer people, I suspect. I know people living paycheck-to-paycheck, who can't leave thousands of dollars lying around in their checking account, who are hesitant to use Interac because of the fees. Also, most people don't go to the trouble to shop around banks looking for a better deal.
I looked and you're right, and I was wrong. It looks like most accounts have huge minimums and limited transactions. The student and senior accounts are the only real winners.
Canadians get ridiculously nickel-and-dimed by banks, telecoms, retail, etc, compared to most other countries, which is part of why our cost of living is ridiculously high.