The RushDTF Team · Updated 2026-09-06 · 10 min read
You don't need a print shop to start a t-shirt brand in Canada anymore. Here's what it actually costs, where to buy blanks, and how to price your first run.
The biggest barrier to starting a t-shirt business in Canada used to be equipment: a heat press, a printer, screens, ink, a space to run it all, and thousands of dollars before you'd sold a single shirt. DTF transfers remove that barrier almost entirely. You can start with a heat press you buy for a few hundred dollars, a stack of blanks, and a folder of designs — no printer, no minimum order, no inventory of pre-printed shirts.
DTF lets you order exactly as many transfers as you need, in as many designs as you want, with no setup fees. That means you can test five designs with five shirts each instead of committing to 50 of one design and hoping it sells. It also means you can add a hoodie, a hat and a tote bag to the same product line without buying different equipment for each — the same transfer technique works across all of them.
These are honest, workable numbers for someone starting from zero, not the inflated "$10,000 to launch a brand" figures you'll see elsewhere.
| Item | Budget option | Better option |
|---|---|---|
| Heat press (15"×15" swing-away) | $180–$250 | $350–$500 |
| First batch of blank shirts (25 pcs) | $150–$200 | $250–$325 |
| DTF transfers (25 sheets, mixed designs) | $8.25/sheet ≈ $206 | $7.65/sheet at 25+ ≈ $191 |
| Basic packaging (bags, thank-you cards) | $25–$40 | $60–$90 |
| Simple online store (Shopify or similar, monthly) | $29–$39/mo | $79–$105/mo |
| Business registration (sole proprietorship, most provinces) | $60–$80 | $60–$80 |
| Rough total to launch | $650–$800 | $950–$1,200 |
Plenty of Canadian sellers start on Instagram, Facebook Marketplace or a local market table with a payment link and zero monthly software cost. Add the online store once you know your designs actually sell.
You have three realistic paths for garment blanks: a Canadian wholesale apparel distributor, a big-box import supplier with a Canadian warehouse, or your local screen print supply shop's blank counter. Buying from a Canadian-warehoused supplier avoids duty, brokerage fees and the multi-week shipping delays that come with ordering blanks from the US or overseas — the same logic that applies to sourcing your DTF transfers domestically applies here too.
Check our guide to blank apparel if you want a fuller rundown of what to stock and how to size your first order.
This is the part that actually replaces a print shop's whole production floor. Instead of managing separate print runs per design, you build one gang sheet per batch of transfers you need:
Upload your first five designs, arrange them on a 22-inch sheet, and see your real cost per shirt before you order a single blank.
Here's a realistic breakdown for a single front-print design on a basic cotton tee, ordering in a modest 25-sheet batch:
| Cost item | Amount (CAD) |
|---|---|
| Blank cotton tee | $6.50 |
| DTF transfer (11"×11" full front, at $7.65/sheet, 2 per sheet) | $3.83 |
| Press labour (~1 min incl. handling, at $20/hr) | $0.33 |
| Packaging (bag + card) | $0.60 |
| Total landed cost per shirt | $11.26 |
| Retail price at 2.5x markup | $28.15 → round to $28 |
| Retail price at 3x markup | $33.78 → round to $34 |
At $28 a shirt, that's roughly $16.74 of gross margin per sale before you account for platform fees, payment processing and your own time on marketing and fulfillment. Most Canadian sellers land somewhere between 2.5x and 3x on small-batch runs and tighten toward 2x once volume brings the per-sheet price down at 50+ sheets.
If you're shipping to customers rather than selling in person, build in your own postage cost and typical 2.9%+ payment processing fee before you land on a final retail price — a lot of new sellers price to their landed cost and then lose margin to fees they forgot to count.
Because your transfers ship from Regina in 1–2 business days, most of Western Canada sees a 1–2 business day transit on top of that, and Ontario/Quebec typically 3–4 business days. That means you can realistically take a custom order on a Monday, receive transfers by midweek, press and ship by Thursday or Friday — without ever holding pre-printed inventory.
Browse cotton tees, hoodies and hats sized for DTF before you place your first blank order.
Realistically $650–$1,200 CAD covers a heat press, a first batch of blanks, a first order of DTF transfers, basic packaging and business registration. You can trim that further by starting with a used press and selling through free social channels before paying for a storefront.
For a small side hustle, many provinces allow you to operate as a sole proprietor under your own legal name without formal registration, though registering a business name is inexpensive (typically $60–$80) and makes opening a business bank account and invoicing easier. Check your specific province's requirements as they vary.
Look for a wholesale apparel distributor with Canadian warehousing so you avoid duty and brokerage fees on every order. Local screen print supply shops also sell blanks at the counter and are a good low-commitment way to buy your first small batch.
Add up your landed cost per shirt — blank, transfer, press labour and packaging — then apply a 2.5x to 3x markup on small runs, tightening toward 2x as your per-sheet transfer cost drops at higher order volumes. Don't forget to factor in shipping and payment processing fees separately.
Some sellers start by ordering transfers and pressing at a friend's shop, a local makerspace, or a community print co-op, but owning even a basic $180–$250 swing-away press pays for itself within your first couple dozen shirts and gives you far more control over your turnaround.
Order a small gang sheet with 2–4 transfers of the design, press it on 2–4 shirts, and post it for sale before committing to a bigger blank order. DTF's no-minimum ordering is built for exactly this kind of small test.
Orders ship from our Regina facility in 1–2 business days, with most of Western Canada seeing 1–2 business day transit after that and Ontario/Quebec typically 3–4 business days. Free shipping applies over $149.