Canada
Koha Hosting, Support and Migration for Libraries in Canada
For school boards, public libraries, colleges and universities: Koha in English and French, notices in each patron’s own language, and a straight answer on where your data is kept before you sign anything.
What we hear
The problems libraries here bring us
“Half our patrons want the catalogue and their notices in French, and our system only does it on screen.”
“Our board needs to know where patron data is stored before we can sign anything.”
“Saskatchewan does not change its clocks, and every spring our notices go out an hour off.”
“Our Koha was set up years ago, and nobody has upgraded it or tested a restore since.”
How we set it up
Configured for where your library is
Whether we install a new Koha, migrate you onto one, host it, or support the Koha you already run.
English and French, all the way through
Koha has a Canadian French translation for staff and patron screens, and with notice translation on, each patron gets overdue, hold and renewal notices in their own language. French (RVM) and English subject headings sit in the same records with their source codes, and an Inuktitut translation is there for northern libraries.
Every Canadian zone, including the odd ones
Newfoundland is UTC−3:30, Saskatchewan keeps the same time all year, and Yukon has stayed on UTC−7 since 2020. Each library and branch gets its named zone, so due dates and overnight notices stay right on both sides of a clock change.
Where your data lives, said plainly
Some provinces expect public bodies to keep personal information in Canada. Tell us your rules first and we say plainly whether hosted Koha Cloud fits them. If it does not, we install and support Koha on a server in Canada that you choose.
Across the country
Configured for your province or territory
| Province or territory | Time zone | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Newfoundland and Labrador | America/St_Johns (UTC−3:30) | Half-hour offset, with daylight saving |
| Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, PEI | America/Halifax, America/Moncton (UTC−4) | English and French in New Brunswick |
| Quebec | America/Toronto (UTC−5) | French first, English alongside |
| Ontario | America/Toronto (UTC−5) | English, with French where you serve it |
| Manitoba | America/Winnipeg (UTC−6) | Daylight saving |
| Saskatchewan | America/Regina (UTC−6) | No clock change |
| Alberta, Northwest Territories | America/Edmonton (UTC−7) | Daylight saving |
| British Columbia | America/Vancouver (UTC−8) | Daylight saving |
| Yukon | America/Whitehorse (UTC−7) | Same time all year since 2020 |
| Nunavut | America/Iqaluit and two more zones | Inuktitut interface available |
Translation completeness varies by language; we check French, and any other you need, on the screens your staff use before go-live. Sessions are scheduled in your time zone.
Included
What we look after
English and French
Both interfaces for staff and patrons, switched with one click.
Notices in their language
Each patron’s overdue, hold and renewal notices in English or French.
Data residency first
Your province’s rules checked before you sign, not after.
Every Canadian zone
Newfoundland’s half hour, Saskatchewan and Yukon with no clock change.
SIP2 self-check and RFID
The equipment you already own, connected and tested before go-live.
Canadian dollars
Fines, fees and acquisitions in CAD.
More in Koha Cloud, not in standard Koha
Tamper-evident records
Every book’s movements and every fine, payment and waiver in an append-only history. Any change is detected and flagged.
Audit-ready recordsGate register and footfall
Members and walk-ins check in and out; time spent, peak hours and daily trends are reported.
Visitor managementMembership plans
As many paid plans as you sell, with freezes, grace days, study-only passes and renewals.
Membership plansPartner-library loans
Lend to and borrow collections from libraries outside the system, with agreements, deposits and due dates tracked.
How partner loans are trackedAI built into Koha Cloud
Advanced library automation, with an AI assistant for your staff and readers
Koha Cloud is more than hosting. On any plan, your library can add an AI assistant inside the librarian panel that catalogues, audits and reports alongside your staff. Write to it in English or French, and it answers in the same language. It proposes; a librarian approves every change.
Copy cataloguing from every source
Give it an ISBN or a title. It searches your own Z39.50 and SRU servers in the order you rank them, then Google Books and Open Library, and brings back the 10 best matches, each labelled with its source. You pick one; the record is drafted for you to confirm.
DDC numbers and author marks
Suggests a Dewey number and a Cutter-style author mark worked out from cataloguing rules and your library’s own convention, for one book or every record missing one. A librarian approves each change.
Catalogue health score
40 checks rolled into one score out of 100: missing marks, invalid ISBNs, likely duplicates, records with no copies. It ranks the worst problems first, tracks the score over time, and fixes them in reviewed batches.
Stock audits and registers
Accession register, stocktake summary, missing items, item history, holdings as of any date and reconciliation, asked for in a sentence instead of built as a report.
Reports on request
Most-borrowed titles, dormant stock, overdues, fines, branch comparisons: 28 ready reports, asked as a question and saved for next time.
Patrons search in plain words
On your public catalogue a reader can type “books on climate change in Urdu published after 2015” or “Agatha Christie novels on the shelf right now”, and the AI turns it into a catalogue search with the right filters.
The same assistant also runs the circulation desk, acquisitions, patron registration, labels and your library's public website by chat, within each staff member's own permissions.
Koha Cloud pricing
Hosted Koha from $30 a month
Or $300 a year, saving $60. Up to 5,000 titles and 10,000 copies, 5 staff and 1,000 patrons, with hosting, a subdomain, data migration, the public catalog, cataloguing, circulation, acquisitions, administration and training. The same price in every country; larger libraries get a tailored quote.
Not ready to change your library system? Put just your catalogue online from $10 a month, from your spreadsheet, SLiMS export or register.
Already running Koha?
We support and fix the Koha you have, on your own server, and train your team in live sessions.
Koha supportMoving to Koha?
From another library system or a spreadsheet, validated and reconciled before go-live.
Koha data migrationYour team needs training?
Private live sessions for your staff on your own Koha, in your working hours.
Koha staff trainingFAQ
What libraries in the country ask us
Is Koha available in French?
Yes. Koha has a Canadian French translation for staff and patron screens, and patrons switch between English and French themselves. French and English subject headings can sit in the same record. Translation completeness varies by screen, so we check the ones your staff use before go-live.
Where is our data stored?
Ask us before you sign and we tell you exactly where Koha Cloud keeps your data and its backups. If your province or board requires personal information to stay in Canada, we install and support Koha on a server in Canada that you choose instead.
Can notices go out in each patron’s language?
Yes. With notice translation switched on, each patron gets overdue, hold and renewal notices in the language on their account, so an English and a French reader at the same branch each get their own.
How is it priced?
Koha Cloud's Basic plan has a published price in US dollars, the same in every country, with the first three months free. Your fines and fees are set in Canadian dollars. Support, migration and training for a Koha you run yourself are quoted.
Related reading
Background reading
Koha data migration
Moving from your current system without surprises.
Read the guideKoha backup and restore
A backup that actually restores, and how to prove yours does.
Read the guideKoha SIP2 integration
Self-check and RFID with Koha.
Read the guideOther regions
By type of library
Our services
Get a quote
Talk to us about your library
Tell us where you are and what you run today. We reply in your working hours.