What anodizing costs in Canada, and why there is a minimum charge
Anodizing is priced by rack space with a minimum lot charge, not per part. Type II vs Type III hardcoat, colour adders, real figures, and US-vs-Canada landed cost.
Quick answer (CAD, as of November 2026): Anodizing is not priced per part off a menu. It is priced by how much rack and tank space your load occupies, and almost every shop sets a minimum lot charge, so one small part costs nearly as much as ten. A Canadian metals retailer's finishing guide puts that typical minimum around $75 to $150. Type II is the cheaper, standard decorative anodize; Type III hardcoat is thicker and costs more. Colour dye and masking add labour. The single most useful thing to know: below a rack's worth of parts the minimum dominates, so batch your parts.
How a shop actually prices anodizing
Ignore the per-square-inch numbers you see in cost blogs; they conflict by a factor of ten and real shops do not quote that way. Anodizing is a batch process. Your parts hang on bars, go through the tanks, and the line runs whether the rack is full or nearly empty. So the quote is built from:
| Line item | What drives it |
|---|---|
| Minimum lot charge | A floor per batch, regardless of part count |
| Rack and tank space | Perimeter for extrusions, square footage for sheet, racking ease for small parts |
| Type | Type II decorative vs Type III hardcoat (thicker, longer cycle, more cost) |
| Colour | Clear is cheapest, black more, custom colours more again |
| Masking | Threads, bores and critical dimensions that must stay uncoated |
Quebec anodizers describe it plainly. Placage Boucherville states that a minimum charge applies, then the price is set by the anodizing bars your parts take up, and that coloured anodizing is priced differently from clear. Aluproteck prices extrusion by the perimeter of the material, sheet by the square footage, and small or custom parts case by case depending on how easily the load racks.
The minimum charge is the thing that surprises people
Because the line runs per batch, the first part carries the whole minimum. That is why anodizing a single prototype feels absurdly expensive per unit and a full rack is cheap per unit. A published US shop price list (Vegas Metal Finishing, in USD) shows the shape clearly: a Type II clear job is about $100 USD for one to four parts but drops to roughly $20 to $35 USD per part once you are into the 11 to 50 range. The number is American, but the curve is universal. If you only need a few parts, anodize them together with your next order, or expect to pay the minimum.
Type II vs Type III (hard anodize)
Type II is the standard decorative and corrosion anodize; Type III, or hardcoat, is a thicker and denser layer that resists wear, and it costs more because the cycle is longer and run colder. On the same US price list, Type III ran about $25 USD more than Type II at the minimum. Do not default to hardcoat: spec it only where the part slides, wears or needs the thickness, and use Type II for enclosures and cosmetic parts. The difference is covered in what is anodizing.
Colour and masking add labour
Clear is the baseline. Black is a small adder, and custom colours cost more again (on the same USD list, colour ran about $75 USD over clear) because an off-standard dye needs a dedicated run. Masking is separate labour: any thread, bore or sealing face that must hold tolerance has to be plugged or taped, because even a thin anodic layer changes the fit. Every contact point where the part hangs on the rack also leaves a small rack mark, so tell the shop which face is cosmetic.
No minimum? Read the currency first
Some US platforms advertise no minimum. SendCutSend states anodizing requires no minimum quantity, with pricing as low as $0.50 USD per part in bulk and no setup fee (Type II only). That is genuinely useful for a one-off, but the price is in USD and the part ships from the United States, so a Canadian buyer adds the exchange rate, cross-border freight, and any duty and brokerage. Even Protocase, a Canadian maker in Nova Scotia, quotes anodizing in USD by default and sends it to a third party where minimum lot charges still apply. Count the landed cost, not the sticker. The border math is in reshoring to Canada and the current tariff picture.
How to pay less for anodizing
Batch parts so the rack is full and the minimum is spread. Pick a standard colour, clear or black, over a custom dye. Mask only what truly needs it, and allow rack marks on non-cosmetic faces. And spec the right type: hardcoat only where wear demands it. If the part is steel, anodizing does not apply at all; look at powder coating or plating instead.
What to send for a quote
The base alloy, the part size and quantity, the type and spec (Type II or III to MIL-A-8625), the colour, and which surfaces to mask. Send it once and request quotes from Canadian anodizers; most aerospace-grade capacity sits near the Montreal corridor.
FAQ
How is anodizing priced, per part or per square foot?
Neither, really. It is priced by the rack and tank space your load occupies, with a minimum lot charge on top. Extrusions are often priced by perimeter, sheet by square footage, and small parts case by case by how they rack. The per-square-inch figures in cost blogs conflict wildly and are not how a shop quotes you.
Is there a minimum charge for anodizing?
Almost always. A Canadian retailer's finishing guide puts the typical minimum around $75 to $150, and one small part costs nearly as much as ten. Batch your parts to spread it.
Why does anodizing one prototype cost almost as much as ten?
Because the tank line runs per batch. The first part carries the whole minimum, and extra parts on the same rack are nearly free until the rack fills.
How much more is Type III hard anodizing than Type II?
More, because the cycle is longer. A published US price list showed about $25 USD more at the minimum. Spec hardcoat only where the part wears or slides, and use Type II for cosmetic and enclosure parts.
Does colour cost more than clear?
Yes. Clear is the baseline, black is a small adder, and custom colours cost more again (about $75 USD over clear on one US list) because an off-standard dye needs a dedicated run.
Can you anodize steel or stainless?
No. Anodizing is for aluminum and titanium. For steel, use powder coating, plating or galvanizing.
Is it cheaper to anodize in Canada or order from a US platform?
A US platform can look cheaper per part, but it quotes in USD and ships from the United States, so add exchange, freight, duty and brokerage. For a Canadian buyer a domestic anodizer is often competitive once the landed cost is counted, and it avoids cross-border tariff risk.
Last reviewed: November 2026. Canadian pricing methods (Placage Boucherville, Aluproteck) and the $75 to $150 minimum (a Canadian retailer's guide) were read on each source the day this was written; US figures (Vegas Metal Finishing, SendCutSend) are in USD and labelled as benchmarks, not Canadian quotes. Per-square-inch ranges from generic cost blogs were left out because they conflict too widely to be reliable. Related reading: what is anodizing and anodizing vs powder coating.
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