Amazon Prime raises prices in Canada, following price increase in US

Amazon increased prices for its Prime subscription service in the United States earlier this year. The company cited “the continued expansion of Prime member benefits as well as the rise in wages and transportation costs” for the price jump, and now Amazon is also raising the cost of Prime in Canada as well.

Amazon told The Verge that the price increase will go into effect on April 8 for new subscribers, and May 13 for existing members. The new price is set at $99 per year or $10 per month, while current pricing is $79 per year or $8 per month. Student subscriptions are also increasing, though not by as much — the cost is going from $4 to $5.

This is the first cost increase for Prime in Canada since the service launched in the country in 2013. The company cited faster shipping, more services in Prime, and a growing library of Prime Video content as some factors for the changed pricing. It’s the classic cable television pricing scheme: add more services and features to a subscription, then using the newer benefits as justification for increased prices, and repeat.

Amazon Prime in the United States just increased its pricing from $119 per year to $139 per year, and for monthly subscribers, the price jumped from $12.99 per month to $14.199 per month. The change went into effect for new customers on February 18, then started for existing subscribers after March 25.

The news comes after Amazon warehouses are starting to unionize in the United States, starting with a warehouse in Staten Island, following many reports of poor work conditions across the US. Amazon stated in a filing earlier this month that it spent about $4.2 million on labor consultants to fight unionizations, according to ABC. Union drives are underway at some Canadian Amazon workplaces, though none of them have officially voted to unionize yet.