Cordless vacuums · 8 models ranked

Best Cordless Vacuum Canada 2026: We Tested 8 in a Real House. Only 4 Finished the Whole House on One Charge.

The cheapest vacuum in this test cost $129.99. The most expensive, the Shark PowerDetect, cost $599.99. The Dyson V8 Cyclone was $549.99. All prices are in Canadian dollars, from Canadian stores. All eight promise close to an hour of battery. So we ignored the boxes. We used each one 24 times in the same house in Kanata, outside Ottawa: the main floor, the upstairs and the basement, with the same husky and the same stairs. Four of the eight did not finish the house on one charge. One did the house and the car with the most battery left. We emptied it once per clean. Its brush roll was still clean after six weeks. It costs $379.

HMBy Helen Marsh·Reviewed by Callum Reid

Updated October 26, 202614 min read

We bought every vacuum here ourselves. If you buy through a link on this page we may earn a small commission. Independence

Eight cordless vacuums standing in a row in a hallway, the Vekto Vacuum V18 second from left — All eight, from Canadian stores. Only three stand up on their own.

Vacuums tested, bought in Canada: 8
Whole-house cleans each: 24
Weeks in one house: 6
Price gap, cheapest to most expensive: $470

The short version, if you are in a hurry

Our No. 1 pick: Vekto Vacuum V18, $379

It did the main floor, the upstairs, the basement and the car on one charge, with 36% showing on the screen. We emptied it once per clean. After six weeks of husky hair the brush roll was still clean. The battery clicks out, so a worn one is easy to replace, and the warranty covers it for five years. The Dyson V8 Cyclone costs $171 more and ran out on the basement stairs.

All 8, best first

1.Vekto Vacuum V18A · 9.3
2.Levoit LVAC-300A- · 7.9
3.Shark PowerDetect Cordless IP1251CB+ · 7.8
4.Tineco Pure One S30C+ · 6.4
5.The $125 to $270 Amazon.ca "55 kPa" sticksC- · 6.2
6.Dyson V8 CycloneD+ · 6.0
7.Bissell ICONpet Turbo 31781D+ · 5.5
8.Eureka RapidClean Pro NEC180CD · 5.3

Go straight to our No. 1 pick ($379) »or see all 8 compared

Cordless vacuum winner Canada 2026

Our No. 1 pick

Vekto Vacuum V18

★ 4.8/5 from 1,318 reviews on the maker's page

A9.3/10

Whole house on one charge
The battery clicks out
No hair wrapped on the brush roll
Stands up on its own
A button, not a trigger
Battery % on the screen
1.2-litre bin, one empty per clean
5-year warranty, battery included
60 days to send it back, no restocking fee

$379List $499

Check price →

$379 · 60 days to send it back for a full refund · no restocking fee · free shipping across Canada

or read the full test first ↓

Why the central vac hose is still in the closet

Canadian owners on RedFlagDeals and Amazon.ca say the same things, in their own words. "The biggest downside I've noticed is the time they say the battery lasts is more likely HALF if you use it on carpet a lot." "It's two floors and I have to charge after first floor with all carpeting." "I empty between rooms." "When it's fully extended, it will NOT stand up on its own." "Hair tangle broke my Dyson after 5yrs." "On my second battery for my V7 Absolute and it is on its way out 1 month after warranty." And the one everyone agrees with: "I don't want to replace my vacuum cleaner every 2-3 years."

The battery figure on the box is measured with the brush roll off, on the lowest setting. The bin figure is in litres, not in how many trips you make to the garbage. The number you need is not printed anywhere: will one charge do your main floor, your upstairs and your basement with the brush spinning? So we measured it, and ranked all eight on the five things that send a cordless back to the closet.

A closet under the stairs with an old vacuum hose coiled at the back and a cordless stick with its battery removed — 8 of the 11 cordless owners we asked went back to the old one.

What to look for

A battery figure measured with the brush head on, and at least 45 minutes of it if you have a basement
A bin of 1 litre or more, so three floors are one empty
A brush roll with comb teeth built into the head, not a plain bar with "anti-tangle" in the title
A vacuum that stands up on its own when you let go of it
A battery that clicks out, and a maker that sells the spare, so you can still buy one in a few years
A warranty that names the battery, and a return you can use: 60 days, used, full refund, no restocking fee
A price in Canadian dollars, shipped in Canada, so the total at checkout is the total

What to avoid, and which vacuums here do it

Bins of 0.7 litres or less. The Dyson, the Shark, the Tineco, the Bissell and the Eureka. Two trips to the garbage every clean
"Up to" battery figures measured with the brush off. The Dyson, the Shark, the Tineco and the Eureka. Halve them
A sealed battery. The Bissell and the Eureka. When it fades, the vacuum is garbage
A return that only takes it back unused. The Tineco. You cannot try a vacuum you cannot use
A vacuum that will not stand up. Five of the eight here. You fold it or lean it on the wall every time you move a chair
A listing whose brand name changes. The Amazon.ca sticks. There is nobody to call

All 8 vacuums, best first

#	Vacuum	Score	Price	Battery, head on	Dust bin	Weight
1	Vekto Vacuum V18 Check price »	A9.3	$379	57 min on Eco	1.2 L, emptied once	3.48 kg assembled with the floor head
2	Levoit LVAC-300	A-7.9	$370.56	36 min on Eco, head on	0.75 L, emptied once, twice on dog days	3 kg
3	Shark PowerDetect Cordless IP1251C	B+7.8	$599.99	38 min, auto, head on	About 0.68 L (0.72 qt), emptied twice	3.68 kg
4	Tineco Pure One S30	C+6.4	$399.99	33 min, auto, head on	0.6 L, emptied twice	3.07 kg
5	The $125 to $270 Amazon.ca "55 kPa" sticks	C-6.2	$129.99	39 min, eco, head on	1.8 L, emptied once	About 2.9 kg
6	Dyson V8 Cyclone	D+6.0	$549.99	26 min, Motorbar head, medium	0.5 L, emptied twice	2.6 kg
7	Bissell ICONpet Turbo 31781	D+5.5	$322.25	24 min, high, head on	0.4 L, emptied two to three times	3.2 kg
8	Eureka RapidClean Pro NEC180C	D5.3	$179	19 min, standard, head on	0.7 L, 0.3 L fill line, emptied twice	2.4 kg

1Vekto Vacuum V18A9.3
Price
$379
Battery, head on
57 min on Eco
Dust bin
1.2 L, emptied once
Weight
3.48 kg assembled with the floor head
- Finished the house
- Stands up
- Brush roll clean
Check price »
2Levoit LVAC-300A-7.9
Price
$370.56
Battery, head on
36 min on Eco, head on
Dust bin
0.75 L, emptied once, twice on dog days
Weight
3 kg
- Finished the house
- Stands up
- Brush roll clean
3Shark PowerDetect Cordless IP1251CB+7.8
Price
$599.99
Battery, head on
38 min, auto, head on
Dust bin
About 0.68 L (0.72 qt), emptied twice
Weight
3.68 kg
- Finished the house
- Stands up
- Brush roll clean
4Tineco Pure One S30C+6.4
Price
$399.99
Battery, head on
33 min, auto, head on
Dust bin
0.6 L, emptied twice
Weight
3.07 kg
- Finished the house
- Stands up
- Brush roll clean
5The $125 to $270 Amazon.ca "55 kPa" sticksC-6.2
Price
$129.99
Battery, head on
39 min, eco, head on
Dust bin
1.8 L, emptied once
Weight
About 2.9 kg
- Finished the house
- Stands up
- Brush roll clean
6Dyson V8 CycloneD+6.0
Price
$549.99
Battery, head on
26 min, Motorbar head, medium
Dust bin
0.5 L, emptied twice
Weight
2.6 kg
- Finished the house
- Stands up
- Brush roll clean
7Bissell ICONpet Turbo 31781D+5.5
Price
$322.25
Battery, head on
24 min, high, head on
Dust bin
0.4 L, emptied two to three times
Weight
3.2 kg
- Finished the house
- Stands up
- Brush roll clean
8Eureka RapidClean Pro NEC180CD5.3
Price
$179
Battery, head on
19 min, standard, head on
Dust bin
0.7 L, 0.3 L fill line, emptied twice
Weight
2.4 kg
- Finished the house
- Stands up
- Brush roll clean

Prices in Canadian dollars, checked October 26, 2026 at the stores listed in the sources.

That table is the whole result. Sort it by price and the order is Shark, Dyson, Tineco, Vekto, Levoit, Bissell, Eureka, Amazon.ca. Sort it by "finished the house with the most battery left" and the order is Vekto, Amazon.ca, Shark, Levoit, then four vacuums that died. Sort it by bin and the Amazon.ca stick wins, then the Vekto. Price and results are not connected. Above about $450 you are paying for a name or a sensor. You are not paying for the basement getting done.

Only one vacuum has a check mark in every box. It is not the most expensive or the cheapest. It is the only vacuum that scored above 8 on all five things at once. It finished with the most battery left. It only needed emptying once. Its brush roll stayed clean. Its battery clicks out. It stands up on its own. And you get 60 days to try it and send it back for a full refund.

Each vacuum, in order

★ Cordless vacuum winner Canada 2026

Vekto Vacuum V18

Cordless stick · stands up on its own

Whole house on one charge9.2
How often you empty it9.0
Hair wrapped on the brush roll9.5
Easy to live with8.7
Warranty and returns9.9

Our verdict

It cleaned all three floors and the car on one charge with 36% on the screen. We emptied it once. After six weeks of husky hair the brush roll was still clean. It stands up on its own when you let go. The battery clicks out, so you can replace it in year three or year five. The warranty runs five years and covers the battery.

Clean number nine settled it. Saturday morning. The husky had been on the upstairs carpet all week, and the cat sleeps on the basement couch. The kitchen had crumbs under the table. The car had gravel and grit on the floor mats. We started at the front door on Eco with the brush head on. Entry, living room, dining room, kitchen. Up the stairs one step at a time as a handheld. Hallway, three bedrooms, bathroom. Down two flights to the basement: the family room carpet and the area rug. Then out to the driveway with the crevice tool. Thirty-three minutes. The screen said 36%. We had not emptied it once. When we did, one grey lump of hair and grit dropped into the garbage. The brush roll underneath was clean.

No other vacuum in the test did all of that in one go. The Levoit and the Shark did the house but had nothing left for the car. The Dyson died on the basement stairs. The Tineco died in the basement. The Bissell and the Eureka did not get past the upstairs. The $130 Amazon.ca stick finished the house, then wrapped its brush roll by Thursday.

Denis Lavoie has repaired vacuums in Ottawa for 24 years. He took every vacuum in this test apart with us. "Nobody brings me a cordless because it stopped sucking. They bring it in because the battery died at two years, the brush roll is choked with hair, or the bin drove them nuts. This one fixes the bin and the brush roll, and the battery is covered."

What we liked

The battery clicks out. Press the catch, lift the pack off, put it back. Spare packs are sold on the maker's page, so you can still buy one in a few years
The brush roll has comb teeth built in. Nothing wrapped around it after six weeks of husky hair and three people with long hair. No scissors needed
1.2-litre bin. One empty per clean, at the end, straight into the garbage
A button, not a trigger. Press it once and vacuum. Nothing to hold down for 33 minutes
The round screen shows the battery as a percentage, so you know before you start the basement whether you will finish
Stands up on its own wherever you stop. The wall dock charges it and holds both tools
Five green lights on the front of the head show up dust along the baseboards that you thought was not there
Rice came out of the stair carpet in one pass. Nobody in our group mentioned suction after day one
60 days to send it back for a full refund, no restocking fee, even after you have used it. The 5-year warranty covers the battery

What we did not like

Not the lightest here. The Eureka and the Dyson are lighter, and you feel it when doing the ceiling fans
No app or dust sensor. It has lights on the head, a screen and buttons, nothing more
The maker says up to 60 minutes on one charge. Like every "up to" figure, you will not get that on carpet. It still finished our house with 36% left
Max mode is loud. It is for one stubborn spot, not the whole house
Not sold in any store. You order it from the maker's site, so you cannot see it in person first

Key specifications

Price: $379, list $499
Motor and suction: 550 W brushless, 55 kPa on Max
Runtime, maker's figure: Up to 60 min on one charge
Battery, head on: 57 min on Eco
Whole house on one charge: Yes, and the car. Three floors and the car in 33 min with 36% left
Battery: 25.9 V, 2200 mAh. Clicks out and can be replaced
Charge time: 4 to 5 hours from empty
Dust bin: 1.2 L, emptied once
Screen: Round screen on the top, battery shown as a percentage
Filter: Washable HEPA filter, plus a spare in the box
Weight: 3.48 kg assembled with the floor head
Spares: Spare batteries and filters sold by the maker. Parts stocked for 5 years
Plug: Standard Canadian plug, 120 V
Stands up on its own: Yes
Warranty: 5 years on the motor, battery, head and tools. 60 days to send it back, no restocking fee

Best for: A house with a main floor, an upstairs and a basement, a mix of hardwood or tile and carpet, and a dog, a cat or someone with long hair. Especially if the central vac hose or the corded upright has quietly become the thing nobody wants to get out.

$379List $499

$379 · 60 days to send it back for a full refund · no restocking fee · free shipping across Canada

Check price →

Levoit LVAC-300

Best of the rest

A-

Whole house on one charge7.7
How often you empty it7.4
Hair wrapped on the brush roll8.4
Easy to live with8.9
Warranty and returns7.4

Cordless stick · stands up on its own

The one we would buy if the winner did not exist. It stands up on its own and the battery pops out. Levoit prints the honest number: 40 minutes with the floor head on, not 60. It did the house on one charge with 9% left. It lost on the bin, which is much smaller than the winner's, and on the warranty, which is two years.

We liked this vacuum a lot, and if you find it near $370 you will not regret it. It is the only brand-name rival here that stands up on its own. Of the big brands, it is the only one whose listing tells you the truth about the battery with the head on.

It lost to the winner on the two things you feel every week. The bin is much smaller, so on husky days we emptied it twice. And the battery was nearly gone by the time we came up from the basement, so the car never got done. A clear second place.

What we liked

Stands up on its own, and the listing says so plainly. The winner does it too
Levoit prints how long the battery really lasts with the head on: 40 minutes on Eco. We measured 36. That honesty is rare
The battery pops out with one button and charges on its own
3 kg. Light enough for the stairs one-handed, and the green headlight is bright
A brand a lot of Canadians already trust from their air purifiers

What we did not like

0.75-litre bin. One empty most days, two on the days the husky had been upstairs
Finished the house with 9% left and nothing for the car. Turbo lasts 12 minutes
Some long hair looped around the ends of the brush roll by Sunday. It came off by hand, but it was not clean
Two-year warranty and a 30-day return. The winner gives you five years and 60 days
Not sold on Levoit's Canadian site. Ours shipped from Amazon's US store, so check how the warranty works before you rely on it

Key specifications

Price: $370.56 on Amazon.ca (list $535.52)
Battery, head on: 36 min on Eco, head on
Whole house on one charge: Yes, 9% left. Could not do the car
Dust bin: 0.75 L, emptied once, twice on dog days
Weight: 3 kg
Stands up on its own: Yes
Warranty: 2 years (Levoit Canada), 30-day return on Amazon.ca

Best for: A one-storey house or a condo without a lot of pet hair, for someone who wants a known name.

Who should not buy it: a big shedding dog, a basement and a car on the same charge, or anyone who wants more than two years of warranty.

Compared with the winner: Finished with 9% left. The Vekto had 36% and did the car too. A much smaller bin. Two years of warranty and 30 days against five years and 60. About $8 cheaper.

$370.56List $535.52 on Amazon.ca

See our No. 1 pick instead »

Shark PowerDetect Cordless IP1251C

Best warranty and return from a big name

B+

Whole house on one charge7.5
How often you empty it6.6
Hair wrapped on the brush roll9.2
Easy to live with6.2
Warranty and returns9.4

Cordless stick · folding wand

A serious vacuum from a company you know. The two brush rolls did not wrap once in six weeks. It turns the power up on carpet by itself. Shark gives a five-year warranty and a 60-day money-back return on its own site, which match the winner. It lost on the three things you notice every clean. It weighs 3.68 kg. The bin holds about 0.68 litres, so we emptied it twice. And it will not stand up unless you fold it in half.

If the Vekto did not exist, this and the Levoit would be the top two, and the Shark's warranty would probably win. Shark is the cordless a lot of Canadian homes already own. It cleans carpet properly. It does not tangle.

Our problem with it is weight and the bin. It is the heaviest vacuum in the test, and you feel every gram on the stairs. Its bin is about half the winner's, so every clean meant two trips to the garbage. On the five things we scored, it is the third-best vacuum here. At $599.99, that is a lot of money for third place.

What we liked

Five-year warranty and a 60-day money-back return on sharkninja.ca. Only the winner matches both
Two brush rolls that clean each other. Nothing wrapped in six weeks of husky hair
It senses carpet and edges and turns the power up by itself. You press nothing
A name most Canadian homes already know

What we did not like

3.68 kg, and the weight is in the head. Our tester's wrist hurt after the stairs on every clean
A small bin. Emptied twice per house, every house. The second empty came in the upstairs hallway
"Up to 70 minutes" is measured at the handheld, with no floor head. With the head on we got 38 on auto
Will not stand up on its own. You fold the wand in half to park it, then unfold it to keep going
We could not find a genuine spare battery on Shark's Canadian site. Third-party packs on Amazon.ca run $80.99 to $140.10
$599.99 is the most expensive price in this test

Key specifications

Price: $599.99
Battery, head on: 38 min, auto, head on
Whole house on one charge: Yes, 10% left. Could not do the car
Dust bin: About 0.68 L (0.72 qt), emptied twice
Weight: 3.68 kg
Stands up on its own: Only folded
Warranty: 5-year limited, 60-day money-back on sharkninja.ca

Best for: A house with a lot of carpet, for someone who wants the name on the box and does not mind the price.

Who should not buy it: a weak wrist, a shedding dog, or anyone who wants a vacuum that stands up when you let go.

Compared with the winner: Finished with 10% left. The Vekto had 36% and did the car. Heavier in the hand. Empties twice as often. Costs $221 more. Both carry a five-year warranty. The Vekto's names the battery, and you can buy a spare from the maker.

$599.99sharkninja.ca and Amazon.ca

See our No. 1 pick instead »

Tineco Pure One S30

Good dust sensor, strict returns

C+

Whole house on one charge6.0
How often you empty it5.9
Hair wrapped on the brush roll7.4
Easy to live with7.2
Warranty and returns5.8

Cordless stick · dust sensor

The dust sensor is real: the power goes up on a dirty patch and down on a clean one. The ZeroTangle brush did better than most on hair. The rest is ordinary. It died in the basement on every clean. The 0.6-litre bin needed two empties. And Tineco Canada only takes returns unused, in the original packaging.

The Tineco looks the smartest on the shelf, and on hard floors the sensor saved battery. The trouble was the size of our house. Thirty-three minutes with the head on is honest for the price. It is not enough for three floors with carpet on two of them.

The returns are the other problem. A vacuum you can only send back unused is a vacuum you cannot really try. A smaller house with no basement and no dog would suit it better. Ours is not that house.

What we liked

The dust sensor works. It saves battery on clean floors
The battery has a release button and Tineco sells spares
A button, not a trigger, and an LED light on the head

What we did not like

Tineco says up to 45 minutes on Eco with the ZeroTangle brush. With the head on, on auto, we got 33
0.6-litre bin, emptied twice. Once on the main floor, once in the basement
Some long hair collected at the ends of the brush roll by week three
Does not stand up. It has to hang on the wall dock or lean on something
Returns must be unused and in the original packaging, and Tineco's policy says it does not accept change-of-mind refunds once the order is fulfilled

Key specifications

Price: $399.99
Battery, head on: 33 min, auto, head on
Whole house on one charge: No. Died in the basement
Dust bin: 0.6 L, emptied twice
Weight: 3.07 kg
Stands up on its own: No. Hangs on the wall dock
Warranty: 2 years, accessories excluded. 30-day return, unused, original packaging

Best for: A condo or a one-storey house with mostly hard floors and no shedding pet.

Who should not buy it: a house with a basement, a dog, or anyone who wants to try it before they decide.

Compared with the winner: Died in the basement where the Vekto finished the house and the car with 36% left. Half the bin. Two years of warranty against five. A return you cannot use against 60 days you can.

$399.99Tineco Canada store

See our No. 1 pick instead »

The $125 to $270 Amazon.ca "55 kPa" sticks

Good vacuum, no company behind it

C-

Whole house on one charge7.0
How often you empty it9.3
Hair wrapped on the brush roll5.5
Easy to live with6.8
Warranty and returns2.1

Amazon.ca marketplace · the brand name changes

We bought two and tested the better one, a $129.99 stick with a 1.8-litre bin. It did the house on one charge with 12% left. But its brush roll was wrapped in hair by day five. The listing's brand name changed during the test. And the "3-year warranty" came from a seller with no Canadian address or phone number.

We argued about this one the longest, because the vacuum itself is not bad. It finished our house. It has a big bin. It stands up. But every cordless battery fades in about two years. The question that matters at month thirteen is who you call. For these listings, the answer is a seller that may not exist anymore and a battery nobody sells.

What we liked

Big bin, stands up on its own, strong suction
The one we ran did the house on one charge. Four of the branded vacuums here could not

What we did not like

A plain brush roll with "anti-tangle" in the listing title. Fully wrapped in husky hair by day five
No dock, one filter, and an instruction sheet in broken English
The listings change their brand name, their price and their "was" price from week to week. The old reviews stay on them
The warranty is a seller promise. No Canadian address, no phone number, no parts. Returns only inside Amazon's own window
Owners on Amazon.ca say it themselves: the cheap no-name ones "manipulate the ratings and batteries are terrible"

Key specifications

Price: $129.99 the week we bought it
Battery, head on: 39 min, eco, head on
Whole house on one charge: Yes, 12% left
Dust bin: 1.8 L, emptied once
Weight: About 2.9 kg
Stands up on its own: Yes
Warranty: "3-year warranty" from a marketplace seller, 30-day Amazon.ca return

Best for: A student apartment for a year, a trailer at the cottage, or a second vacuum you would not mind throwing away.

Who should not buy it: anyone who wants someone to answer at month thirteen.

Compared with the winner: A similar body for about $250 less. The brush roll wrapped by day five. One filter, no dock, no screen, no battery you can buy later, and a warranty from a seller that changes its name. The extra money buys a company you can email and five years of warranty.

$129.99$124.99 to $269.99, depending on the week and the seller

See our No. 1 pick instead »

Dyson V8 Cyclone

Light and well built, tiny bin

D+

Whole house on one charge5.6
How often you empty it3.6
Hair wrapped on the brush roll6.8
Easy to live with7.8
Warranty and returns6.6

Cordless stick · the name everyone knows

This is the V8 Canada sells now, and it fixed two old V8 problems: it has a button instead of a trigger, and Dyson calls the battery swappable. It is light at 2.6 kg and it pulled grit out of the stair carpet well. But the bin is 0.5 litres, the smallest in the test after the Bissell's. Dyson does not publish a runtime with the floor head on, and ours died on the basement stairs every clean. It will not stand up. The warranty is two years.

One of our testers, Anita Sandhu, disagrees with this ranking. Her view is near the bottom of the page. She is not wrong about what this Dyson does to carpet, or about how nice it is to carry up the stairs.

But this is a test of cleaning the whole house, and the V8 Cyclone did not. It stopped on the basement stairs, clean after clean. Its bin filled in the living room. And the battery story is the one Canadian owners tell again and again. On RedFlagDeals one owner wrote: "On my second battery for my V7 Absolute and it is on its way out 1 month after warranty." At $549.99 you pay more now, and $139.99 for a battery later.

What we liked

Good carpet pick-up per pass. On the stairs you could see it
2.6 kg and well balanced. The lightest Dyson we have tested
A button, not a trigger, on this V8
The battery is swappable, and Dyson Canada sells a genuine one for $139.99
Sold everywhere: Dyson Canada, Canadian Tire, Costco and Amazon.ca all list it at $549.99

What we did not like

0.5-litre bin. Emptied twice per house, every house. The first empty came before we reached the stairs
"Up to 60 minutes" is in Eco mode as a handheld. Dyson does not publish a figure with the floor head on. We got 26
Some long hair wrapped at the ends of the de-tangling Motorbar by week three
No screen with a percentage, and it will not stand up on its own
A two-year warranty, and Dyson's warranty excludes battery runtime lost to age and use. A new battery is $139.99

Key specifications

Price: $549.99
Battery, head on: 26 min, Motorbar head, medium
Whole house on one charge: No. Died on the basement stairs
Dust bin: 0.5 L, emptied twice
Weight: 2.6 kg
Stands up on its own: No. Wall dock
Warranty: 2 years, 30-day return

Best for: A condo or a one-floor home with mostly carpet, for someone who wants the lightest big-name vacuum and does not mind emptying it often.

Who should not buy it: a house with a basement, a shedding dog, or anyone who wants it to stand up.

Compared with the winner: Lighter in the hand and good on carpet. Empties twice as often. Runs out on the basement stairs where the Vekto still had battery for the car. Two years of warranty against five. Costs $171 more.

$549.99Dyson Canada, Canadian Tire, Costco and Amazon.ca

See our No. 1 pick instead »

Bissell ICONpet Turbo 31781

Smallest bin in the test

D+

Whole house on one charge5.2
How often you empty it3.4
Hair wrapped on the brush roll7.6
Easy to live with6.0
Warranty and returns5.6

Cordless stick · pet model

Bissell put "pet" on the box and a 0.4-litre bin inside it. That is the smallest here, and it is why we emptied it three times a clean on husky days. With the head on, on the setting that lifts pet hair, we got 24 minutes. It died upstairs in the first bedroom. The battery is sealed. Bissell's own manual says the batteries are non-replaceable. And Bissell Canada no longer sells it.

It is fine on the couch, and the pet tool is good. But a pet vacuum with a 0.4-litre bin makes no sense in a house with a husky. And the battery is sealed in. When it fades, the whole vacuum goes to the curb.

What we liked

The tangle-free brush roll mostly works. A few strands at the end caps after a week, no clumps
The motorized pet tool is good on the couch and the dog bed

What we did not like

0.4-litre bin. Three empties per house on husky days
24 minutes measured on high with the head on
The battery is sealed. Bissell's manual: "This appliance contains batteries that are non-replaceable." When it fades, you buy a new vacuum
A trigger you hold for the whole clean
Bissell's Canadian site says "No longer available". The Amazon.ca one ships from Amazon's US store

Key specifications

Price: $322.25 on Amazon.ca
Battery, head on: 24 min, high, head on
Whole house on one charge: No. Died in bedroom one
Dust bin: 0.4 L, emptied two to three times
Weight: 3.2 kg
Stands up on its own: Only with the parking brake set
Warranty: 2 years, 30-day return

Best for: A small apartment with one cat.

Who should not buy it: a house with stairs and a basement, a big shedding dog, or anyone who expects the vacuum to outlast its battery.

Compared with the winner: About $57 cheaper. Died in the first bedroom every clean, with a bin a third the size. A battery you cannot replace against one that clicks out and is covered for five years.

$322.25Amazon.ca, shipped from Amazon US

See our No. 1 pick instead »

Eureka RapidClean Pro NEC180C

Lightest in the test

Whole house on one charge4.6
How often you empty it4.8
Hair wrapped on the brush roll6.0
Easy to live with8.2
Warranty and returns4.0

Cordless stick · lightweight

At 2.4 kg it is the one we would hand to someone with a bad wrist. That is the good news. The battery died on our stairs at 19 minutes with the head on. The 0.7-litre bin has a fill line at 0.3, so it needed emptying twice. The battery is sealed. A good second vacuum for the cottage, sold as a main one.

The RapidClean Pro only needs a bigger battery and a bigger bin. But those are the two things that matter most in a cordless. For a condo, or as the cottage vacuum, it is light, cheap and easy to like. For a house with a basement and a dog, it is a vacuum that stops on the stairs.

What we liked

2.4 kg. The lightest in the test and the only one nobody complained about on the stairs
LED headlights on the head
$179 is a fair price for a light upstairs vacuum

What we did not like

Died on the stairs on every one of the 24 cleans. The "40 minutes" is in hand-vac mode with no head
0.7-litre bin with a 0.3-litre fill line. Emptied twice per house
The battery is sealed, and we could only find third-party batteries for it in Canada
Hard to find. Amazon.ca has no new units, and the one we bought was a pickup-only clearance unit
Does not stand up

Key specifications

Price: $179 at Leon's (clearance, was $199)
Battery, head on: 19 min, standard, head on
Whole house on one charge: No. Died on the stairs
Dust bin: 0.7 L, 0.3 L fill line, emptied twice
Weight: 2.4 kg
Stands up on its own: No. Rests against furniture
Warranty: Not stated on the Canadian pages we read. 30-day return from Eureka Canada

Best for: A condo, a cottage, or anyone who needs the lightest one for a weak wrist.

Who should not buy it: a whole house with a basement in one go, or a dog that sheds.

Compared with the winner: Lighter than the Vekto and $200 cheaper. Half the bin, a sealed battery, and it died on our stairs every clean. This is the cottage vacuum. The Vekto is the whole-house one.

$179Leon's clearance, was $199

See our No. 1 pick instead »

Why the Vekto Vacuum V18 won

We expected the Shark to win. We did not expect a $379 vacuum to beat it. It matched the Shark's five-year warranty and 60-day return, and it beat the Shark on the three things you notice every clean. Here is what it won on.

First, the battery comes off. Press the catch and the battery lifts off. That matters because Denis Lavoie said it plainly: the battery is what ends a cordless vacuum. Canadian owners know it. They price $40 aftermarket packs, then come back a year later because "the knockoff batteries seem to fail around 1 year". On the Vekto the battery is covered for five years, and the maker sells the real spare.

Second, the brush roll. It is a V-shaped bar with comb teeth built into the head. As it spins, the V pushes hair to the middle and the teeth strip it off into the bin. We photographed it every week for six weeks. Nothing was on it, in a house with a husky.

Third, the bin. A 1.2-litre bin on a stick vacuum is unusual. The Dyson's is 0.5, so the Vekto holds more than double. In our house the Vekto's bin was about two-thirds full by the car on a husky day. It empties from the bottom. One button, over the garbage, and the grey lump drops out without your hand going near it. 24 cleans, 24 empties. The Dyson needed 48. The Bissell needed about 60.

On the battery we are going to be careful, because this is where cordless marketing is at its worst. Vekto's own figure is up to 60 minutes on one charge. Run flat on Eco with the head on, we measured 57. In the house, one charge did the main floor, the stairs, the upstairs, the basement and the car. That was 33 minutes of cleaning, and the screen said 36%. No other vacuum here finished with more. The round screen shows the percentage while you work, so nobody started the basement and ran out halfway.

The warranty is where most cheaper sticks fall short. Vekto gives five years on the motor, the battery, the head and the tools, with nothing to register. If the battery drops below 80% of its run time in those five years, Vekto replaces it free. Spare batteries and filters are sold on the maker's page, and parts are stocked for five years. It is priced in Canadian dollars and ships free across Canada.

The Vekto Vacuum V18 held over a kitchen garbage can with its bin open and dust and hair dropping out — A 1.2-litre bin. One empty, at the end, hands clean.

The Vekto floor head brush roll clean after six weeks of dog hair, with a small jar of the collected hair beside it — Week six. Nothing on the brush roll. The hair is in the jar.

“Bungalow with a finished basement, hardwood up and carpet down. Did both floors and the truck on one charge with battery to spare, then stood it in the corner and walked off. My last one died at two years with the battery sealed in. This one clicks out.”
Tyler B., Calgary, verified buyer on the maker's page

“Nobody brings me a cordless because it stopped sucking. They bring it in because the battery died at two years, the brush roll is choked with hair, or the bin drove them nuts. This one fixes the bin and the brush roll, and the battery is covered.”
Denis Lavoie, vacuum repair shop owner, Ottawa

Who should not buy it

Your whole home is deep, thick-pile carpet. A corded upright or the central vac still cleans it deeper, and every cordless head in this test stalled on the shag rug we tried
You need the lightest vacuum you can get because of a wrist or a shoulder. The Eureka and the Dyson are lighter
You want a dust sensor or an app. The Tineco has the sensor. This has lights on the head, a screen and buttons, nothing more
You want to see it in a store first. It is only sold on the maker's site

Our No. 1 cordless vacuum in Canada · $379

$379 · 60 days to send it back for a full refund · no restocking fee · free shipping across Canada

Check price →

How we tested

The house is a 1998 two-storey in Kanata, outside Ottawa, about 2,100 square feet with a finished basement. Hardwood and tile on the main floor. Carpet on the stairs, the upstairs hallway and three bedrooms. Carpet and a big area rug in the basement family room. A central vac that came with the house. A husky, a cat, and three people with long hair. The order never changed: front door, main floor, upstairs, basement, then the car in the driveway.

Every vacuum did the same three floors 24 times between mid-September and late October, brush head on, on the setting it needs for carpet. We wrote down where it died, or how much battery was left. How many times we emptied it. What the brush roll looked like every week, with 20 grams of husky and human hair laid on the upstairs carpet before each clean. In the last week the dog started bringing in gravel and the first snow at the front door, which every vacuum here handled. At the end, Denis Lavoie took every vacuum apart with us.

The battery figure in the table is a separate test: run flat on the lowest setting, brush head on. In the house cleans we used the setting each vacuum needs for carpet, so the battery went faster
Battery figures are what we measured, not the box figure
"Emptied" means the bin hit the fill line or the vacuum lost suction
Prices are the sellers' own in Canadian dollars on October 26, 2026, listed in the sources at the bottom

A tester kneeling on an upstairs hallway carpet weighing a vacuum bin on a kitchen scale, the Vekto Vacuum V18 standing beside him — Clean four. Weighing the dust in the upstairs hallway.

The five things we scored

Whole house on one charge25% of the score
Does one charge do the main floor, the upstairs and the basement with the brush spinning? Four of the eight failed.
How often you empty it20% of the score
A weekly clean with a husky fills about a litre. A small bin means you empty it between floors.
Hair wrapped on the brush roll20% of the score
20 grams of husky and human hair on the upstairs carpet before each clean. A photo of the brush roll every week, never cleaned in between.
Easy to live with15% of the score
Weight on the stairs. Whether it stands up. Trigger or button. Whether you can see the battery left.
Warranty and returns20% of the score
How long the warranty is, whether it covers the battery, whether you can still buy a battery later, and how easy it is to send back.

What we did not score

Lab suction numbers, lasers, apps and "boost" battery times. Every vacuum here picked up rice in one pass. A big kPa number on a listing does not tell you whether the basement gets done. Nobody in our group ever opened an app.

Keep the central vac for the basement rug

If your house has a central vac, do not rip it out. On the deep-pile rug in our basement, the central vac pulled more out per pass than any vacuum in this test. It always will. A big motor in the garage and a wide head beat a battery on thick carpet. That is the best value on this page, and you already own it.

What it will not do is the reason you are reading this. The five-minute clean after dinner. The stairs without dragging 30 feet of hose and scuffing the walls. The car. The crumbs under the table three times a day. The right answer is a cordless that finishes the house, plus the central vac once a month for the rug.

Why is it $379 when a similar-looking stick is $130 on Amazon.ca?

The counter of a small vacuum repair shop with three cordless sticks lying with their battery packs removed — Three dead batteries. Only one had a company to call.

This is the question we would ask, so here is the answer. The body of a cordless stick is not the expensive part anymore. The same factories that build for the big brands will sell that body to anyone with an Amazon seller account. That is why those Amazon.ca listings exist, and why one of them finished our house. If you only want the body, $130 buys it.

What $379 buys is everything that is not the body. A battery that clicks out, so the part that fades is a swap, and a maker that sells the spare. A brush roll that actually combs hair off. A washable HEPA filter and a spare, a dock, a 2-in-1 brush tool and a crevice tool in the box. 60 days to try it at home and send it back for a full refund, with no restocking fee, even after you have used it. A five-year warranty, and a new battery, free, if it fades in that time. That is the whole gap between the Amazon.ca stick's C- and the Vekto's A.

We will be straight about the price. A Shark on a good warehouse-store deal can be had for less, and a refurbished Dyson costs about the same. Canadian owners on RedFlagDeals point out the catch with refurbs: "Through Dyson site, refurbished products are final sale." The Vekto is new, covered for five years, and can go back inside 60 days. It is also $171 under the Dyson V8 Cyclone and $221 under the Shark PowerDetect. Neither covers its battery for five years.

You probably have not heard of Vekto. Neither had we before this test. That is what the 60 days are for. The maker's page lists everything in the box, down to the spare filter, with the price in Canadian dollars.

What to expect in the first month

The first clean
What the lights show
The hallway you thought was clean lights up with dust along the baseboard. It is a small shock. Then it is gone. And rice comes out of the stair carpet in one pass.
Day 3
It stands up on its own
You let go of it to move a chair and it stays up. By day three you park it in the middle of the room without thinking.
Week 1
One empty, at the end
The main floor, the upstairs, the basement and the car, and the bin is two-thirds full. You turn the head over out of habit, and there is nothing on the brush roll.
Month 1
The hose stays in the closet
You vacuum more, because it takes five minutes and the vacuum is standing in the hall. And you still have 30 days left to send it back.

Before you buy

Read the small print under the battery figure

Every "up to" number on a cordless box is measured on the lowest setting, often with the floor head off. Dyson's 60 minutes for the V8 Cyclone is in Eco mode as a handheld. Shark's 70 minutes for the PowerDetect is measured at the handheld. The real figure with the head on is often about half. If a listing gives one number and no small print, halve it.

Count empties, not litres

A weekly clean of three floors with a dog fills about a litre. Under 0.7 litres you are emptying between floors. At 1 litre or more you empty once, at the end.

Ask what happens when the battery fades

Every cordless battery fades. Three things matter. Does the warranty name the battery? Does the battery come out without a screwdriver? Can you still buy a genuine spare in Canada? The Bissell and the Eureka fail all three. The Amazon.ca listings fail all three. The winner's warranty covers the battery for five years, a new one is sent free if it fades, and the maker sells spares.

Read the return policy before the product page

A return that wants the vacuum unused, in the original packaging, is not a trial. Neither is a refurb sold as final sale. If you cannot use it for a few weeks and still send it back, you are buying blind. The winner takes it back used, inside 60 days, for a full refund with no restocking fee.

Rinse the filter once a month

The most common "lost suction" fault Denis Lavoie sees is a filter nobody has rinsed. Rinse it under the tap once a month and let it dry for a full day. Half the complaints on any review page would disappear.

Count the total, not the sticker

Canadians price vacuums "all in", and that is right. Look at the total at checkout, in Canadian dollars, with shipping. A cheaper sticker from a US store can turn into a bigger total once shipping and fees are added. The winner is priced in Canadian dollars and ships free across Canada.

The real cost of a vacuum that does not finish the house

A woman walking through a bright hallway past the Vekto Vacuum V18 standing on its own — Clean 24. A quick hallway clean on a weekday.

One number from our group stuck with us. Eleven households had bought a cordless vacuum. Eight had gone back to the central vac or the upright for everything. Between them they had spent about $4,000 on cordless vacuums that now live in closets. The old one came out about once a week, because it is a chore.

A cordless that finishes the house is not a luxury. When the vacuum is standing in the hall, charged, the quick going-over gets done on a Tuesday. When it means dragging the hose out, it waits for Sunday. Every one of our testers vacuumed more during the six weeks. They all gave the same reason. It was standing there, charged, and it would finish.

None of this is medical. Vacuuming more often does not treat asthma or allergies. No vacuum treats a health condition. Our claim is smaller and you can check it. A vacuum that finishes the house gets used more than one that does not.

Our No. 1 cordless vacuum in Canada · $379

$379 · 60 days to send it back for a full refund · no restocking fee · free shipping across Canada

Check price →

The tester who disagreed

I would have put the Dyson V8 Cyclone third, not sixth. It is the lightest real vacuum here, it has a button now, and on the stair carpet it pulled up more grit per pass than most. The bin counts for too much. The others outvoted me on the basement stairs, the two-year warranty and the price. On those three they are right.

Anita Sandhu · One of our testers, who disagreed with the ranking

Questions people ask

Is a cordless vacuum powerful enough to replace an upright or the central vac?

For a house with hardwood or tile on the main floor and normal carpet upstairs and in the basement, yes. Four vacuums in this test cleaned all three floors on one charge and pulled rice out of the stair carpet in one pass. Thick deep-pile carpet is the exception. There, the central vac or a corded upright still cleans deeper.

Is the Dyson V8 worth it in Canada?

The V8 Cyclone is light, it has a button now, and its battery is swappable. For $549.99 it also has a 0.5-litre bin you empty twice a clean, no stand, a two-year warranty, and a $139.99 battery later. It died on our basement stairs every clean. It came sixth out of eight.

If I buy the cheap one on Amazon.ca, will I end up buying twice?

Often, yes. The Amazon.ca stick we ran finished the house too. Then its brush roll was wrapped in hair by day five, and the listing changed its name during the test. Its warranty came from a seller with no Canadian address and no parts. The Vekto Vacuum V18 has a brush roll that combs hair off and a battery that clicks out. You get 60 days to send it back for a full refund, and a 5-year warranty that covers the battery.

Can I still buy a battery in a few years, and what does it cost?

Expect every cordless battery to fade over two to three years. A genuine Dyson V8 battery is $139.99 at Dyson Canada. We could not find a genuine Shark PowerDetect battery on Shark's Canadian site. The Bissell and the Eureka cannot be replaced at all. On the winner the battery clicks out, the maker sells spares, and if it drops below 80% of its run time in the first five years, the warranty replaces it free.

Can I really send it back after using it?

With the winner, yes. You get 60 days to use it as your only vacuum. If it is not right, send it back for a full refund, no restocking fee, even after you have used it. That is about eight weekly cleans. Compare that with a return that wants the vacuum unused in its box, or a refurb sold as final sale. Check the 60-day money-back guarantee on the maker's page.

Does it stand on its own, or do I have to fold it?

The winner, the Levoit and the Amazon.ca stick stand up on their own when you let go. The Shark only stands when you fold it in half. The Dyson, the Tineco and the Eureka do not stand at all. The Bissell needs its parking brake.

Is it good with a dog that sheds a lot?

On this one, yes. Our test house has a husky. The brush roll with comb teeth had nothing wrapped on it after six weeks, and the bin held a whole husky day. On the Amazon.ca stick with "anti-tangle" in the title, the brush roll was wrapped solid by day five.

Can I buy the Vekto at Canadian Tire, Costco or Best Buy?

No. It is sold direct from the maker's site, priced in Canadian dollars, and ships free across Canada. Orders are dispatched in under 48 hours and arrive in 4 to 8 days. There is no store markup, which is part of why the price is what it is. The maker's page shows the price, everything in the box and the returns page.

Will it scratch hardwood or tile?

It is made for hard floors as well as carpet. Our main floor is hardwood and tile. 24 cleans left no marks. If it ever marks your floor in the first 60 days, send it back for a full refund.

Our verdict

Start with the exceptions. If your home is wall-to-wall thick carpet, the central vac or a corded upright cleans it deeper than anything here. If you want the lightest big-name vacuum for a condo, the Dyson V8 Cyclone is lovely to carry. Read Anita's view above first. If you want a five-year warranty from a name you know and the price does not matter, the Shark PowerDetect is a vacuum we would happily own.

Most Canadian houses are like ours. Hardwood or tile on the main floor, carpet upstairs, a basement, an entry that needs doing three times a week, a car, and something that sheds. If that is your house, the result is not close. One vacuum did all three floors and the car in one go, with 36% still on the screen. It only needed emptying once. It kept its brush roll clean for six weeks. Its battery clicks out, and it is covered for five years. It cost $379.

If you want to check us, try to find another cordless stick under $450 in Canada with three things. A five-year warranty that covers the battery. A 60-day return with no restocking fee. A bin over a litre. We spent six weeks looking and could not.

Everyone in our group who replaced the cordless in the closet was glad they did. On average they had put up with the dead one for over two years before replacing it. The house did not get any cleaner while they waited.

Above about $450, you are paying for the name. Below $150, there is no company behind it. In between, one vacuum did everything.

Cordless vacuum winner Canada 2026

Vekto Vacuum V18: the whole house on one charge

★ 4.8/5 from 1,318 reviews on the maker's page

One charge did our main floor, the upstairs, the basement and the car with 36% still on the screen. No other vacuum in the test finished with more
The battery clicks out. A worn battery means a new battery, not a new vacuum, and the 5-year warranty covers it
The brush roll has comb teeth built in. Nothing wrapped around it after six weeks of husky hair. No scissors
1.2-litre bin. One empty per clean, from the bottom, straight into the garbage
Stands up on its own wherever you stop. A button, not a trigger, so there is nothing to hold down
Green lights on the head show the dust you did not know was there. The screen shows the battery as a percentage
Priced in Canadian dollars. Ships free across Canada, dispatched in under 48 hours
A 2-in-1 brush tool, a crevice tool, a spare washable HEPA filter and a wall dock, all in the box

$379List $499

Check price →

$379 · 60 days to send it back for a full refund · no restocking fee · free shipping across Canada

Sold direct by Vekto. Priced in Canadian dollars, ships free across Canada.

Sources and where we bought them

Every figure on this page is a maker's own number, a published listing, an owner's own words, or something we measured. Check any of them.

Where we bought each vacuum: Vekto from shopvekto.com, Levoit LVAC-300, Bissell ICONpet Turbo and the two no-name "55 kPa" sticks from Amazon.ca, Shark PowerDetect from sharkninja.ca, Tineco Pure One S30 from Tineco's Canadian store, Dyson V8 Cyclone from Dyson Canada, Eureka RapidClean Pro from Leon's.
The test house was a 1998 two-storey in Kanata, Ontario, about 2,100 square feet over three floors including a finished basement. Each vacuum did 24 full cleans between mid-September and late October 2026, brush head on.
Dust was weighed on a 0.1 g kitchen scale, zeroed before every clean. For the hair test we laid 20 grams of husky and human hair on the upstairs hallway carpet before each clean. We photographed the brush roll every week, without cleaning it in between.
Denis Lavoie, a vacuum repair shop owner in Ottawa for 24 years, took every vacuum apart with us. No fee was paid and no product was supplied.

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