Robot Deployment Services in Canada & the USA

Short answer: KeepRobots is a robot field service company based in Vancouver, British Columbia. We deploy and commission robots made by other companies at customer sites in Canada and the United States: site survey, network and mapping, elevator and door integration, staff training, go-live and handover, then repair and maintenance afterwards if you want it. Any make; we do not sell robots. English and Mandarin.

Coverage and price: Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley get the fastest response, the rest of BC and Alberta are covered on scheduled trips, and the rest of Canada and the US per project. On-site labour is C$150/hour in Canada and US$150/hour in the US, before tax; a C$100 call-out applies in the Greater Vancouver core zone, and travel elsewhere is quoted per project before we book. Robot manufacturers can use us as their North American deployment team without hiring one, under their brand or ours.

Contact: partners@keeprobots.com (robot manufacturers), support@keeprobots.com (sites and operators) or the contact form. We reply within one business day.

How a robot deployment runs

Site survey. Floor plans, door widths, thresholds, slopes, floor finishes, traffic peaks, charging locations and a Wi-Fi/LTE walk test. Output: a written go/no-go site readiness report and a list of what the building has to fix before go-live.
Network and mapping. Network access agreed with the customer's IT (SSID, VLAN, firewall and remote-access rules), roaming tested in lobbies, back corridors and elevator cars. Then LiDAR / visual SLAM or marker-based maps, virtual walls, speed and quiet zones, charging and parking points, multi-floor maps.
Elevator, door and access integration. Robot-to-elevator link through the elevator maker's API, the robot vendor's IoT module or a dry-contact interface; automatic doors, turnstiles and card readers. The building's licensed elevator or electrical contractor does any controller or fixed-wiring work; we do the robot side and test every floor and door.
Training. Role-based training for the people who will live with the robot: front desk, servers, cleaners, warehouse leads, maintenance. Quick cards in English (and Chinese or other languages where needed), and who to call when something stops.
Go-live. Robots run the real routes and duty cycles at real traffic. We tune routes, speeds and timeouts, log every fault and stay close for the first days of operation.
Handover. Written handover: maps and settings backed up, acceptance checklist signed, open issues listed, spare parts worth keeping on site, and who handles service from here. Reports can be written in Chinese for the manufacturer's HQ.

Each step is scoped from the site survey, so the customer knows what the building needs before anyone signs off on dates. For the full list of what the deployment covers, see robot deployment and commissioning; for what the site must have ready, the commissioning checklist for Canadian sites. For on-site hours by robot type and a budget template, see robot deployment cost and timeline in Canada and the US.

Canada vs the United States: what changes

The deployment work is the same on both sides of the border. Price, travel and some compliance points are not.

	Canada	United States
Rates	C$200 diagnostic per robot, per visit, C$150/hour on-site labour, C$100 call-out in the Greater Vancouver core zone	US$200 diagnostic per robot, per visit, US$150/hour on-site labour; travel quoted per project
Who goes on site	Engineers based in Greater Vancouver; rest of BC and Alberta on scheduled trips, rest of Canada per project	Engineers travel from Vancouver per project. The US West Coast (Washington, Oregon, California) is closest. Entry status checked per project (see below). US repair and after-sales: robot service in the USA
Power	120 V / 60 Hz, North American plugs	120 V / 60 Hz, North American plugs (same as Canada)
Electrical safety mark	Equipment plugged into a building generally needs an approval mark from an accredited body (CSA, cUL, cETL and similar)	Workplaces commonly expect an NRTL mark (UL, ETL, CSA-US and similar); buyers increasingly ask about UL 3300 for service robots
Radio certification	ISED certification number on the label	FCC equipment authorization. Since July 28, 2026, new foreign-produced mobile robot models are on the FCC Covered List and cannot get new authorization; models authorized before that date can still be imported and used
Elevators and fixed wiring	Licensed elevator contractor; provincial safety authority (Technical Safety BC in BC)	Licensed local contractor; rules set by state and city
Privacy for camera-equipped robots	PIPEDA, plus provincial laws such as BC PIPA	State laws vary; customers often have their own policies

Cross-border engineers

For US projects our engineers travel from Vancouver. Before each project we check with the manufacturer: the engineer's entry status (US rules on business visitors who install or repair commercial equipment bought from abroad, and the after-sales service category in CUSMA/USMCA, depend on the contract, the work and the person; the border officer decides), tools and parts crossing the border (declarations; an ATA Carnet for temporary equipment; parts entering the US are imports), lithium battery shipping limits, the insurance certificate the US customer asks for, and who contracts and invoices whom. This is general information, not legal or immigration advice.

Power and certification

Canada and the US both run 120 V / 60 Hz with North American plugs. Chargers, docks and power supplies built for 220 V / 50 Hz markets need a North American version, and the site needs an outlet where the dock goes. The robot and its charger usually need a recognized safety mark: an accredited body's mark (CSA, cUL, cETL) in Canada, an NRTL mark in the US. See UL 3300 for service robots. Radio certification is separate in each country (ISED in Canada, FCC in the US); for new foreign-produced mobile robot models the FCC Covered List now blocks new US authorization, see FCC Covered List and robots: Canada vs the US. KeepRobots checks labels and paperwork on site; we do not provide certification or legal services.

Typical timelines

Deployment	Typical time	What usually sets the pace
Single site, one or two robots, no elevator	Survey and readiness report: 1 visit. Mapping, training and go-live: about 1–3 days on site.	The site is usually the bottleneck: Wi-Fi access, a charging outlet, staff available for training.
Multi-floor building with elevator integration	Survey: 1 visit. Integration and testing: from a few days to several weeks, mostly waiting on the elevator contractor and building approvals.	Book the elevator contractor early; the robot side is rarely the long pole.
Warehouse or plant with WMS / MES links	Survey and scoping: 1–2 visits. Commissioning: days to weeks depending on the software integration.	Agree interfaces and acceptance criteria in writing before anyone travels.
Several sites in one region (a rollout)	Planned as a sequence: the first site sets the checklist, later sites go faster.	We can group sites in one area into one trip to cut travel cost.

These are planning ranges, not promises. Dates for each project are agreed in writing after the site survey. Shipping the robot itself (customs, battery freight) is often longer than the deployment; the 30-item deployment checklist for robot makers covers what to settle before the first shipment.

Rates

Item	Canada (before tax)	United States (before tax)
On-site labour	C$150 per hour	US$150 per hour
Call-out	C$100 per visit, Greater Vancouver core zone	Not applicable; travel quoted per project
Diagnostic (repair visits)	C$200 per robot, per visit, credited against an approved repair	US$200 per visit, credited against an approved repair
Travel outside the core zone	Quoted per project	Quoted per project
Full deployment	Quoted per project after the site survey

No entry fee, annual fee or minimum volume. Partner and maintenance contracts set response targets in writing.

Who this is for

Robot manufacturers entering Canada and the US that have customers or pilots in North America but no field team: we can do the deployment, then after-sales repair, demos and spare-parts storage. See North America field service for robot manufacturers and our Vancouver service point.
Businesses putting robots into a building: hotels, restaurants, hospitals, warehouses, offices and campuses that bought robots and need someone local to make them work. For repair across Canada, see robot repair and after-sales in Canada.

FAQ

Do you deploy robots anywhere in Canada and the US?

Yes. We are based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley get the fastest response; the rest of BC and Alberta are covered on scheduled trips; the rest of Canada and the United States are served on site per project, with travel quoted before we book.

How much does robot deployment cost?

We bill on-site labour by the hour: C$150 per hour in Canada and US$150 per hour in the United States, before tax. A site visit in the Greater Vancouver core zone has a C$100 call-out; travel outside the core zone and to the US is quoted per project. A full deployment is quoted per project after the site survey, so you know the scope before anyone travels.

Which robots can you deploy?

Any make: delivery and serving robots, cleaning robots, warehouse AMRs, robotic arms and cobot cells, humanoids and quadrupeds. We do not manufacture or sell robots and are not an exclusive dealer for any brand.

Can you deploy under our brand as the manufacturer?

Yes. We can work white-label (your uniform, your ticket system, your report templates) or as KeepRobots. The customer relationship stays yours. Partnerships are non-exclusive.

Do you work with manufacturers in China?

Yes. We work in English and Mandarin, our engineers read Chinese technical documentation, and we coordinate with factory support during China working hours. Vancouver is 15 hours behind Beijing all year (BC keeps UTC-7 from 2026), so a Vancouver evening is a Beijing morning.

Who handles elevator integration?

We do the robot side: configuration, the link to the elevator maker's API or the vendor's IoT module, and testing every floor. Any work inside the elevator controller is done by the building's licensed elevator contractor, as Canadian and US rules require. We coordinate the two.

Robot deployment services in Canada and the USA