i am trying to find a billing system that won't charge to send cheques to Canada, would not have any set up fees or would not have any monthly fees and as well would no require a merchant id (whatever that is)
and i am in Toronto

Your client can post the check to you... big delays... no monthly fees... but, your bank is going to hit you hard on conversion fees per check. It's best if you can get all payments processed by someone in the US and then have them post you a check every 2 weeks.

There's no conversion fees here in Canada, Dylan. At least for US checks at CIBC.

Coolguy, instabill would suits your needs. There's no setup fee, no monthly fees, no need of merchant account and don't charge to send checks. Sure they have some things not too well with them, but they are not too bad overall.

i read on instabill that they charge $25 if the cheque is sent out of the us :(

Not true, coolguy....
I am also in Canada (Halifax, N.S.), and have used Instabill in the past. I received their checks promptly and NO, there is no $25 fee.

You have 2 options with your bank in Canada. You can setup either a Canadian Dollar or a US Dollar chequing account. If you setup a US Dollar account, then the check goes into your account without any exchange. This is useful if you ever need US Dollars for anything.

Otherwise, just setup a regular Canadian Dollar account, and each check will be converted to Canadian dollars upon deposit. Of course you always lose a little bit on the exchange, but that can't be helped. It's not that big a deal.

Hope that helps.

Cheers!
Rob.