Back-to-school gaming PC for kids (Canada)
For most kids 8–15, our Family at $1,499 is the back-to-school pick — it handles Fortnite, school work, video calls, and creative software. Order by mid-August for Ontario / Quebec delivery before Labour Day; early August for the Prairies and Atlantic; first week of August for BC; mid-July for the territories. Starter at $999 is enough for a younger kid focused on Roblox and Minecraft.
Cutoffs by region for delivery before Labour Day
Build window is 3–5 business days; the dates below already build that in.
| Region | Order by |
|---|---|
| Ontario / Quebec | Mid-August |
| Manitoba / Saskatchewan / Alberta | Early August |
| British Columbia | First week of August |
| Atlantic Canada | Early August |
| Yukon / NWT / Nunavut | Mid-July |
Cutoffs refreshed annually. The full transit-by-region detail (carrier, transit days) is on the shipping page.
The short answer
For most kids in this age band, the Family is the right call — it’s a real gaming PC for after-school Fortnite / Minecraft and a comfortable school computer for everything else. For a younger kid still focused on Roblox and Minecraft, Starter is enough. Plus is only worth it if your kid is in a serious competitive lane or you want a 5–6 year horizon.
Why a gaming PC works for back-to-school
1. It’s also a school and work machine
A gaming PC is, fundamentally, a fast Windows PC with a good graphics card. That means it runs Microsoft Office, Google Workspace (browser), Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, Photoshop, Premiere, Logic Pro alternatives on Windows, every coding IDE, every web app a school will throw at it. The kid doesn’t need a separate laptop.
2. One device that grows with them
Grade 4 to grade 9 is six years. The Family lasts comfortably across that span for both gaming and school work. The Plus adds another year or two of headroom for the kid who’s genuinely competitive about gaming. Across that timeframe, a single PC is much better value than a Switch + a Chromebook + an upgrade halfway through.
3. Lasting through high school
Gaming PCs age slowly compared to laptops. The motherboard, case, and power supply outlast multiple GPU generations. When the kid is 14 and wants more, a $400 GPU swap usually does the job rather than a full new computer. More on PC longevity.
Family is the volume back-to-school SKU
The Family build is the one we tell parents to pick when they are not sure. The Ryzen 5 7600 sits on AMD's newest socket, which means the motherboard will outlast two or three CPU generations. The RTX 4060 plays every game school-aged kids play today at high settings, and brings DLSS — a quality-and-frame-rate trick that keeps the card relevant well past its release year. The honest tradeoff: 8 GB of GPU memory is fine today, will start to feel tight in five years on the most demanding new releases. By then, your kid is in high school and we will happily talk about a graphics-card swap.
Highlights:
- Fortnite Performance Mode at 144 fps and Battle Royale at 100+ fps on high settings
- Modern AM5 platform — RAM and CPU can be upgraded for years before the motherboard becomes the bottleneck
- The SKU most parents pick when they are not sure
Starter for younger kids
For an 8-to-10-year-old whose main thing is Minecraft and Roblox, the Starter at $999 is enough. Save the difference. The school-software side (Office, Google Workspace, video calls) is comfortable on the Starter too — the Family’s extra power is for the gaming side, not the school side.
Setting it up before school starts
The PC arrives ready to use. We ship it pre-configured with:
- Windows 11 Home, fully updated, properly licensed.
- Latest stable drivers for every part.
- No bloatware — no McAfee trial, no manufacturer toolbar, no ad-loaded browser.
- Windows 11 Family Safety pre-configured. Your kid’s account is in the Family group; you finish setup from the parent app on your phone (walkthrough).
- Game launchers (Steam, Epic, Microsoft Store) installed but signed-out — the kid signs in to their own accounts on first run.
What we don’t install: Office or Google Workspace (most schools provide one or the other free), antivirus suites (Windows Defender is fine), or any browser other than Edge (parents tend to install Chrome themselves). Easy additions if you want them; not on by default.
If you want to install Office or set up the kid’s school Google Workspace before the first day, both take ten minutes from the kid’s side and you’ll save the morning-of-school stress.
Parental controls included
Every PC ships with Windows 11 Family Safety pre-configured before it leaves Leaside. The Parental Controls Kit in the box has a printed setup card and links to free guides for every game your kid plays. Set screen-time caps, content filters, and weekly activity reports from the parent app on your phone. Browse the parental-controls hub.
Compare the three PCs
- Starter $999 — A real gaming PC under $1,000 — for Minecraft, Roblox, and lighter Fortnite.
- Family $1,499 — The gaming PC most parents pick — Fortnite at 144 fps, Minecraft with shaders, room to grow.
- Plus $1,899 — For higher-frame Fortnite, 1440p, and growing-up gaming through high school.
Frequently asked questions
When do I need to order to have it before school?
Allow for both the build window (3–5 business days) and the transit window. Roughly: order by mid-August for Ontario / Quebec, early August for the Prairies and Atlantic, the first week of August for BC, mid-July for the territories. The full table is on the shipping page.
Will it run [popular school software / video conf]?
Yes — Microsoft Office, Google Workspace, Zoom, Teams, Google Meet, Photoshop / Photoshop Express, Adobe Premiere Rush, GarageBand-equivalents on Windows, every modern web app. Even the Starter handles all of this comfortably; the Family is overkill for school work specifically (it's the gaming and creative-software upside that earns the price).
Does it come with Microsoft Office?
No — we don't bundle Office because most schools provide it free through Microsoft 365 for Education or Google Workspace for Education. If your school doesn't, the home Office subscription is $99/year direct from Microsoft. We don't mark it up.
Can my kid use it for video editing class?
Yes. The Family handles 1080p video editing in Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve comfortably; 4K editing benefits from the Plus's 32 GB RAM but the Family does it. For light video work (Premiere Rush, iMovie-equivalent), the Starter is enough.
What if it doesn't arrive in time?
We tell you immediately if a build is going to slip a cutoff date. If it does, you have two options: a full refund, or a held build for the date you actually need it. We don't use cutoff dates to manufacture urgency — they're honest carrier deadlines.