Updated Checked by the Tax-Services.ca editorial team How we check
No. If you’re a visitor to Canada, you can’t claim back the GST or HST you paid on things you bought here. The Canada Revenue Agency says so in plain words on its own site. So a tax refund for tourists in Canada, the kind of rebate you might have seen mentioned online, isn’t something you can file for today.
Why the old refund stories won’t die
There was a rebate, and for years it was a regular part of a Canadian holiday. The general Visitor Rebate Program was cancelled in 2007.
Effective April 1, 2007, the Visitor Rebate Program was cancelled
GST/HST Info Sheet GI-028, Canada Revenue Agency, canada.ca
A narrower one lingered. Non-resident visitors and tour operators could recover GST/HST on the short-term accommodation part of an eligible tour package. That rebate was repealed for supplies made after March 22, 2017, according to the CRA. Plenty of travel pages were written before those dates and never updated, which is why you still find them near the top of search results.
A second program does still exist, and it causes some confusion. The Foreign Convention and Tour Incentive Program covers sponsors and organizers of foreign conventions and non-resident exhibitors. It isn’t for a family on holiday or a person on a business trip.
What the tax adds to your bill
Since nothing comes back, the useful question is how much tax you’re paying and where. Rates depend on the province, and the price on a shelf usually leaves tax off, so a $500 purchase costs more at the till.
| Where you buy | Sales tax |
|---|---|
| Ontario | 13% HST |
| Nova Scotia | 14% HST |
| New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island | 15% HST |
| Alberta, Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut | 5% GST only |
| Quebec | 5% GST plus 9.975% QST |
| Saskatchewan | 5% GST plus 6% PST |
| Manitoba | 5% GST plus 7% RST |
British Columbia charges 5% GST plus 7% PST, but some items carry only one of the two, so check the receipt there.
A $500 purchase, worked through
Say you buy $500 of gear in Toronto. The HST is $65, and you pay $565. Run a receipt through the reverse HST calculator and it splits the total back into $500 and $65, which is handy when a price is quoted with tax included.
Buy the same $500 in Quebec and the GST and QST calculator shows $25.00 of GST and $49.88 of QST, so you pay $574.88. In Alberta, the same purchase carries only the $25 of GST. On a big trip that gap adds up. Where do you plan to shop? The sales tax calculators cover the other provinces.
Treat the sticker price as a starting point rather than the final amount. A few bucks of tax on each purchase adds up over a two-week trip.
Mistakes visitors make
- Paying a “refund agent” a fee for a rebate that doesn’t exist. Ask which CRA program the claim is filed under. If the answer is vague, walk away.
- Keeping every receipt for a claim you can’t make. The habit does no harm, but it won’t earn you a cent.
- Assuming one rate across the country. A hotel bill in Halifax and one in Calgary are taxed very differently.
- Treating a discount as tax relief. A sale price lowers the tax too, because tax is charged on what you pay, and the discount calculator shows the final price.
Private companies do advertise refund services to travellers. We couldn’t confirm any of them from an official page, so we say nothing about how they work or what they cost. If you use one, read the terms first and find out what the fee is before you hand anything over.
How should you budget for tax on a trip?
Add the local rate to anything you plan to buy. If you’re eyeing a $1,200 jacket-and-boots shopping spree in Ontario, expect $156 of HST on top, or $1,356 in all. In Alberta the same haul adds $60, for $1,260. That’s a $96 difference, so which side of a provincial line you shop on can matter more than a coupon.
What about people who live here?
Residents pay the same sales tax as visitors. Your own refund comes from your income tax return, and the tax refund calculator estimates it. That’s the only tax refund most people ever get.
Where the numbers come from
The statement about visitors and the repeal date come from Canada Revenue Agency pages on the GST/HST rebate for foreign conventions and on tour packages, read in October 2026. Provincial rates come from the CRA’s GST/HST rate table and provincial pages for 2026. The example figures are from this site’s own calculators. We aren’t a government service and we don’t speak for one.
Frequently asked questions
Can a tourist get the GST back in Canada?
No. The CRA says a non-resident visitor cannot claim a rebate of the GST/HST paid on purchases made in Canada.
What happened to the tour package rebate?
The rebate on the accommodation part of an eligible tour package was repealed for supplies made after March 22, 2017.
Does the foreign convention rebate apply to travellers?
No. It is for sponsors and organizers of foreign conventions and for non-resident exhibitors.
How much tax is on a $500 purchase in Ontario?
The HST is $65, so you pay $565.
Should I pay a company to claim a tourist refund?
Ask which official program the claim goes under and what the fee is. We could not confirm any private refund service from an official page.
- How to file your tax return in Canada: steps and dates
What to gather, when your return is due and how to file in Canada, from the first slip to the notice of assessment that closes the year