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The federal sales tax in Canada is the 5% GST. It applies to most goods and services everywhere in the country, and in the provinces that use HST it is folded into a single higher rate. Ottawa also charges separate excise taxes and duties on a short list of things like alcohol, tobacco and air tickets, but those aren’t sales tax in the everyday sense.
What does the GST cover?
Nearly everything you buy in a shop or from a service provider carries it. Basic groceries are the famous exception. The CRA calls them zero-rated, which means the rate is 0% in every province and territory, so a loaf of bread has no GST at all. Some other supplies are exempt instead of zero-rated, and the CRA keeps a separate page that sorts supplies by type. That difference matters to a business (a zero-rated seller can still claim back the tax it paid on its own costs), but as a shopper you just see no tax on the receipt.
If you only want to know what a price becomes at the till, the GST and HST calculator does it for any province.
Where does the federal tax end and the provincial one begin?
This is where people get lost. The same 5% sits under every price, but what gets added on top depends on where the sale takes place. Four territories and provinces stop at GST. Five provinces use HST, which the CRA collects on behalf of the province. Four more charge their own tax beside the GST.
| Where | What you pay on a taxable sale |
|---|---|
| Alberta, Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut | 5% GST only |
| Ontario | 13% HST |
| New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island | 15% HST |
| Nova Scotia | 14% HST (lowered from 15% on 1 April 2025) |
| British Columbia | 5% GST plus 7% PST |
| Saskatchewan | 5% GST plus 6% PST |
| Manitoba | 5% GST plus 7% retail sales tax |
| Quebec | 5% GST plus 9.975% QST |
One quirk: in Quebec the QST is worked out on the price before GST, so the two don’t stack on each other. The GST and QST calculator handles that for you.
What does $1,000 cost after federal and provincial tax?
Take a $1,000 taxable purchase. In Alberta the tax is $50, so you pay $1,050. In Ontario the HST is $130 and the total is $1,130. In British Columbia it’s $50 GST plus $70 PST, which comes to $1,120. The same thing costs you $80 more in Ontario than in Alberta, and nothing about the item changed.
Quebec shows the quirk above. GST is $50 and QST is 9.975% of the $1,000 pre-tax price, which is $99.75, so the total is $1,149.75. If QST were charged on the price plus GST, it would come to $104.74 and you’d pay about five dollars more. It isn’t, which is a small win for shoppers in Montreal and Quebec City.
Going the other way is just as common. If the tag already says $1,130 in Ontario, the price before tax was $1,000. The reverse HST calculator strips the tax out for you, which helps when you’re reading a receipt for an expense claim.
Do small businesses have to charge federal sales tax?
Not always. The CRA lets a small supplier skip registration while its taxable sales stay at or under $30,000 over four consecutive calendar quarters. Go over it and you must register, and the CRA says you have 29 days after you stop being a small supplier or make a sale that puts you over. You can also register voluntarily, which some sellers do so they can claim back the GST they pay on supplies. Taxi and rideshare drivers are a special case and must register whatever their sales.
A driver who supplies taxable commercial ride-sharing services is deemed to be a taxi business for GST/HST purposes.
When to register for and start charging the GST/HST, canada.ca
What gets mixed up with federal sales tax?
Three things, mostly. First, excise tax is not GST. Excise duties apply to spirits, wine, beer, tobacco, cannabis and vaping products, and there’s an air travellers security charge added to tickets. The CRA’s excise pages explain each one, and the rates are not something we have checked for this page.
Second, some people still talk about a federal sales tax from before the GST. We don’t cover that history here because it isn’t on a current CRA page. Third, new homes have their own federal and provincial rebates. If you’re buying one, try the new housing rebate calculator, but read the notes on it, because part of the phase-out maths is an assumption.
Does the tax change if you shop online or across a border?
Usually the rate follows where the sale is made or where the item is delivered, which is why the same parcel can carry different tax in Calgary and Halifax. We haven’t gone through the CRA’s place-of-supply rules for every kind of online sale, so for a business case, read its guidance instead of relying on the table above.
Where we got these figures
Rates come from the Canada Revenue Agency‘s GST/HST rate page and each province’s finance site. The small supplier threshold comes from the CRA page on when to register. Manitoba’s retail sales tax is 7%, and from 1 July 2026 it also comes off prepared foods, snacks and non-alcoholic drinks sold at grocery stores. The QST figure should also be checked on Revenu Quebec. We’re an independent site, and no government body is behind it.
Frequently asked questions
What is the federal sales tax in Canada?
It is the 5% GST. In HST provinces the federal part is included in one combined rate.
Is there GST on groceries?
Basic groceries are zero-rated, so the rate is 0% everywhere in Canada.
Is excise tax the same as GST?
No. Excise taxes and duties are separate charges on items like alcohol, tobacco and air tickets.
When does a business need to register for GST?
Once taxable sales pass $30,000 over four consecutive calendar quarters, unless it is a special case such as a taxi driver.
Which provinces have only GST?
Alberta, Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
- GST, HST, PST and QST explained for every province
Which GST, HST, PST or QST applies where you shop or sell in Canada, the 2026 rates for every province, who must register and how to add or remove tax