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Most food tax in Ontario is zero, because basic groceries carry 0% HST. Snacks, candy, pop and hot prepared food are the exceptions and carry the full 13%. So a $15 bag of chips and a bottle of pop costs $16.95, while $15 of milk and bread costs $15.
How does food tax work in Ontario?
Ontario’s HST is 13%, made up of 5% federal and 8% provincial. The CRA zero-rates basic groceries in every province and territory. That means the tax applies at 0%, not that the store has left it out by accident.
The test the CRA uses is practical. A product is food or a drink if an average shopper would recognise it as one and buy it in the ordinary course of grocery shopping. From there, the rules split items into zero-rated and taxable, and the split is not always where you’d guess. The CRA’s GST/HST Memorandum 4.3 on basic groceries is the long version, with paragraph after paragraph of examples.
Which foods carry HST and which don’t?
Here are examples from the CRA’s own lists.
| Type | 0% (basic groceries) | 13% HST in Ontario |
|---|---|---|
| Snacks | Most crackers, unpopped popcorn kernels | Chips, puffs, granola bars, trail mix, salted nuts |
| Drinks | Milk, juice with 25% or more juice, plain bottled water in larger sizes, coffee beans, tea leaves | Carbonated drinks, sparkling water, fruit drinks under 25% juice, single-serve bottled water |
| Sweets | Baked goods sold in packages of six or more | Chocolate bars, candy, single-serving ice cream, baked goods sold in fewer than six |
| Prepared food | Frozen uncooked pizza, bread without sweet fillings | Hot food from a heated case, catered platters, vending machine food |
Some of these come down to a count. Six donuts or muffins in a package are zero-rated, while five aren’t. Single-serve water is taxed, but a multipack or a bottle over 600 mL isn’t.
Small twists show up all over. Unpopped popcorn kernels are zero-rated, but popped popcorn is taxable. Fruit juice drinks cross the line at 25% real juice. If a label feels like it was written by a lawyer, that’s because the line really does hinge on a few percentage points.
What does a mixed grocery cart cost?
You buy $85 of staples (milk, bread, eggs, produce) and $15 of chips and pop. The staples carry no tax. The snacks carry 13%.
The GST and HST calculator confirms the taxable part: $15.00 plus $1.95 of HST is $16.95. Your whole cart is $101.95, and the tax is 1.95% of the $100 you spent. Not the 13% people often assume.
Want to check a receipt after the fact? The reverse sales tax calculator works backward from a total. Tracking the weekly grocery spend? Try the budget calculator.
What about restaurants and takeout?
Restaurant meals and hot food from a heated case are taxable, so HST applies at 13%. There’s one carve-out. Under an Ontario point-of-sale rebate, qualifying prepared food and drinks sold for $4.00 or less in total, before tax, have the 8% provincial part rebated at the till, so the seller collects only 5%. The CRA gives a cheeseburger and diet soda under $4.00 as an example.
Above $4.00, the full 13% applies to the whole bill. The CRA sheet says qualifying food must be ready for immediate consumption, whether eaten on or off the premises, and alcohol does not qualify.
Why is a coffee and a muffin taxed differently from groceries?
Because once it’s prepared or heated for you to eat now, it stops being a grocery in the CRA’s eyes. Picture Aisha grabbing a double-double at the drive-through for a couple of loonies, then a box of six muffins from the supermarket bakery on the way home. The coffee comes under the prepared food rules, and the box of six is zero-rated. Same morning, two different tax treatments.
How do you estimate the tax on a weekly grocery shop in Ontario?
Sort the cart into two piles before you reach the till. Basic groceries go in the first pile and carry no tax. Snacks, carbonated drinks, candy and hot food go in the second and carry 13%. Suppose you spend $120 on staples and $30 on snacks and pop. The tax is $3.90 (13% of $30), so the cart costs $153.90. Across the $150 you spent, that is an effective rate of 2.6%.
The same method works for a budget. If the second pile is the same size every week, multiply its total by 0.13 and you know the weekly tax. The effective rate rises with the size of the taxable pile, so a household that buys more snacks than staples will see a higher figure than the examples on this page.
How can you check a borderline item before you buy?
Many food items sit near a line, so read the label for the facts the CRA uses. Count the pieces in a baked goods package, since six or more is treated differently from fewer than six. Check the juice percentage on a drink, because 25% juice or more is on the zero-rated side. Look at the container size for water, since a bottle over 600 mL and a multipack are not treated like a single-serve bottle.
If the receipt shows a tax line for something you expected to be untaxed, compare it with the CRA's lists before you decide the till is wrong. The product's category and its package can both matter. When you still are not sure, ask the store how the item is set up, and check the CRA page for that product type.
Common mix-ups
“Isn’t all food tax-free?” No. Candy, pop and snack foods are taxed, and granola bars count as snacks.
Another one: the tax on a single item looks tiny, so nobody notices it. It isn’t tiny across a year. If you spend $30 a week on taxable snacks, that’s $3.90 of HST a week, or $202.80 over 52 weeks.
And what if your income is low and groceries stretch the budget? Federal help exists in the GST/HST credit, and the GST/HST credit calculator gives an estimate. It’s not a grocery rebate, though, and it doesn’t depend on what you buy.
Related reading: GST and HST in Ontario, GST on restaurant meals and the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit.
The sources behind this page
Ontario’s 13% HST rate and the grocery rules come from the Canada Revenue Agency, including its pages on basic groceries, snack foods, beverages and the prepared food rebate, read in September 2026. The example totals come from this site’s calculators. We aren’t connected to the CRA or any government, and product rulings can change, so check the current CRA page for an item you’re unsure about.
Rechecked in November 2026 on canada.ca: the zero-rated and taxable food rules (crackers, snack foods, candy, carbonated drinks and the six or more rule for baked goods) in the CRA’s GST/HST memorandum on basic groceries. The Ontario $4.00 prepared food rebate comes from the CRA’s information sheet GI-064, checked on November 13, 2026. The sheet is dated July 2010 and does not say whether the rebate has changed since, so check it at the till.
Frequently asked questions
Is there tax on groceries in Ontario?
Basic groceries such as milk, bread and produce carry 0% HST. Snacks, candy, carbonated drinks and hot prepared food carry the full 13%. Whether an item is taxable depends on what it is and how it is sold, so check the CRA’s list for an odd product.
Is HST charged on restaurant meals in Ontario?
Yes, at 13%. A rebate of the 8% provincial part applies at the till to qualifying prepared food and drinks totalling $4.00 or less before tax, so the seller collects only 5%. Above $4.00 the full 13% applies to the whole bill.
Why are chips taxed but crackers aren't?
The CRA treats crackers, other than graham crackers, as zero-rated basic groceries, and chips, puffs, curls and similar snacks as taxable. For a borderline product the CRA looks at ingredients, texture, labelling and marketing, so no single factor decides it.
Are baked goods taxed in Ontario?
It depends on the count. Pre-packaged goods such as muffins, donuts or cookies in packages of six or more single servings are zero-rated, and fewer than six are taxable. Bread products without sweet fillings or coatings, such as bagels, are zero-rated.
What is the HST rate in Ontario?
It is 13%, made up of 5% federal GST and 8% provincial tax. The 0% on basic groceries means no GST and no provincial part is charged on those items. Our HST calculators let you split a total into the price and the tax.
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