Updated Checked by the Tax-Services.ca editorial team How we check
“Occ tax” has no single official meaning in Canada, so we’ve assumed an occupancy tax, the local charge on a hotel or short-term rental bill. In Toronto that’s the Municipal Accommodation Tax, 6% of the room price since 1 August 2026, with HST on top. If you meant something else, the GST/HST sections may still help.
Which occ tax are you looking for?
The term is loose. Searches for it mostly land on accommodation charges, so that’s what this page covers. If you were after a payroll levy or an event permit fee, it isn’t here, and we found no Canadian tax under that exact name.
Two layers can show up on one hotel bill. One is GST or HST, collected under federal rules. The other is a local occupancy charge set by a city or a tourism body, which is where the label “occ tax” usually belongs. Quebec adds its own provincial tax to the mix.
How does the Toronto occupancy tax work?
Toronto’s page says the Municipal Accommodation Tax applies to the room part of the price for stays of four hours or more. Meeting rooms, food and drink, room service, internet and phone are outside it when they’re itemized separately. Hotels and short-term rental operators collect it.
The rate has moved. A temporary 8.5% rate ended on 31 July 2026, and from 1 August 2026 it is 6%. That may change again, so check the city page before you budget. Exemptions on the same page include summer camps with overnight programs, campground tent and trailer sites, condo guest suites and employer-supplied staff housing.
| Line on a $200 room, one night | Amount |
|---|---|
| Room price | $200.00 |
| Toronto MAT at 6% | $12.00 |
| HST at 13% on $212 | $27.56 |
| Total you pay | $239.56 |
The HST line assumes the tax applies to the MAT portion, as the City of Toronto’s page states. Our reverse HST calculator takes a total and works back to the tax, but it doesn’t know about local levies. Add those by hand.
Stay longer and the pattern holds. Three nights at $200 is a $600 room, so MAT is $36.00, HST on $636 is $82.68, and the total is $718.68. That’s about $119.68 of tax on top of the room, which is why a $600 booking can feel like $720 at checkout. A few bucks here and there turn into a real chunk over a week away. For the wider sales tax picture, see our guide to GST, HST and PST and the page on sales tax in Toronto.
What sales tax lands on short-term stays?
The CRA treats short-term accommodation, meaning stays under a month, as taxable. There’s a narrow exception where rent is $20 or less a day. So expect GST or HST on a normal hotel night, plus any provincial sales tax where you are.
The result depends on the province. Take the same $200 room with no local charge added.
| Province | Sales tax | Tax on $200 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alberta | 5% GST | $10.00 | $210.00 |
| Ontario | 13% HST | $26.00 | $226.00 |
| New Brunswick | 15% HST | $30.00 | $230.00 |
Use the GST and PST calculator for provinces with a separate provincial tax, but remember it applies BC’s 12% to everything, so it will overstate tax on items with a lower rate. Quebec has its own pair of taxes, covered by the GST and QST calculator.
Where does the occupancy money go?
In Toronto, the city says the money funds Destination Toronto, which supports tourism, and programs visitors use, such as roads, transit and parks. Other cities set their own rates and rules, so a hotel across the province may charge more or less. We didn’t confirm the rates for other Canadian cities or for the levies in other provinces, and we won’t guess them.
How can you check a hotel bill before you book?
Ask for the total with all taxes and charges before you pay. Then compare it with this page: room price, plus the local occupancy charge, plus HST on both, as in the Toronto table above. If the line items don’t match what the hotel says, ask the front desk to explain each one. A hotel can describe a resort or destination fee differently from a tax, and those fees aren’t covered here.
Mistakes that make the bill confusing
The most common one is comparing the advertised nightly rate with a final bill and assuming the hotel added fees. Often it’s just two taxes. Another is deducting a room for a business trip without keeping the receipt that shows the tax split. If you’re self-employed, the self-employed tax calculator shows roughly what a deduction saves you, though whether a trip qualifies is a separate question.
Operators make a different mistake. If you rent out a room or a home for short stays, you may have to collect and send in MAT yourself as well as GST/HST. Toronto has separate guidance for operators. Read it before your first booking, not after.
Where the numbers come from
The Toronto rate, dates and exemptions come from the City of Toronto’s Municipal Accommodation Tax pages. The GST/HST treatment of short-term stays comes from the CRA‘s travel and convention guidance, and provincial rates from the CRA rate table. The room examples are our own arithmetic on a $200 price. We rechecked the 6% rate, the end of the temporary 8.5% rate and the HST treatment on Toronto’s municipal accommodation tax pages in November 2026.
Frequently asked questions
What is an occ tax in Canada?
There is no official label. We have assumed it means the occupancy or accommodation tax a city adds to hotel and short-term rental bills, such as Toronto’s Municipal Accommodation Tax. If you meant something else, such as a provincial levy or a licence fee, check that charge with the body that sets it.
What is Toronto’s accommodation tax rate?
The City of Toronto says the rate is 6% on stays beginning August 1, 2026. A temporary 8.5% rate ended on that date. The tax applies to the room part of the price, so meals and similar charges billed separately are outside it. Check the city page, since councils can change rates.
Is HST charged on the accommodation tax?
Yes. The City’s hotel provider page says the MAT is subject to HST, which is paid to the CRA. On a $200 room, 6% MAT is $12, so HST at 13% applies to $212 and the total comes to $239.56. Operators below the registration threshold may not charge HST.
Do short-term rentals pay it too?
In Toronto, hotel and short-term rental operators collect the 6% MAT on stays beginning August 1, 2026. If you host, you may have to collect and remit it yourself, and you may also owe GST/HST once your sales pass the registration threshold. Check the City’s page for hosts.
Are all hotel stays taxed for GST/HST?
Short stays are generally taxable. The CRA exempts accommodation rented for $20 or less a day, which almost never applies to a hotel room. Provincial sales tax or HST then depends on where the room is, so the same $200 room costs different totals in different provinces.
- How Canadian income tax works: brackets and credits
How federal and provincial Canadian income tax stack up, what marginal and average rates mean, and how credits and deductions change your bill