Checked 15 October 2026. What was checked. How these pages are maintained.
Canadian sales tax in brief
GST is 5% federal. HST combines GST and provincial tax in participating provinces: 13% in Ontario and 15% in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. Alberta and the territories charge GST only. BC, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Quebec add their own provincial tax on top of GST.
To add tax: total = price × (1 + rate). To remove tax: pre-tax = total ÷ (1 + rate). Rates change. Confirm on the CRA or provincial finance site before you file or invoice.
Worked example
An $80 cart in Alberta is $84 with 5% GST. The same cart in Ontario is $90.40 with 13% HST. The $6.40 gap is the provincial part of HST, not a different shelf price.
A $100 taxable item in Ontario is $113 with 13% HST. To recover the pre-tax amount from a $113 receipt, divide by 1.13 to get $100. Subtracting 13% from $113 gives $98.31, which is the usual off-by-a-couple-dollars mistake. In Alberta the same $100 is $105 with 5% GST.
Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and PEI use 15% HST. BC, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba add PST on top of GST (the combined rate is not HST). Quebec is GST + QST; 14.975% is a common combined figure on a taxable sale. Confirm on Canada.ca before you invoice.
The same shelf price at two tills
GST is 5 percent federal. An $46 item in Alberta is 46 × 1.05 = $48.30, tax $2.30. The same $46 in Ontario at 13 percent HST is 46 × 0.13 = $5.98 of tax and a total of $51.98. The shelf price did not move. The provincial part of HST did. Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island are 15 percent on this page. A $46 item there is $52.90.
Taking the tax back out is division, not subtraction. $51.98 ÷ 1.13 = $46. Subtracting 13 percent from $51.98 is 51.98 × 0.87 = $45.22, which is $0.78 light and the usual receipt mistake. The direction control is “add tax” or “remove tax.” Removing tax is the receipt check. Adding tax is the invoice check.
Presets that are a shortcut
British Columbia and Manitoba are listed near 12 percent, and Saskatchewan near 11 percent, because those provinces charge GST plus their own provincial tax on many goods. The preset is a single combined rate on the pre-tax price. A store that taxes only one of the two, or that applies provincial tax to a different base, will not match. Quebec on a typical taxable sale is GST plus QST, and this page uses 14.975 percent on the pre-tax amount, which matches QST calculated on the price rather than on price-plus-GST. Basic groceries are often zero-rated. A restaurant meal usually is not. This page will not classify the item. Confirm a rate on Canada.ca before you send an invoice. The video on the $80 cart is the same split: $84 in Alberta, $90.40 in Ontario.
The tip people add on top
The till total is the tax. It is not the tip base unless you mean it to be. Eighteen percent of the meal is not eighteen percent of the till total.
Watch the same example
The video uses the $80 cart in the example: $84 in Alberta, $90.40 in Ontario, then dividing the till total back to the pre-tax price.
Common questions
Is food taxable?
Basic groceries are often zero-rated for GST/HST. Restaurant meals usually are taxable. This tool does not classify items.
How do I handle Quebec?
Type 14.975 as the rate for typical GST + QST on a taxable sale, or calculate each tax separately if you invoice that way.