Quick answer: the 2026 rates
Canada has one federal sales tax (the 5% GST) and three ways provinces layer on top of it: a harmonized sales tax (HST) that replaces the GST, a separate provincial sales tax (PST, RST, or QST) charged alongside the GST, or nothing at all. The table below shows every province and territory, checked against the Canada Revenue Agency's rate table and provincial finance ministries in September 2026.
Need a number fast? Use our sales tax calculator to add or remove GST, HST, PST, or QST for any province.
| Feature | GST | PST / RST / QST | HST | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alberta | 5% | None | None | 5% |
| British Columbia | 5% | 7% PST | None | 12% |
| Manitoba | 5% | 7% RST | None | 12% |
| New Brunswick | Included | None | 15% | 15% |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | Included | None | 15% | 15% |
| Northwest Territories | 5% | None | None | 5% |
| Nova Scotia | Included | None | 14% | 14% |
| Nunavut | 5% | None | None | 5% |
| Ontario | Included | None | 13% | 13% |
| Prince Edward Island | Included | None | 15% | 15% |
| Quebec | 5% | 9.975% QST | None | 14.975% |
| Saskatchewan | 5% | 6% PST | None | 11% |
| Yukon | 5% | None | None | 5% |
This guide is general information, not tax advice. Rates are the general rates: specific goods and services can be zero-rated, exempt, or taxed differently, so ask an accountant if you are unsure how your products are treated.
What changed recently: Nova Scotia's HST cut
The most recent HST rate change is in Nova Scotia. As of April 1, 2025, the HST rate in Nova Scotia decreased from 15% to 14%, according to the CRA. If your invoicing or point-of-sale system was set up before then, confirm that Nova Scotia customers are being charged 14%, not 15%.
We found no other GST, HST, PST, RST, or QST general rate changes in effect as of September 2026. British Columbia's PST remains 7%, Saskatchewan's PST 6%, Manitoba's RST 7%, and Quebec's QST 9.975%. Always check the CRA table before year end, since provinces usually announce changes in their spring budgets.
GST, HST, PST, RST and QST: what each one means
- GST (Goods and Services Tax): the 5% federal tax. It applies across Canada on taxable supplies.
- HST (Harmonized Sales Tax): in Ontario, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island, the provincial tax is combined with the GST into one tax. You charge a single rate, report it on one GST/HST return, and the CRA administers it.
- PST (Provincial Sales Tax): a separate provincial tax in British Columbia (7%) and Saskatchewan (6%). You charge it next to the GST, but you register and file with the province, not the CRA.
- RST (Retail Sales Tax): Manitoba's name for its 7% provincial sales tax. Same idea as PST.
- QST (Quebec Sales Tax): Quebec's 9.975% tax, administered by Revenu Québec, which also administers the GST for businesses located in Quebec.
In Alberta, Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut, there is no provincial or territorial sales tax, so only the 5% GST applies.
Which rate do you charge? Place-of-supply basics
This is the part that trips up most small businesses: the rate depends on where the sale is made for tax purposes (the "place of supply"), not where your business is located. A business in Alberta can owe 13% HST on a sale to an Ontario customer.
The CRA's general place-of-supply rules, simplified:
- Goods: the place of supply is the province where the goods are delivered or made available to the customer. If you ship or courier them, it is the province you ship to. The CRA's own example: a British Columbia store that delivers a mattress to a customer in Ontario charges 13% HST.
- Services (general rule): if you obtain the customer's home or business address in the normal course of business, the place of supply is the province of that address. The CRA's example: a Quebec web designer building a site for an Ontario company charges Ontario HST, even though the work is done in Quebec.
- Services with no address: if you do not have a Canadian address for the customer, the rules look at where the Canadian part of the service is performed.
- Real property: taxed in the province where the property is located.
There are many specific rules for particular services (for example, services related to real property, personal services performed in person, freight, and telecommunications). If most of your work falls into one of those categories, read the CRA's place-of-supply memoranda or ask an accountant.
How PST differs by province
The four provinces with a separate sales tax do not work the same way. The main differences small businesses run into:
British Columbia: 7% PST
B.C.'s PST generally applies at 7% on the purchase or lease price of goods and certain services, with exceptions. You must register if you are located in B.C. and make taxable sales in the ordinary course of business, and some businesses outside B.C. that sell into the province must register too.
B.C. has a small seller exception: very small businesses may not need to register if their gross revenue from retail sales was $10,000 or less over the past 12 months and is expected to stay at $10,000 or less over the next 12 months (see B.C. Bulletin PST 003 for the full criteria). The tradeoff is that small sellers cannot use some exemptions, such as buying goods for resale without paying PST.
Saskatchewan: 6% PST
Saskatchewan's PST is 6% on taxable goods and services consumed or used in the province. The province says all businesses operating in Saskatchewan must be licensed or registered with the Ministry of Finance for PST purposes, receiving either a vendor's licence number (if they sell taxable goods or services) or a registered consumer number.
Manitoba: 7% RST
Manitoba's general retail sales tax rate is 7%. Since an April 2024 information notice, small businesses with annual taxable sales under $30,000 are not required to register and collect RST, with conditions. Businesses that choose not to register must pay RST on their own purchases (including goods for resale), and their invoices must say RST is included in the price rather than listing it separately. Businesses that sell tobacco or liquor, or that buy from out-of-province suppliers who do not collect Manitoba RST, cannot use this exception. Once sales pass $30,000, you get one month to register and start collecting. Manitoba's online service for RST registration and filing is TAXcess.
Quebec: 9.975% QST
Quebec's QST is 9.975%, calculated on the selling price excluding the GST, so the combined rate is 14.975%. Revenu Québec uses the same $30,000 small supplier threshold as the GST. Businesses physically located in Quebec register and file both the GST and QST with Revenu Québec. Registrants can generally claim back QST paid on business purchases as input tax refunds, similar to GST/HST input tax credits.
Registering for PST separately
Your GST/HST registration with the CRA does not register you for PST, RST, or QST. Each is a separate account:
- British Columbia: register with the B.C. Ministry of Finance for a PST number.
- Saskatchewan: register with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Finance for a vendor's licence.
- Manitoba: register with Manitoba Finance for an RST number, online through TAXcess.
- Quebec: register for the QST with Revenu Québec, usually at the same time as the GST.
Unlike GST/HST, provincial PST and RST are generally not recoverable through input tax credits. The PST you pay on business purchases is usually a cost, unless a provincial exemption (such as buying goods for resale while registered) applies.
If you have not registered for GST/HST yet, start with our guide to registering for a GST/HST number.
Worked example: one invoice, four customers
Say you run a GST/HST-registered consulting business in Calgary and you bill four business clients CAD $2,000 each for a service. You have each client's business address on file, so under the general services rule, the place of supply is the client's province.
| Feature | Tax charged | Tax amount | Invoice total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Client in Edmonton, AB | 5% GST | $100.00 | $2,100.00 |
| Client in Toronto, ON | 13% HST | $260.00 | $2,260.00 |
| Client in Halifax, NS | 14% HST | $280.00 | $2,280.00 |
| Client in Montreal, QC | 5% GST (QST see note) | $100.00 | $2,100.00 |
A few things to notice:
- Ontario and Nova Scotia: you charge HST at their rates and report it on your normal GST/HST return with the CRA. No separate provincial registration.
- Quebec: GST applies at 5%. Whether you also have to charge the 9.975% QST depends on Revenu Québec's rules for suppliers outside Quebec, which differ from the GST/HST rules and depend on who your customer is and whether you are registered for the QST. If you are registered for the QST, the tax would be 5% GST ($100) plus 9.975% QST on the $2,000 pre-tax price ($199.50), for a total of $2,299.50.
- B.C., Saskatchewan, or Manitoba clients: you would charge 5% GST under the federal rules, and whether PST or RST applies depends on that province's rules and whether the service is taxable there.
For goods, the same logic applies based on where you deliver. The sales tax calculator handles the math for each province once you know which taxes apply.
Pulling tax-inclusive prices apart
If a price already includes tax, divide by one plus the rate to find the pre-tax amount. For a $113.00 tax-included price in Ontario: $113.00 divided by 1.13 is $100.00 before tax, so $13.00 is HST. In Quebec, divide by 1.14975. This matters for quick method filers and for reading receipts when you claim input tax credits.
Common sales tax mistakes small businesses make
Most sales tax errors come from a handful of assumptions. Each of these follows directly from the rules above.
Charging your own province's rate on every sale. If you are in Alberta and bill everyone 5% GST, you undercharge every client in an HST province. As a registrant, you are responsible for charging the rate that the place-of-supply rules call for, and fixing undercharged invoices after the fact is awkward for you and your client.
Still charging 15% in Nova Scotia. Tax rates saved in invoicing templates, online store settings, and point-of-sale systems do not always update themselves. A system configured before April 1, 2025 may still have the old rate.
Calculating QST on top of GST. QST is 9.975% of the pre-tax price, not of the price plus GST. On a $1,000 sale in Quebec, the GST is $50.00 and the QST is $99.75, for a total of $1,149.75. If you calculate QST on $1,050, you overcharge by about $5.
Treating PST like GST. PST and RST are separate provincial taxes with their own registration, their own returns, and their own lists of what is taxable. Your GST/HST number is not a PST number, and PST you pay on business purchases generally cannot be claimed back on your GST/HST return.
Assuming small means exempt from everything. The GST/HST small supplier threshold ($30,000) is not the same as B.C.'s small seller threshold ($10,000) or Manitoba's RST threshold ($30,000 in annual taxable sales, with conditions). Saskatchewan requires every business operating in the province to be licensed or registered for PST. Check each tax separately.
Forgetting that zero-rated is not exempt. Some goods and services are zero-rated (taxable at 0%) and others are exempt (not taxable at all). The difference matters for input tax credits and for your registration threshold, so confirm how your products are classified before you set up tax rates. The CRA's GST/HST guides and your accountant are the right places to check.
Keeping rates right in your software
Most Canadian invoicing and accounting tools let you save a tax rate per customer or per line item, which is how you apply the place-of-supply rules without doing it by hand on every invoice. When a rate changes (as Nova Scotia's did in 2025), you usually have to update the saved rate yourself or confirm your vendor did.
- Compare options in our best invoicing software for Canadian contractors.
- For full books and GST/HST return reports, see our best accounting software in Canada.
Frequently asked questions
What is the HST rate in Nova Scotia in 2026?
14%. Nova Scotia lowered its HST from 15% to 14% effective April 1, 2025, and the CRA's rate table still shows 14% as of September 2026.
Which provinces charge HST?
Five: Ontario at 13%, Nova Scotia at 14%, and New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island at 15%. HST replaces separate GST and provincial tax in those provinces.
Which provinces have no provincial sales tax?
Alberta has no provincial sales tax, and neither do Yukon, the Northwest Territories, or Nunavut. Sales there carry only the 5% GST.
Do I charge my province's rate or my customer's?
Generally your customer's. Under the CRA's place-of-supply rules, goods are taxed where they are delivered, and most services are taxed based on the customer's address that you obtain in the normal course of business.
Is QST calculated on the price including GST?
No. QST at 9.975% is calculated on the selling price excluding GST, so the combined rate in Quebec is 14.975%.
Does a GST/HST number cover PST too?
No. In British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, PST or RST is a separate provincial tax with its own registration. In Quebec, Revenu Québec handles both GST and QST, but they are still two separate registrations.
Sources
- GST/HST calculator and rates, Canada Revenue Agency (checked September 2026)
- GST/HST and place-of-supply rules, Canada Revenue Agency (checked September 2026)
- B.C. provincial sales tax (PST), Province of British Columbia (checked September 2026)
- Bulletin PST 003, Small Sellers, Province of British Columbia (checked September 2026)
- Provincial Sales Tax, Government of Saskatchewan (checked September 2026)
- Retail Sales Tax, Manitoba Finance (checked September 2026)
- Information Notice RST 24-01, Registration Requirement Eliminated for Small Business, Manitoba Finance (checked September 2026)
- Calculating the Taxes, Revenu Québec (checked September 2026)
- Register as a resident with a Canadian business, Canada Revenue Agency (checked September 2026)