Sales tax for Canadian Shopify stores in 2026: GST/HST, PST and QST

When you must register for GST/HST

You can sell without collecting GST/HST while you are a small supplier: worldwide taxable sales of $30,000 or less, counting those of any associated businesses. Zero-rated sales, such as goods shipped to customers in the United States, count toward that total.

There are two ways to pass the threshold, and they take effect at different times.

Charge the rate where the order goes

For goods you mail or send by courier, the place of supply is the province they are sent to. An Ontario store charges 13% HST on an order to Toronto, 5% GST on an order to Calgary and 14% HST on an order to Halifax.

Digital products, shipping and exports

Digital products follow the customer’s address. The CRA treats products delivered electronically as intangible property or services, and when they can be used anywhere in Canada, the province is set by the address you collect in the normal course of business.

Shipping usually follows the goods. In the common online setup, where you arrange delivery and bill the customer for it, the CRA’s guidance taxes the delivery charge with the order, and British Columbia charges PST on delivery of taxable goods shipped in from outside the province. In Canada, Shopify applies tax to shipping automatically, proportionally when an order mixes taxable and exempt products.

Exports aren’t exempt, they are zero-rated. You charge no GST/HST on goods shipped outside Canada, but those sales still count toward the $30,000 threshold, and you need proof of export, such as the courier record, for each one.

Provincial registration when you sell from another province

One GST/HST registration covers GST and HST everywhere in Canada. Provincial sales taxes are separate, and four provinces can require sellers based elsewhere to register.

• British Columbia: register to collect 7% PST if you deliver goods into BC and either solicit BC customers or your sales to BC customers passed $10,000 in the past 12 months, or are expected to in the next 12. A website that doesn’t target BC customers isn’t soliciting on its own.
• Saskatchewan: sellers outside the province that deliver goods into Saskatchewan must be licensed to collect 6% PST, with no revenue threshold.
• Manitoba: register for 7% RST if you solicit and accept orders from Manitoba and deliver goods there. The small-business exemption introduced in April 2024 doesn’t cover sellers outside the province who haven’t paid Manitoba RST on the goods they resell.
• Quebec: a seller outside Quebec that is registered for GST/HST must register for 9.975% QST under the specified system once its taxable sales to Quebec consumers who aren’t QST-registered pass $30,000 over 12 months.

Set up Canadian tax in Shopify

Shopify calculates Canadian tax from the registrations you enter, so the settings must match the registrations you actually hold.

• In Settings > Taxes and duties > Canada, choose Collect sales tax and add your GST/HST registration. Shopify then applies GST across Canada and HST in the participating provinces.
• Add PST, RST or QST only for the provinces where you are registered. If you have applied for a number but don’t have it yet, Shopify’s instructions are to leave the number field blank.
• Use product overrides for items taxed differently. Ontario, for example, rebates the provincial part of the HST on children’s clothing and footwear, diapers and car seats. Overrides work only with products you add to collections manually.
• Mark exempt customers under Customers > Edit tax details. Exemptions apply only in provinces where you are registered.

Don’t mark business customers exempt from GST/HST by default. Registered businesses recover the tax they pay through input tax credits; at checkout, only provincial exemptions such as resale apply.

Shopify Tax now covers Canada

Since May 13, 2026, Shopify Tax calculates Canadian GST, HST, PST, QST and RST from the customer’s province. Stores that were collecting Canadian tax before that date can stay on Basic Tax; stores set up afterwards use Shopify Tax.

Shopify lists it as free for the first $100,000 CAD of sales, counted yearly for older stores and over the store’s lifetime for stores set up after May 13, 2026. Above that, the fee is 0.25% per order on the Basic, Grow and Advanced plans or 0.15% on Plus, capped at $0.99 CAD per order, charged on Canadian sales since August 15, 2026. Check the current pricing page before you budget, as these figures can change.

Shopify Tax relies on product categories, and Shopify says checking them is your responsibility. Its tax liability insights are guidance, not a notice from a tax authority. And Shopify doesn’t file or remit Canadian returns: its automated filing service covers US sales tax only.

What changed recently

Rates and platform tools have both moved in the past eighteen months. These are the changes a Canadian Shopify store is most likely to notice.

Filing and records

Your GST/HST reporting period depends on annual taxable sales: annual up to $1.5 million, quarterly from $1.5 million to $6 million and monthly above that. Monthly and quarterly returns are due one month after the period ends. Annual filers have three months after year-end, except sole proprietors with a December 31 year-end, who file by June 15 but pay by April 30. Registrants file electronically.

Provincial returns are filed separately: through eTaxBC in British Columbia, SETS in Saskatchewan, TAXcess in Manitoba and with Revenu Québec for QST. Before each filing, reconcile Shopify’s Canada sales tax report with refunds, exempt sales and orders edited after checkout.

This article is general information, not tax advice. Rates and rules change; confirm your obligations with the CRA, the provincial ministries and your accountant.

A checklist for Canadian tax on Shopify

• Track worldwide taxable sales, exports included, against the $30,000 threshold every quarter.
• Register for GST/HST and enter the number in Settings > Taxes and duties > Canada.
• Check your sales into British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Quebec against each province’s rules.
• Add only the provincial registrations you actually hold.
• Review product categories and overrides, especially rebated or exempt items.
• Place a test order to several provinces and compare the tax with the CRA’s rates.
• Keep proof of export for every order shipped outside Canada.
• Reconcile Shopify’s tax report before each filing.