Guide · Canada
What is the GST threshold for small businesses in Canada?
· updated·5 min read
You made a handful of sales to Canadian customers, someone mentioned the GST threshold, and now you cannot tell whether you are supposed to have registered already. The rule is not complicated, but almost every explanation of it answers a different question than the one a foreign seller is actually asking.
In this article
- The exact figure, the window it is measured over, and what counts toward it
- Why the answer differs for a Canadian business and a foreign one
- The provincial taxes that a federal registration does not cover
- How often you file once you are registered
What is the GST threshold for small businesses in Canada?
The Canadian GST/HST small-supplier threshold is C$30,000 in taxable sales, measured over four consecutive calendar quarters or within a single quarter. Cross it and you must register with the Canada Revenue Agency, then charge and remit GST or HST on sales to Canadian customers. Below it, registration stays optional.
The C$30,000 small-supplier threshold
One number, one window, and a definition of "sales" that is narrower than most people assume.
The figure and the window
- CanadaGST/HSTCA$30,000Four consecutive calendar quarters
Read straight from the rule TaxesRadar monitors, so this figure is never out of date on this page.
The window is not the calendar year. It is a rolling set of four consecutive quarters, so a strong Q4 can push you over using revenue that spans two tax years. A single quarter above C$30,000 also triggers it on its own.
That rolling shape is what makes the threshold easy to cross without noticing. There is no January reset to plan around — the number you are measured against changes every three months.
What counts toward it
- Sales of taxable goods and services — most digital products and SaaS qualify
- Zero-rated supplies, which are taxable at 0% and still count
- Sales made by anyone associated with your business, which are aggregated with yours
Exempt supplies — certain financial, health and education services — sit outside the test entirely. If most of your revenue is exempt, you can trade well past C$30,000 without ever becoming a registrant.
Foreign seller or Canadian business?
The same C$30,000 is measured against two different revenue bases, and confusing them is the single most common mistake on this rule.
Non-resident digital sellers
Under the simplified digital-economy regime, a non-resident selling to Canadian consumers measures the threshold against sales to Canadians only, over a rolling 12-month period. Your revenue everywhere else is irrelevant.
Businesses established in Canada
A business resident in Canada measures worldwide taxable revenue instead. A Toronto studio billing C$28,000 to American clients and C$5,000 to Canadians is over the threshold, even though its Canadian sales are nowhere near it.
If that is you, the figure a sales-into-Canada tracker shows is a floor rather than an answer. Measure your global revenue.
What federal registration does not cover
Provincial sales taxes are separate
GST/HST is federal. British Columbia (PST), Saskatchewan (PST), Manitoba (RST) and Quebec (QST) run their own regimes with their own registration rules for foreign digital sellers, and a GST number does not register you for any of them.
| Province | Tax | Runs separately from GST/HST |
|---|---|---|
| British Columbia | PST | Yes |
| Saskatchewan | PST | Yes |
| Manitoba | RST | Yes |
| Quebec | QST | Yes |
| Ontario, Atlantic provinces | HST | No — collected with GST |
How often you file
- 1Under C$1.5 million: annuallyOne return a year, with instalments if your net tax is above C$3,000.
- 2C$1.5 million to C$6 million: quarterlyFour returns a year. You may elect monthly filing voluntarily.
- 3Over C$6 million: monthlyTwelve returns a year, and the schedule is not optional at this level.
You can always elect to file more often than required. Businesses in a refund position usually do, because a monthly cycle returns input tax credits sooner.
Tracking it without a spreadsheet
Why manual tracking fails here
The threshold is in Canadian dollars, most sellers price in USD or EUR, and the window moves every quarter. A spreadsheet answers where you stood at the moment you last updated it, which is rarely the moment that matters.
Roughly where do your Canadian sales sit?
Your sales into each, in its own currency. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Traps worth knowing about
Registration is effective before you notice
You stop being a small supplier at the moment you cross, not at the end of the quarter. The supply that took you over is itself taxable, so a late registration usually means tax you did not collect.
Associated businesses aggregate
Two companies under common control share one C$30,000 test. Splitting revenue across entities does not split the threshold.
Voluntary registration can pay
Registering below the threshold lets you claim input tax credits on Canadian expenses. For a business with real Canadian costs, that can be worth more than the compliance overhead.
Frequently asked questions
Is the C$30,000 GST threshold based on profit or revenue?
Revenue. It measures taxable supplies before any expenses — a business with C$40,000 in sales and C$45,000 in costs is over the threshold despite making a loss.
Do I need a Canadian business number to register for GST?
Yes, and the GST/HST account is issued as an extension of it. Non-residents can obtain both through the CRA's non-resident registration process without a Canadian entity.
What happens if I cross the GST threshold and don't register?
You remain liable for the tax you should have charged, plus interest and penalties. Since you cannot go back and collect it from past customers, unregistered periods usually come out of your own margin.
Does the GST threshold apply to sales to Canadian businesses?
Sales to GST-registered businesses sit outside the simplified regime for non-residents, because the buyer self-assesses. Sales to Canadian consumers are what count toward your threshold.
The short version
C$30,000 in taxable sales over four consecutive quarters, measured against sales to Canadians if you are a foreign seller and worldwide revenue if you are established in Canada. Federal registration is not the end of it — the four provincial regimes have their own rules.
Never miss a tax threshold
Connect Stripe or Paddle and TaxesRadar watches every threshold in this article — and 73 more — warning you before you cross rather than after.
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Monitoring and guidance, not tax or legal advice. Threshold figures on this page are read live from the rules TaxesRadar tracks and were last verified against their official sources. Rules change — check the linked authority before acting.