You must register for GST/HST once your taxable revenue passes $30,000 in a single calendar quarter or over four consecutive quarters. Below that line you are a small supplier and registration is optional. For most established tradespeople, registration is effectively automatic: construction labour and materials are taxable supplies, and $30,000 of revenue is one or two decent jobs. Once registered, you charge the rate for the province where the work is done, claim back the GST/HST you pay on business costs, and remit the difference to the CRA.
The $30,000 small-supplier threshold
The threshold is $30,000 of worldwide taxable revenue. You cross it the day your revenue exceeds $30,000 in one calendar quarter, or over the last four consecutive quarters. Once you cross it you must register within 29 days of the effective date, and you start charging tax from that day. Many tradespeople register voluntarily before they hit the threshold so they can claim input tax credits on startup tool and vehicle purchases.
Registering
You register for a GST/HST account through your CRA Business Number, online via CRA My Business Account, by phone or by mail. In Quebec, GST is administered by Revenu Quebec, so a Quebec contractor registers with Revenu Quebec for both the federal GST and the provincial QST together.
Charging the right rate by province
The rate you charge depends on where the work is supplied, not where you are based. The 2026 rate map:
- Alberta, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Yukon: 5 percent (GST only)
- Saskatchewan: 11 percent (5 percent GST plus 6 percent PST)
- British Columbia and Manitoba: 12 percent (5 percent GST plus 7 percent provincial)
- Ontario: 13 percent (HST)
- Nova Scotia: 14 percent (HST, cut from 15 percent on April 1, 2025)
- Quebec: 14.975 percent (5 percent GST plus 9.975 percent QST)
- New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island: 15 percent (HST)
In the HST provinces the federal and provincial sales tax are blended into one rate you collect and remit together. In British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, the provincial PST or RST is separate from GST and has its own rules about what is taxable, so check the provincial sales-tax treatment of your work on top of the GST. Quebec stands alone: you collect GST and QST, and Revenu Quebec runs both.
Input tax credits
The point of registering is that you get to claim back the GST/HST you pay on business purchases. These are input tax credits (ITCs). On the standard method you total the tax you charged clients, subtract the tax you paid on materials, tools, equipment, subcontractors and other business costs, and remit the difference. Keep every invoice that shows the supplier's GST number, the date, a description and the tax amount, because the CRA can ask to see them.
The Quick Method
The Quick Method is a simpler option for smaller businesses with annual taxable supplies of $400,000 or less. You elect it by filing Form GST74. Instead of tracking every input tax credit, you charge clients the normal rate but remit a lower flat percentage of your tax-included sales, and you keep the difference to cover the ITCs you are giving up. You can still claim ITCs separately on capital purchases like a vehicle or major equipment, and there is a 1 percent credit on your first $30,000 of eligible supplies each year.
The remittance rate for a trade or service business doing all its work in its home province, for 2026:
- Ontario (13 percent HST): 8.8 percent
- Nova Scotia (14 percent HST): 9.4 percent
- New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island (15 percent HST): 10.4 percent
- Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and the territories (work supplied with 5 percent GST): 3.6 percent
The Quick Method wins for high-labour, low-materials work. An Ontario contractor who collects 13 percent but remits 8.8 percent keeps the 4.2 percent gap on tax-included billings. The more materials-heavy your work, the more input tax credits you give up, and the less the Quick Method pays off. Lawyers, accountants and bookkeepers cannot use it; construction contractors can. These remittance percentages should be confirmed against the CRA's current RC4058 guide before you rely on them, as the consolidated table is periodically updated.
Common mistakes
- Treating GST/HST as your money. It is the CRA's. Amounts you collect are held in trust and survive even bankruptcy. Bank them separately.
- Charging your home rate everywhere. The rate follows the place of supply. A British Columbia contractor doing a job in Alberta charges 5 percent, not 12 percent.
- Skipping registration after crossing the threshold. You are liable for the tax you should have charged from the registration date, whether you collected it or not.
- Electing the Quick Method with heavy materials. If you buy a lot of taxable materials, the ITCs you forfeit can outweigh the flat-rate saving. Run both before electing.
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