Canada GST/HST $52.5 Billion [2026 Full Report]

Canada’s GST/HST system collected $52.5 billion in federal revenue in fiscal year 2024-25, per the Department of Finance’s Annual Financial Report, 10.3% of every dollar Ottawa took in that year. That single federal tax then splits ten different ways at the provincial level, from a flat 5% GST in Alberta to a combined 15% HST in three Atlantic provinces. For any business invoicing a Canadian customer, which rate applies depends on where the customer receives the supply, not on where the seller happens to be based.

How Much Does Canada Collect in GST/HST Each Year?

$52.5 billion in fiscal year 2024-25 alone, on the federal GST side. That figure made up 10.3% of total federal revenue, a share that has actually been shrinking: GST revenue was 11.2% of federal revenue the year before, in fiscal 2023-24. The provincial HST components (New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Prince Edward Island) are collected under the same combined return but flow to those provincial governments separately under the federal-provincial HST agreement, so the $52.5 billion figure captures the federal GST take only, not the full national sales-tax haul.

Figure 1: Canada’s federal government collected $52.5 billion in GST revenue in fiscal year 2024-25. Source: Department of Finance Canada, Annual Financial Report of the Government of Canada 2024-25.

What Is the Difference Between GST, HST, PST, and QST?

GST is the flat 5% tax Ottawa charges on almost every taxable supply in the country, no matter which province the customer is in. HST is what five provinces charge instead of GST plus a separate provincial tax: one combined rate, administered entirely by the CRA, that already includes the 5% federal share. The other provinces either charge GST alone (Alberta and the three territories) or charge GST plus their own separately administered provincial tax on top: PST in British Columbia and Saskatchewan, RST in Manitoba, and QST in Quebec. An invoice issued in an HST province shows one combined tax line; an invoice issued in a PST, RST, or QST province shows GST and the provincial tax as two separate lines.

Figure 2: Combined sales tax rates by province and territory, 2026. Source: Canada Revenue Agency, current GST/HST and provincial sales tax rates.

Of Canada’s 13 provinces and territories, four charge GST alone, five charge HST, and four charge GST plus their own separately administered provincial tax.

Figure 3: How Canada’s 13 provinces and territories split across the three sales tax systems. Source: Canada Revenue Agency, current GST/HST and provincial sales tax rates.

Which Provinces Charge HST, and What Changed in 2025?

Five provinces: Ontario at 13%, Nova Scotia at 14%, and New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island all at 15%. Nova Scotia is the outlier in that list because it is the only HST province to have cut its rate since harmonization began in 1997: the province lowered its provincial HST component from 10% to 9% effective April 1, 2025, taking the combined rate from 15% down to 14%. Every other HST province has held its rate steady for years, so a Nova Scotia invoice dated before April 1, 2025 and one dated after carry a genuinely different tax rate, with CRA transitional rules governing which rate applies to supplies that straddle the change.

Figure 4: Nova Scotia’s HST rate before and after its April 1, 2025 cut. Source: Canada Revenue Agency, Notice 342.

Which Provinces Charge GST Plus a Separate Provincial Tax?

Four: British Columbia (7% PST), Saskatchewan (6% PST), Manitoba (7% RST), and Quebec (9.975% QST), each layered on top of the 5% federal GST as its own separately calculated line. Quebec’s combination is the highest of the four, and the highest combined rate in the country outside the HST provinces, at 14.975%. Quebec is also unusual administratively: while British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba each run their own separate provincial tax authority, Quebec’s Revenu Québec administers both the GST and the QST together for Quebec-based registrants, so most Quebec businesses file one combined return covering both taxes rather than two.

Figure 5: GST’s share of total federal revenue fell from 11.2% in fiscal 2023-24 to 10.3% in fiscal 2024-25. Source: Department of Finance Canada, Annual Financial Reports, 2024 and 2025.

When Must a Business Register for GST/HST?

Once its worldwide taxable revenue passes $30,000, either in one calendar quarter or across four consecutive quarters. Below that line, the CRA treats a business as a “small supplier” and registration is optional. Cross it in a single quarter and the business must charge GST/HST from the transaction that pushed it over; cross it gradually across four quarters and the deadline lands at the end of the following month. Either way, a newly non-small business has 29 days from the date it stops qualifying to actually register for a GST/HST account. That threshold, and the two different ways of crossing it, gets its own full breakdown separately, since it is the single rule that determines whether a Canadian freelancer or small business needs to touch GST/HST at all.

GST/HST/PST/QST at a Glance, 2026

Province/territory	Tax system	Combined rate
Alberta, Yukon, NWT, Nunavut	GST only	5%
British Columbia	GST + PST	12%
Saskatchewan	GST + PST	11%
Manitoba	GST + RST	12%
Quebec	GST + QST	14.975%
Ontario	HST	13%
Nova Scotia	HST	14%
New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, PEI	HST	15%

The Bottom Line

Canada does not run one sales tax, it runs ten, all built on the same 5% federal GST base. Where an HST province folds everything into a single combined rate, a GST-plus-PST province forces a business to calculate, track, and remit two separate taxes on the same invoice, often to two different tax authorities. Getting the applicable rate right, and remitting on the CRA’s assigned filing schedule once revenue crosses $30,000, is a compliance detail with real financial consequences, not a rounding error. For a full breakdown of every rate by province, the $30,000 threshold’s mechanics, and the specific rules in Ontario and British Columbia, see the related guides below.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much GST does Canada collect each year?

$52.5 billion in fiscal year 2024-25, according to the Department of Finance’s Annual Financial Report, equal to 10.3% of all federal revenue that year, down from 11.2% the year before.

What is the difference between GST and HST?

GST is the flat 5% federal tax charged everywhere in Canada. HST is what five provinces (Ontario, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia) charge instead: a single blended rate, from 13% to 15%, that folds the 5% federal GST and a provincial component into one line on the invoice.

Which province has the highest sales tax in Canada?

New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island all charge 15% HST, the highest combined rate of any province. Quebec is close behind at 14.975% once its 9.975% QST is layered on top of the 5% GST.

When does a business have to start charging GST/HST?

Once its worldwide taxable revenue passes $30,000, either in a single calendar quarter or across four consecutive quarters, the CRA no longer considers it a small supplier and it has 29 days to register.

Sources and References

1. Department of Finance Canada: Annual Financial Report of the Government of Canada, Fiscal Year 2024-25 (2025)
2. Canada Revenue Agency: Charge and Collect the Tax, Which Rate to Charge (2026)
3. Canada Revenue Agency: Notice 342, Nova Scotia HST Rate Decrease (2025)
4. Canada Revenue Agency: RC4022, General Information for GST/HST Registrants (2026)
5. Canada Revenue Agency: When to Register for and Start Charging the GST/HST (2026)

Note: All figures verified as of August 2026.