GST/HST Rate by Province: Which Rate Goes on Your Invoice

The GST/HST rate on an invoice is not set by where your business is. It depends on what you are selling, where the CRA's place-of-supply rules say the sale is made, and who you are selling to. An Alberta freelancer who bills an Ontario company for a service usually charges 13% HST, not 5% GST. This guide gives you the 2026 rate table, the rules that pick the province, and worked invoice examples for goods and services, including PST and Quebec QST.

General information based on CRA, Revenu Québec, B.C., Saskatchewan and Manitoba government pages checked on November 11, 2026. Not tax advice; confirm unusual or high-value sales with the CRA, your provincial tax office or an accountant.

GST, HST and PST rates by province (2026)

The CRA publishes this table. Participating provinces use the HST, which combines the federal and provincial parts into one rate. Everywhere else, the federal GST is 5% and any provincial sales tax is separate.

Watch Nova Scotia: its HST dropped from 15% to 14% on April 1, 2025. Old templates and spreadsheets often still say 15%. The CRA's GST/HST calculator and rate table is the place to check the current rates. To add the tax to an amount, use the HST calculator, the B.C. PST calculator or the Saskatchewan PST calculator.

How to pick the right rate in four steps

• Step 1: Check that you have to charge tax at all. If you are a small supplier and not registered, you do not charge GST/HST. Most businesses stop being small suppliers once taxable supplies pass $30,000 in a single calendar quarter or over four consecutive calendar quarters. The small supplier calculator walks through it.
• Step 2: Identify the type of supply. Goods, general services, personal services, services related to real property or an event, and computer-related services each follow their own rule.
• Step 3: Find the place of supply with the matching rule below. That province sets the GST/HST rate.
• Step 4: Add PST or QST separately, only if that province's own rules apply to the sale and you are registered (or required to register) to collect it.

Selling goods: the delivery province decides

For a sale of goods, the place of supply is generally the province where you deliver the goods or make them available, or the province you ship, mail or courier them to. The CRA's own example: a B.C. store sells a mattress to a customer in Ontario and delivers it there, so the store charges 13% HST. If the Ontario customer picks the mattress up in Vancouver instead, the place of supply is B.C.

Selling services: the client's address usually decides

For most services, one of the CRA's general rules applies. If you obtain your client's Canadian home or business address in the normal course of business, the place of supply is the province of that address. When you have more than one address, use the one most closely connected with the service. The CRA example: a Quebec web designer builds a site for an Ontario company and does all the work in Quebec. The client's business address is in Ontario, so the designer charges 13% HST.

If you never obtain a Canadian address for the client, the place of supply depends on where you perform the work. When the Canadian part is not performed mostly (more than 50%) in HST provinces, you charge 5% GST. When it is, you charge the HST of the province where the largest share is performed. An Alberta online marketing firm with no client addresses charges GST; a Nova Scotia online editing firm in the same situation charges Nova Scotia's 14% HST.

The detailed decision checklist, with addresses, mixed supplies and cross-border cases, is in our GST/HST place of supply guide for services.

Specific rules that override the client address

Some services ignore the client's address and follow their own rule.

• Personal services performed 90% or more in the client's presence, like a haircut, follow where the service is performed. Advisory, consulting and professional services are not personal services under this rule.
• Services related to real property follow where the property is. A Quebec company that paints a warehouse in Ontario charges Ontario HST.
• Services for a location-specific event, like a gala or a conference, follow where they are mainly performed. A Montreal lighting company working a gala in Kingston charges Ontario HST.
• Computer-related services and internet access used by one final recipient at one known location follow that location; otherwise the recipient's mailing address is used.
• Transportation, telecommunications, litigation, customs brokerage and a few other services have their own rules. See the CRA place-of-supply rules.

PST in British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba

PST is not part of the federal system. Each province administers it, decides which goods and services are taxable, and sets its own registration rules. B.C. requires businesses located in B.C. to register if they sell taxable goods, software or taxable services there, and says businesses located outside B.C. that sell to B.C. customers may also have to register; see Register to collect PST. Saskatchewan's 6% PST applies to taxable goods and services consumed or used in the province, and buyers self-assess when an unlicensed outside supplier does not collect it. Manitoba's 7% RST applies to most goods and certain services. Many services are not subject to PST, so check the provincial list before you add a PST line.

One 2026 change to note: B.C. planned to extend PST to accounting, architectural, engineering, geoscience, non-residential real estate and security services on October 1, 2026, but the expansion is paused (Notice 2026-001, updated September 21, 2026). Those services stay exempt for now. For B.C. invoice layouts, see how to show PST on a B.C. invoice.

Quebec: QST follows the same address logic

Quebec is not an HST province. A taxable supply made in Quebec carries 5% GST plus 9.975% QST, shown as two separate lines. Revenu Québec treats a service as performed in Québec when the client address you obtain in the normal course of business is in Québec, or, with no Canadian address, when more than 50% of the Canadian part of the work is done in Québec (Revenu Québec: Sales of Services).

That works both ways. A Quebec freelancer billing an Ontario client for a service charges 13% HST and no QST. An Ontario business billing a Quebec client charges 5% GST, plus QST if it is registered for the QST. Suppliers outside Québec that sell to Québec consumers may have to register under the specified QST system once those taxable supplies pass $30,000 over 12 months. Revenu Québec also says rounded rates such as 9.97% or 14.97% must never appear on the invoice. More detail is in the GST/QST guide for self-employed workers in Quebec.

Worked invoice examples

These rows show where each rule points. The exact agreement, the type of supply and who the client is still control the answer, and some clients or supplies are exempt or zero-rated.

Put the result on the invoice

Show each tax on its own line with its rate, and print your GST/HST registration number (and your QST or PST number where it applies). The tax invoice requirements guide lists what the CRA expects at each invoice amount, and business number on invoices shows the format. If a client is in Ontario, the Ontario HST invoice guide has a ready layout. Set the tax lines from the client's province, not from a default saved for your own province.

A free Just Invoice account saves your business, clients and items with no cap, and gives you unlimited drafts and PDFs. The only free-plan limit is three invoices or estimates emailed per month, and receipts stay free. Create one at /register, or make a one-off PDF with the free invoice generator without signing in.

Official sources

• CRA: GST/HST calculator (and rates)
• CRA: GST/HST rates and place-of-supply rules
• CRA: When to register for and start charging the GST/HST
• Revenu Québec: Sales of Services (place of supply)
• Revenu Québec: Calculating the Taxes
• Revenu Québec: Specified QST system for suppliers outside Québec
• Government of B.C.: Register to collect PST
• Government of B.C.: Notice 2026-001, professional services
• Government of Saskatchewan: Provincial Sales Tax
• Government of Manitoba: Retail Sales Tax

Frequently asked questions