Canadian sales tax is not one system but three overlapping ones. Five provinces blended their tax into a single harmonised rate. Three provinces and all three territories charge federal GST alone. And four provinces run their own sales tax alongside GST, each administered separately with its own registration, rules and filing.
The four provinces and their rates
- British Columbia — PST at 7%, alongside 5% GST, for a combined 12%.
- Saskatchewan — PST at 6%, for a combined 11%.
- Manitoba — Retail Sales Tax at 7%, for a combined 12%.
- Quebec — QST at 9.975%, for a combined 14.975%.
The other provinces are simpler. Ontario charges 13% HST; New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island charge 15%; Nova Scotia charges 14% following its reduction in April 2025. Alberta, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon charge 5% GST only.
Try it freePST, RST & QST CalculatorProvincial sales tax for BC, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Quebec.Quebec is the one people get wrong
QST was historically charged on the GST-inclusive amount, which compounded the two taxes. That ended in 2013. QST is now applied to the same pre-tax base as GST, so on a $100 sale in Quebec you charge $5.00 GST and $9.975 QST — $114.98 in total, not the higher figure the old compounding method produced.
Quebec also administers both taxes itself through Revenu Québec rather than the CRA, so a business operating there files with a different authority even for the federal portion.
Manitoba calls its tax Retail Sales Tax rather than PST. It behaves much the same way, but the terminology matters when reading provincial guidance or configuring accounting software.
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What is taxed differs by province
This is the part that catches businesses selling across provincial lines. GST/HST has a broadly consistent base. The provincial taxes do not — each province maintains its own list of what is taxable and what is exempt, and they genuinely disagree.
Professional services are frequently exempt from PST but subject to GST. British Columbia taxes most software and telecommunications. Saskatchewan applies PST to a range of services other provinces leave alone, including some construction and repair work. Children’s clothing, basic groceries and prescription drugs are commonly exempt but not identically. Assuming that anything subject to GST is also subject to PST will produce wrong invoices.
Place of supply decides the rate
You charge based on where the customer takes delivery, not where your business sits. An Ontario company shipping goods to a customer in British Columbia charges BC rates. A Vancouver consultancy serving an Ontario client generally charges Ontario HST.
The consequence is that selling into a PST province can require registering there — separately from your GST/HST registration — once you have sufficient connection to it. Each province sets its own rules for when an out-of-province seller must register, and those rules have tightened considerably for online sellers and digital services. British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Quebec have all extended registration requirements to businesses with no physical presence.
For a small business selling occasionally across borders this is usually manageable. For anyone running an online store shipping nationally, it is worth a deliberate review rather than an assumption, because four separate provincial registrations with four filing calendars is a meaningfully different administrative load from one GST/HST return.
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Frequently asked questions
- Which provinces charge PST on top of GST?
- British Columbia at 7%, Saskatchewan at 6%, Manitoba at 7% (called Retail Sales Tax) and Quebec at 9.975% (called QST).
- Is QST charged on top of GST?
- Not since 2013. QST now applies to the same pre-tax amount as GST, so the two are calculated in parallel rather than compounded.
- Do I charge my own province’s rate or my customer’s?
- Your customer’s. Place of supply rules mean the rate follows where the customer takes delivery of the goods or services.
- Do I need to register for PST in every province I sell to?
- Only where you have enough connection to trigger that province’s registration rules, which each province sets separately. Those rules now commonly capture online sellers with no physical presence.
General information only — not tax, legal, accounting or financial advice. Rates change and individual circumstances vary. Confirm figures with the CRA, the IRS, your state or provincial authority, or a licensed professional before acting on them.
Calculators for this
Sources & methodology
FTT Finance-To-Thrive is an independent publisher of free finance calculators. The links below explain the rules and assumptions relevant to this page. Calculators use simplified models; for example, state and provincial income-tax estimates may omit brackets, credits, or local rules. See the formula and limitations on each calculator. We are not accountants, tax preparers, mortgage brokers or financial advisors, and nothing on this page is advice. Rates change and individual circumstances vary — confirm figures against the primary source before you file, sign or commit money. Read more about how we work and our funding & disclosure.
Page content last updated 2026-08-08
Primary sources
- Revenu Québec — QST and GST/HST
- British Columbia — PST
- Saskatchewan — PST
- Manitoba — Retail Sales Tax (RST)
Source links are provided separately from the original content dates. They do not imply that an authority endorses this site or that every figure has been independently reviewed.
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