Screen the CRA’s general rules for an ordinary advisory, consulting, professional, or remote service. Start with the recipient address you obtained, use Canadian work location only when no relevant Canadian address was obtained, and stop when a specific rule may apply.
Complete the bounded path to see a candidate federal GST/HST rate and the exact rule path that produced it.
The screener turns the CRA’s general service sequence into a documented path. It does not replace the separate rules for listed service categories.
Advisory, consulting, and professional services often use the general rules. Real-property, goods-related, personal, event, transportation, telecommunications, computer-related, and other listed services can use specific rules.
If one Canadian home or business address was obtained, use it. If several were obtained, use the home or business address most closely connected to the supply.
Determine whether the Canadian part was performed primarily in participating provinces, then identify the largest share or resolve a tie with the highest HST rate.
These simplified examples isolate the general federal place-of-supply step. Taxability, exports, registration, and provincial taxes still require separate analysis.
A Québec supplier designs an Ontario company’s website entirely in Québec. The relevant recipient business address is in Ontario, so general rule 1 points to Ontario and 13% HST.
With no Canadian recipient address and the Canadian part not performed primarily in HST provinces, general rule 2 points to a non-participating province and 5% GST.
With no Canadian recipient address and the Canadian part performed in Nova Scotia, general rule 2 points to Nova Scotia and the current 14% HST rate.
These are the current general federal GST/HST rates. The 5% entries do not include separate QST, PST, or RST, and the table does not decide which province applies.
| Province or territory | Federal system | Current rate |
|---|---|---|
| Alberta AB | GST | 5% |
| British Columbia BC | GST | 5% |
| Manitoba MB | GST | 5% |
| New Brunswick NB | HST | 15% |
| Newfoundland and Labrador NL | HST | 15% |
| Northwest Territories NT | GST | 5% |
| Nova Scotia NS | HST | 14% |
| Nunavut NU | GST | 5% |
| Ontario ON | HST | 13% |
| Prince Edward Island PE | HST | 15% |
| Quebec QC | GST | 5% |
| Saskatchewan SK | GST | 5% |
| Yukon YT | GST | 5% |
Nova Scotia’s general HST rate has been 14% since April 1, 2025. New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island are 15%; Ontario is 13%; non-participating provinces and territories use 5% GST.
Do not force real-property services, goods-related services, in-person personal services, location-specific events, transportation, telecommunications, computer-related services or internet access, customs brokerage, or another specific category through this general screener. It also does not determine whether a supply is made in Canada, taxable, zero-rated, exempt, or subject to a separate provincial tax.
Start with the relevant Canadian recipient home or business address obtained in the ordinary course of business. Your work location becomes part of the general sequence only when no relevant Canadian recipient address was obtained.
For an ordinary service, a relevant recipient address can point to the client’s province even when the work was performed elsewhere. Confirm that no specific service rule applies and that the selected address is the one most closely connected to the supply.
The general sequence looks at the Canadian part of the service: whether it was performed primarily in participating provinces, which participating province had the largest proportion, and—if largest proportions tie—which tied province has the highest HST rate.
Services involving real property, goods, in-person personal services, events, transportation, telecommunications, computer-related services or internet access, customs brokerage, and other listed categories may have specific place-of-supply rules. Stop and use the relevant CRA section.
No. This screener covers the federal GST/HST place-of-supply step only. Québec, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba have separate provincial tax systems with their own registration, nexus, and taxability rules.
No. Whether a supply is made in Canada and whether an export is zero-rated are separate questions. Confirm those issues before using this screener’s candidate rate on an invoice.
Send this bilingual screener to a Canadian freelancer, bookkeeper, or service business that needs a source-backed starting point before invoicing an interprovincial client.