When Do I Have to Register for GST/HST in Canada?

Verdict

Usually yes, once your revenue goes over $30,000. Federally, a business must register for GST/HST once its taxable revenue (before expenses) exceeds $30,000 in a single calendar quarter or over the previous four consecutive calendar quarters. The word “exceeds” matters: at exactly $30,000 or less, a business is a “small supplier” under section 148 of the Excise Tax Act and registration is optional: the obligation is triggered only when revenue goes over $30,000, not when it reaches it. This rule comes from the CRA and applies identically whether the business operates in Ontario, Alberta, or anywhere else in Canada, since GST/HST registration and the small supplier threshold are set and administered federally, not provincially.

Ontario businesses register with the federal government for a GST/HST account once they exceed that $30,000 threshold; there is no separate Ontario registration step. Alberta has no provincial sales tax at all, and Alberta’s own government site directs all GST enquiries, including registration, to the CRA. In both provinces, the process, forms, and threshold are the same because there is only one system: the federal one.

What counts toward the $30,000 threshold

Federally, “total revenue” for this test includes revenue from taxable sales, leases, and other supplies, including supplies taxed at 0% (called zero-rated supplies), plus the taxable supplies of any businesses associated with yours (for example, related corporations under common control). It does not include exempt supplies (services the law does not tax at all), financial services, proceeds from selling capital property, or goodwill received from selling the business itself. A new business that hasn’t yet reached a full year of operation may give the CRA a reasonable estimate of its expected income for the year when working out whether registration is required.

When the registration actually takes effect

Federally, the effective date depends on which way the threshold was crossed. If revenue exceeds $30,000 within a single calendar quarter, small-supplier status ends immediately and the effective date of registration is no later than the day of the supply that pushed revenue over $30,000. If revenue instead exceeds $30,000 over the previous four (or fewer) consecutive calendar quarters without doing so in any single quarter, the effective date of registration is no later than the day of the first supply made after small-supplier status ends. This matters because GST/HST obligations, collecting the tax, remitting it, filing returns, start from that effective date, not from the date the paperwork is filed.

The taxi and ride-share exception

Federally, taxi operators and drivers who supply commercial ride-sharing services must register for GST/HST even if their revenue never reaches $30,000. For this group, the small supplier exemption simply does not apply. The effective date of registration is the day they start supplying taxable passenger transportation services, not the day any revenue threshold is crossed.

Registering voluntarily before you’re required to

Federally, a business that is still a small supplier can choose to register anyway. In that case, the effective date of registration is usually the date of the request, though it can be set up to 30 days earlier if requested. One consequence to weigh: once registered voluntarily, a business may need to remain registered for at least one year before it can cancel that registration.

If you were late registering

Federally, if a business was actually required to register, or had already started charging GST/HST, for more than 30 calendar days before it got around to registering, the CRA requires it to follow a specific process for backdating the registration by more than 30 days. This is distinct from the more routine adjustment available when the gap is 30 days or less.

Ontario and Alberta: no separate provincial step

Because GST/HST is a federal tax collected under one national system, there is nothing extra to file with the Ontario or Alberta governments. Ontario is a participating province for HST purposes, but the account, the threshold, and the registration process are all federal. Alberta has no provincial sales tax, and Alberta’s government explicitly refers all general GST enquiries to the CRA. A business operating in either province follows the same federal registration rule described above.