When and How to Register for GST/HST in Canada (2026): The $30,000 Rule, Effective Dates and Online Registration

When do you have to register for GST/HST?

You must register once your worldwide taxable sales pass $30,000, measured two ways: in a single calendar quarter, or across the last four consecutive calendar quarters. Below that you are a "small supplier" and registration is optional. Self-employed taxi and ride-share drivers must register from their first fare regardless of revenue, and most non-residents making taxable sales in Canada must register too. Until you register you cannot charge GST/HST, and you cannot claim back the GST/HST you pay on expenses.

How to register: the CRA's Business Registration Online service, which issues the GST/HST account number during the session and creates a business number at the same time if you do not have one. Since 3 November 2025 the CRA requires this to be done online; Form RC1 by mail is left only for the cases the portal refuses. In Quebec, GST and QST registration go through Revenu Québec. The whole thing is free and, online, takes about 15 minutes.

The $30,000 threshold, and the day it bites

The CRA's two tests produce different effective dates, and the effective date decides which sales you owe tax on.

Two things trip people. The threshold counts taxable supplies worldwide, including zero-rated sales such as exports, but not exempt supplies like most residential rent or financial services. And it is measured on revenue, not profit: a contractor invoicing $8,000 a month is over the line by the fourth month.

Registering voluntarily below the threshold is often the better move. Your effective date is the day you ask, or up to 30 days earlier, and from then on you recover the GST/HST on laptops, software, rent and professional fees as input tax credits. The cost is a return every period and tax on your invoices, which business clients recover anyway. Consumers are the exception: if your customers are individuals who cannot claim it back, staying unregistered until you must is a real 5% to 15% price advantage.

How to register for a GST/HST number

Online, and since 3 November 2025 that is the only route for most businesses. The CRA's announcement reads: "Starting November 3, 2025, registrations for new business number (BN) or Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) program accounts must be done online." Phone registration ended with it, and callers to the business enquiries line are redirected to the portal.

Business Registration Online. Sign in with your CRA credentials and a valid SIN. The service opens the GST/HST (RT) account, creates the 9-digit business number if you do not already have one, and can open payroll and corporation income tax accounts in the same session. The CRA issues the number instantly and does not mail it, so save the confirmation. If you already hold a business number, enter it so the RT account attaches to it rather than creating a second one.

Form RC1 by mail remains only for the cases the portal refuses: reactivating a closed account, a Canadian business whose only owners are non-residents, a business owned by another business, and directors, partners or trustees whose SIN begins with 9, who cannot open a GST/HST account online.

How long does it take?

Instantly, online. The CRA states that "After registration, you'll receive your BN and account details instantly", and the RT number appears on the confirmation screen at the end of the session. That matters for the 29-day deadline above: there is no processing queue to blame if you leave it late.

Quebec. A business located in Quebec registers for GST and QST with Revenu Québec, which administers the GST on the CRA's behalf, and files both through Revenu Québec.

Non-residents. A non-resident business making taxable supplies in Canada generally has to register and may have to post security; the CRA has a separate non-resident registration path, and our non-resident corporation guide covers the tax side.

What the CRA asks for

• Your business number if you have one; otherwise the details to create it: legal and operating names, addresses, business type, owners' names and SINs, and the main business activity. Our CRA business number guide walks through that part.
• The effective date of registration: the date from the table above, or your chosen date for a voluntary registration.
• Your fiscal year-end for GST/HST purposes, normally the same as your income tax year.
• Your estimated total annual revenue, which sets the assigned reporting period: annual up to $1,500,000, quarterly to $6,000,000, monthly above that. You can choose a more frequent period at registration, which refund-heavy businesses should.

Decide the effective date before you sit down. Backdating to catch the sale that crossed the threshold is correct; backdating a voluntary registration by more than 30 days is not allowed, and a date after you crossed the line leaves uncollected tax that comes out of your pocket.

After you register

Put the number on your invoices. Every invoice must show your GST/HST number (123456789 RT 0001), the rate charged and the tax amount separately once the invoice exceeds $30, and your business name and the customer's for invoices over $150. Clients need it to claim their own input tax credits, and it is the first thing a CRA reviewer checks.

Charge the right rate by province. 5% GST in Alberta, the territories and the provinces that keep a separate PST; 13% HST in Ontario; 15% HST in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island; 14% HST in Nova Scotia since April 2025. The place-of-supply rules follow the customer's location for most services. Our GST/HST rates by province table has the current figures.

Set the books up before the first taxable sale. A tax rate on every sales and purchase account is what makes the return a report instead of a project. Xero applies the provincial rates and builds the GST/HST return from the ledger (80% off for 6 months through our link); Dext reads the tax off receipts so input tax credits are captured as you spend. If you are still choosing a bank, the RT number is one of the details Venn and every other provider will ask for; our guide to opening a business bank account online lists what each one wants, and our business bank account comparison sets their fees side by side.

Diarise the first return. The first reporting period starts on the effective date. Our guide to filing a GST/HST return covers the lines, the deadlines and the instalment rule for annual filers.

Mistakes we see most

• Charging GST/HST before the account exists. You cannot collect tax without a number. Register first, even if it means registering a week earlier than you planned.
• Missing the quarter test. A single large contract can push a quarter over $30,000 on its own, and the tax is owed on that very sale.
• Counting only Canadian sales. The threshold includes worldwide taxable supplies, including zero-rated exports.
• Registering a second business number. Corporations incorporated federally or in most provinces already have one; add the RT account to it.
• Picking an annual period when you will be in a refund position. Elect quarterly at registration; waiting a year for refunds is expensive.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to get a GST number in Canada?

Through Business Registration Online, the GST/HST account number is issued on screen in the same session, usually within 15 minutes of starting, and you can use it immediately. By phone it is usually issued during the call. Form RC1 by mail takes several weeks. The CRA does not mail the number after an online registration, so save the confirmation page.

Do I need to register for GST/HST if I make less than $30,000?

No, unless you drive a taxi or ride-share or are a non-resident making taxable sales in Canada. Below $30,000 in taxable supplies (per quarter and per four consecutive quarters) you are a small supplier and registration is voluntary. Many businesses register anyway to recover the GST/HST on their expenses and because business clients expect a GST/HST number on invoices.

How do I register for a GST/HST number online?

Use the CRA's Business Registration Online service with your CRA sign-in and SIN. Provide your business details or existing business number, the effective date, your fiscal year-end and estimated annual revenue, and the GST/HST (RT) account is created immediately. Payroll and corporation income tax accounts can be opened in the same session.

Is a GST number the same as a business number?

The GST/HST number is your 9-digit business number followed by RT and a four-digit reference, for example 123456789 RT 0001. Registering for GST/HST creates the business number if you do not already have one, so for a new sole proprietor the two arrive together.

Do contractors and freelancers have to charge GST/HST?

Yes, once registered, on taxable services to Canadian clients, at the rate of the client's province. A contractor billing $30,000 or more in taxable services across four quarters must register. Services to non-resident clients are often zero-rated, but they still count toward the threshold.

Can I register for GST/HST before I have any sales?

Yes. Voluntary registration is allowed as soon as you make, or intend to make, taxable supplies in Canada. Start-ups do it to recover the GST/HST on set-up costs. The effective date is the day you request the account, or up to 30 days before it.

What happens if I register late?

You owe the GST/HST you should have collected from the effective date, whether or not you charged it, plus interest and possibly penalties. The CRA can also register you itself. If you missed the threshold, register now with the correct backdated effective date and file the outstanding periods; the input tax credits from that date offset part of the bill.

How do foreign businesses register for GST/HST in Canada?

Non-residents that make taxable supplies in Canada register through the CRA's non-resident registration process rather than Business Registration Online, and may be asked to post security. Digital-economy rules add simplified registration for certain non-resident vendors of digital products and services. The non-resident guide linked above covers the corporate tax side.