If you sell online into Canada, you have probably registered for GST/HST and assumed your sales tax is handled. It usually is not. Four provinces run their own sales tax outside the federal system, and your GST/HST number does not cover any of them.
The good news: most sellers do not owe all four, and some owe none. Whether you need to register comes down to two things. This guide walks you through both so you can tell where you actually stand.
The four provinces that run their own sales tax
Your GST/HST registration already covers Ontario and the Atlantic provinces (they use HST), and Alberta and the territories have no provincial sales tax at all. That leaves four provinces that need their own separate registration:
| Province | Tax | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| British Columbia | PST | 7% |
| Saskatchewan | PST | 6% |
| Manitoba | RST | 7% |
| Quebec | QST | 9.975% |
Each of these is administered by the province, not the Canada Revenue Agency. That is why your federal number does nothing for them, and why registering means dealing with four different provincial systems.
The first question: how do you sell?
This is the single most important factor, and it is the one most sellers get wrong.
If you sell through a marketplace like Amazon, the marketplace collects and remits the provincial tax for you in all four provinces. Amazon is treated as the seller for tax purposes on those orders. So a seller whose only channel is Amazon often needs to register in none of these provinces.
If you sell through your own store (Shopify, your website, or wholesale), there is no marketplace in the middle. You collect and remit the tax yourself. This is where registration becomes your responsibility, and it is the situation this guide is really about.
Many sellers do both. The rule to remember: your Amazon orders are covered, but the moment you make direct sales into these provinces, you have to look at whether you need to register for those.
The second question: are you over the threshold?
Each province sets a point at which a direct seller has to register. They are not the same, and two of them are stricter than people expect.
| Province | When a direct seller has to register |
|---|---|
| Saskatchewan | From the first sale. There is no minimum at all, so any direct sale shipped to a Saskatchewan customer means you register. |
| Manitoba | Effectively from the first sale for out-of-province sellers. Manitoba has a $30,000 small-business exemption, but it does not apply to out-of-province sellers who have not paid Manitoba tax on their resale inventory, which is nearly every online seller. |
| British Columbia | Once your direct BC sales pass $10,000 in a 12-month period, or right away if you store inventory in a BC warehouse. |
| Quebec | Once your direct Quebec sales pass $30,000. Digital products and services are caught from the first dollar. |
Saskatchewan and Manitoba are the ones that catch growing sellers off guard. If you make direct sales into either, plan on registering.
A quick self-check
You likely need to register if any of these are true:
- You ship direct (Shopify, your own site, or wholesale) into Saskatchewan or Manitoba, at any volume.
- Your direct British Columbia sales pass $10,000, or you store inventory in BC.
- Your direct Quebec sales pass $30,000, or you sell digital products or services into Quebec.
- You hold inventory in a Canadian warehouse that ships your direct orders.
You may need none of them if:
- You sell only through Amazon or another marketplace that already collects the tax.
- Your direct sales into these provinces stay below their thresholds.
- You only ship to Ontario, the Atlantic provinces, Alberta, or the territories.
If you are a US or non-resident seller
Non-resident sellers are not off the hook. Saskatchewan and Manitoba apply to you the same way they apply to a Canadian seller: if you make direct sales into those provinces, you register. British Columbia and Quebec depend on where your goods ship from and whether you hold inventory in Canada. If you ship from a US warehouse with no Canadian inventory, you often owe less than you would expect. If you use a Canadian third-party warehouse, that usually changes the answer.
The catch for non-residents is practical: registering and filing in four separate provincial systems from outside Canada is genuinely difficult. Each province has its own portal, its own forms, and its own authorization process before anyone can act on your behalf.
What registration and filing actually involve
Registering is only the start. Once you have a number in a province, you have to charge the right tax at checkout, file returns on that province’s schedule, and keep the account in good standing. Most growing sellers end up filing annually in each province, but higher volume moves you to quarterly or monthly. Four provinces can mean four registrations, four sets of returns, and four sets of deadlines.
This is the part sellers underestimate. The registration is a form. The ongoing filing is the work.
Frequently asked questions
Does my GST/HST number cover PST and QST?
No. British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Quebec run their sales tax outside the federal system, so each needs its own registration. Your GST/HST number only covers the HST provinces.
I sell on Amazon. Do I still need to register?
Usually not for your Amazon sales, because Amazon collects and remits the provincial tax on those orders. You need your own registration for sales through your own store, website, or wholesale, and for inventory you hold in a Canadian warehouse.
Which province is the strictest?
Saskatchewan. It has no minimum, so a single direct sale into the province requires registration.
Is PST recoverable like GST?
Generally no. PST and RST are a cost you cannot claim back, which is one reason they are easy to overlook until a province asks for them. Quebec’s QST works more like GST and is recoverable when you register under the general system.
Related guides
- Does Amazon collect PST and QST in Canada?
- Shopify sellers and provincial sales tax
- PST for US and non-resident sellers
- Saskatchewan PST for online sellers
- Manitoba RST for online sellers
- BC PST for online sellers
- Quebec QST for non-resident sellers
Not sure where you stand?
Every seller’s answer depends on how they sell, where their inventory sits, and where their orders ship from. We map that out for you and tell you exactly which provinces you need to register for, and which you can ignore. Then, if you want it handled, we register your business and file the returns for you as your authorized representative in all four provinces.
Send us your sales by province and where your inventory sits, and we will tell you what you actually owe, with a flat quote, before you commit to anything.
See how our PST and QST registration service works, or get in touch and we will tell you exactly which provinces you need to register for.