Selling Online in Canada: Sales Tax, Consumer Rules and Returns to Set Up Before You Launch

Short answer: Selling online in Canada takes three bits of setup most store owners leave too late. First, register for sales tax when you have to and charge the rate for where each order is delivered, not where you are. Second, build the disclosures, accept-or-correct step and order confirmation that provincial internet sales laws require into your checkout. Third, publish delivery, return and refund policies that match the refund deadlines in those laws. Then run test orders, refunds included, before you take a real payment.

Launch checklists usually cover photos, payment plugins and domains. The problems that show up later are less visible: a store that never charged HST to Nova Scotia customers, or a refund policy that promises less than the law gives. This guide covers those, in setup order.

It’s a companion to our guide to 13 ecommerce mistakes that cost you sales, which covers hosting, SEO, drip pricing, checkout friction, PCI DSS, CASL and privacy. This one covers the setup underneath: tax, checkout disclosures, confirmation emails, policies and launch testing.

This article is general information, not legal or tax advice. The rules below were checked against government sources in November 2026. Thresholds and rates change, and your situation may differ, so confirm the details with an accountant or lawyer before you rely on them.

Selling online in Canada: the checklist at a glance

Step 1: Work out when you must register for GST/HST

The federal starting point for selling online in Canada is the small supplier rule. According to the Canada Revenue Agency, you’re a small supplier if your total taxable supplies, worldwide and including those of your associates, don’t exceed $30,000 over four consecutive calendar quarters. Small suppliers don’t have to register, but they can register voluntarily.

How you stop being a small supplier matters, because it decides when you start charging tax:

The single-quarter rule catches stores with a big launch or a strong holiday season: the obligation can start partway through a quarter, on the sale that crosses the line. Track sales monthly from day one.

Voluntary registration is worth discussing with your accountant even if you’re under the threshold. If you haven’t set up your business number and registrations yet, our guide on how to start a business in Canada covers the basics.

Step 2: Charge the rate for where the order is delivered

This is the most common tax error in a new Canadian store. GST/HST on goods depends on where the goods are delivered or made available to the customer, not on where your business is. The CRA’s own example on its GST/HST rates page is a laptop sold by a business and delivered to a customer in Nova Scotia: the sale is subject to HST at 14%.

Here are the rates published in the CRA’s GST/HST calculator as of November 2026:

Rates change: a store set up in 2024 with a hard-coded 15% Nova Scotia rate would have overcharged customers from April 2025. Review your rates on a schedule.

Services and digital products follow their own place-of-supply rules. If you sell downloads, subscriptions or services rather than shipped goods, ask your accountant which province’s rate applies to each type of sale.

Step 3: Check PST and QST before you ship to other provinces

GST/HST registration doesn’t cover the separate provincial taxes. Four provinces have their own sales tax, and each has rules for sellers based elsewhere in Canada.

British Columbia

BC’s PST registration bulletin says a Canadian seller located outside BC must register to collect PST if it sells taxable goods to BC customers, accepts orders from BC, delivers goods into BC (including by courier), and had more than $10,000 in gross revenue from BC sales in the previous 12 months, or expects to in the next 12. You’re expected to register before you deliver. The bulletin also says a website that isn’t specifically aimed at BC doesn’t, on its own, count as soliciting sales in BC.

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan’s notice on non-resident vendors says businesses outside the province that make goods available to Saskatchewan customers, accept orders from Saskatchewan and deliver goods into the province must be licensed to collect PST. The notice doesn’t set a minimum sales level for this, so even a small number of Saskatchewan orders can create an obligation.

Manitoba

Manitoba’s bulletin on registering for retail sales tax requires out-of-province sellers to register if they deliver goods into Manitoba, solicit sales there and accept Manitoba orders. There is an exception for small businesses with annual taxable sales under $30,000, but the bulletin says out-of-province businesses that haven’t paid Manitoba tax on goods bought for resale aren’t eligible for it.

Quebec

Revenu Quebec has a specified registration system for suppliers outside Quebec that are registered for GST/HST. It applies once your taxable supplies to specified Quebec consumers exceed $30,000 over 12 months, and you then collect QST at 9.975%. Digital products and services sold through a specified distribution platform don’t count toward that threshold, so check the page if you sell through a platform.

A practical approach for a new store: record the province of every order, total it monthly, and review it with your accountant each quarter. That gives you the numbers to see each threshold coming.

Step 4: Set up tax in your store, then test it

Your store does the tax arithmetic, but only if you configure it. Using WooCommerce as the example, the WooCommerce tax documentation walks through the settings. Other platforms have similar options under different names.

1. Turn taxes on. In WooCommerce, this is under WooCommerce > Settings > General, “Enable tax rates and calculations”. The Tax tab appears once you save.
2. Calculate tax by shipping address. The “Calculate tax based on” setting offers the customer’s shipping address (the default), the billing address, or the store’s base address. For shipped goods, the shipping address matches the place-of-supply rule in Step 2. Using your store address would charge every customer your own province’s rate.
3. Decide whether your prices include tax. “Prices entered with tax” tells WooCommerce whether the prices you type in already include tax. Canadian shoppers usually expect to see tax added at checkout, but either works if you’re consistent.
4. Make the display settings match. “Display prices in the shop” and “Display prices during cart and checkout” should match how you entered prices. WooCommerce warns when they conflict and offers a “Use recommended settings” option.
5. Add one rate row per province. Each row has a country code (CA), a state code (for example ON or BC), a rate, a tax name and a priority. WooCommerce uses only the first matching rate at each priority, so for a province with GST and PST, give GST priority 1 and PST priority 2 so both apply. Rows also have Compound and Shipping options. Ask your accountant how each should be set for your products and whether your shipping charges are taxable.
6. Use tax classes for exceptions. If some products are taxed differently, for example zero-rated or exempt items, put them in a separate tax class instead of editing the standard rates.
7. Only add PST or QST rows where you’re registered. Don’t charge a tax you aren’t registered to collect.

You can also import rates from a CSV file; export one manual row first to get the right columns.

Then test the result. Put the same product in the cart with shipping addresses in Ontario, Nova Scotia, BC, Quebec and Alberta, and check each total against the rate table. Do it again with a discount code and with free shipping, because rounding and taxable shipping are where totals usually go wrong.

Step 5: Put the required disclosures in your checkout

Several provinces have specific rules for internet or distance sales to consumers. Many draw on a common template agreed by federal, provincial and territorial governments through the Consumer Measures Committee, but each province that adopted it did so in its own law, so the details differ. You sell to customers in their province, so the rules that matter are the ones where your customers live, not only where you’re based.

Ontario and BC publish clear guidance, so we use them as examples.

In Ontario, the Consumer Protection Act applies to internet agreements worth more than $50. Before the customer completes the purchase, the business must disclose information including:

• the business’s name and contact details
• a fair and accurate description of the goods or services
• an itemized price, including taxes and shipping charges
• any additional charges that may apply, such as customs duties or brokerage fees
• the total amount payable and the terms of payment
• the delivery address, date and method, and the delivery cost
• any rights and obligations for cancellations, returns, exchanges and refunds that you offer beyond what the law requires
• the currency, if it isn’t Canadian dollars
• any other restrictions or conditions

Ontario passed a new Consumer Protection Act in 2023. According to the province’s business guide to consumer protection, the Consumer Protection Act, 2002 remains in effect until the new law comes into force, so check that page for changes.

In British Columbia, the rules for distance sales contracts apply to BC businesses and to any business selling to a BC consumer, according to Consumer Protection BC. The required disclosures are similar, and add a few items worth noting: the legal name of the business, the supply date, the terms of any promotional offer (eligibility, how long it lasts and what happens when it ends), renewal terms for anything that renews, and your return, exchange, cancellation and refund policies, or a statement that you don’t have them.

How this maps to a real checkout

Showing the full price early also helps conversion; our ecommerce mistakes guide explains why, and how the Competition Bureau treats drip pricing.

Give customers a clear chance to accept or correct

Ontario requires businesses to give customers an opportunity to accept or decline the agreement, or correct any errors, before the purchase is completed. The national template many provinces drew on includes the same step. In practice, that means a review step: a summary of the items, quantities, delivery address, delivery method, taxes and total, with an edit option and a clearly labelled button to place the order. One-click buying buttons and express wallets that skip the summary deserve a closer look before launch.

If you leave out required information, or don’t give customers the chance to accept or correct, the customer may be able to cancel the contract later. In BC, a cancelling customer is owed a full refund within 15 days.

Step 6: Send an order confirmation that counts as the contract copy

Both provinces require you to give the customer a copy of the agreement within 15 days. Ontario says that if you send it online, the customer must be able to keep and print it. Quebec has similar rules: the Office de la protection du consommateur lists contracts that can’t easily be saved and printed, and contracts missing mandatory information, among the reasons a consumer can cancel.

For most stores, the order confirmation email is the natural place to meet this rule. Review your store’s default template and make sure it includes:

• your business’s legal name, address, phone number and email
• the customer’s name and the order date
• each item, its quantity and its price
• taxes, shipping and any other charges, shown separately
• the total paid and the payment method
• the delivery address, method and expected delivery date
• your return, exchange, cancellation and refund terms, in full or as a direct link plus a summary
• the currency

Check your store’s default template against this list, then send yourself a test order to confirm the email arrives, stays out of spam and saves cleanly as a PDF. Authenticated domain email or a transactional email service is more reliable than a server’s default mail function. Keep copies: if a customer disputes a charge, the confirmation shows what they agreed to.

Step 7: Promise delivery dates you can keep

Delivery dates aren’t just a customer service issue. In BC, a distance sales contract must include a supply date. If the goods aren’t supplied within 30 days after that date, the customer can cancel within 30 days of the supply date. If you didn’t give a date and the goods haven’t arrived after 30 days, the customer can cancel any time before they’re supplied. Quebec has a similar 30-day rule for goods that don’t arrive.

So the delivery estimate on your checkout page is part of the deal:

• Give a date range for each shipping method, based on your real processing time plus the carrier’s estimate.
• Plan for busy periods and preorders. If a product isn’t in stock, say so and give a realistic date, rather than taking the order quietly.
• Disclose how packages are delivered. Consumer Protection BC explained in 2025 that, under BC law, delivery generally means handing goods to the consumer directly. If you plan to leave packages at the door or in a mailbox, the delivery method needs to be disclosed before the purchase.

Tracking numbers and delivery confirmation also protect you. Our team has written about how some fraudsters claim an order never arrived to get a chargeback. Proof of delivery, and a signature option for high-value orders, gives you evidence when that happens.

Step 8: Write return, refund and shipping policies that match the law

You can set your own return policy, with some limits. Consumer Protection BC says businesses may set their own return and refund policies but must disclose them, and those policies can’t take away the cancellation rights the law gives consumers.

That gives you two layers to plan for:

1. Your policy: whether you accept returns for a change of mind, the time limit, the condition goods must be in, who pays return shipping, and whether you refund, exchange or give store credit. A “no returns on sale items” rule is a policy choice you can make, as long as it’s disclosed.
2. The legal minimum: when a customer cancels under the law, for example because a required disclosure was missing or the goods didn’t arrive in time, different rules apply.

In BC, if a customer cancels a distance sales contract under the law, the business must refund them in full within 15 days, in the original form of payment, including all fees, charges, taxes and interest. The customer then returns any goods within 15 days. Quebec has a similar 15-day refund rule. Store credit or a restocking fee isn’t a substitute in these cases.

Make policies easy to find and read

• Publish separate, plainly titled pages for shipping, returns and refunds, and link them from the footer, the product page and the checkout.
• Use dates and numbers, not “promptly” or “in a reasonable time”. “Refunds are issued to your original payment method within 10 business days of receiving the return” is clear.
• If you have no returns policy, say so. BC asks you to state that you don’t have one.

Know what happens if you don’t refund

The consumer template includes a backstop for card payments. If a business doesn’t refund within the required period, the customer may ask their credit card issuer to reverse the charge. The Quebec consumer office tells consumers to make that request within 60 days if no refund arrives. Card issuers must acknowledge the request within 30 days and reverse the charge within two billing cycles or 90 days, whichever comes first. A slow refund process can therefore turn into a chargeback, often with processor fees on top. Make sure someone can issue refunds quickly, including when the owner is away.

Step 9: Set up and test your payments

Your payment gateway connects the checkout to your card processor. 4GoodHosting’s overview of payment gateway plugins for WordPress compares options such as Stripe and PayPal. Whichever you choose, test it before launch, with no real money involved.

Stripe’s testing documentation explains how. In a sandbox, test transactions don’t move funds, and you can simulate:

• a successful payment, for example with the Visa test number 4242 4242 4242 4242, any future expiry date and any three-digit CVC
• a declined card, using the generic decline test number 4000 0000 0000 0002
• card errors such as insufficient funds, lost or stolen cards and incorrect CVC
• disputes and refunds
• 3D Secure authentication

Other processors have similar sandboxes. A declined card should show a clear message and leave the cart intact.

Fraud checks to switch on before launch

• Turn on the address and CVC checks your processor offers, and decide which failed checks should block a payment.
• Watch for warning signs: a shipping address that doesn’t match the billing address, several cards tried in a row, large orders of easily resold products, or rush shipping to a new customer.
• Keep your records: order details, the customer’s agreement to your terms, delivery confirmation and emails. This is your evidence if a customer disputes a charge.

PCI DSS and checkout page security are covered in our ecommerce mistakes guide.

Step 10: Run a full test order before launch

Run the whole process from start to finish at least once per shipping method, on a staging copy of your store or in test mode. Our website launch guide covers staging and wider pre-launch checks. For a store, add these:

1. Place a test order on a phone, as a guest, with a shipping address in another province. Check the tax and shipping lines in the order summary.
2. Check the review step. Can the customer see the total, edit the cart and correct the address before paying?
3. Check the confirmation email. Does it arrive, include everything in Step 6 and print cleanly?
4. Process a full refund and a partial refund. Check that the money goes back to the original payment method and that the customer receives a notice.
5. Try a declined card. Check the error message and that the cart is still there.
6. Use a discount code with free shipping. Check tax and rounding.
7. Check the policy links at checkout and in the email.
8. Switch from test mode to live mode, and make one small real purchase with your own card, then refund it.

Checkout pages are dynamic and need a server that responds quickly under load. If you’re comparing hosting, 4GoodHosting offers ecommerce hosting from Canadian data centres, and has published a guide to WooCommerce hosting in Canada for stores expecting more traffic.

What this checklist doesn’t cover

These apply to every Canadian online store and are covered elsewhere:

• Drip pricing and “sale” prices under the Competition Act: see our ecommerce mistakes guide.
• CASL consent for marketing emails, including abandoned cart emails: see the same guide.
• Privacy, including PIPEDA, Quebec’s Law 25 and French-language requirements for Quebec customers: see our website launch guide.
• Accessibility, including AODA for Ontario businesses: covered in both guides.
• Quebec consumer law in full: Quebec’s Consumer Protection Act has its own distance contract rules, so read the Office de la protection du consommateur’s guidance if you sell there.
• Customs and duties for orders shipped to or from outside Canada.

FAQ

Do I need to charge GST/HST if I’m just starting to sell online?

Not necessarily. You don’t have to register while you’re a small supplier, meaning your worldwide taxable supplies, including those of associates, don’t exceed $30,000 over four consecutive calendar quarters. Once you pass that, you must register within 29 days. If you exceed $30,000 in a single quarter, you must charge tax from the sale that took you over. You can also register voluntarily.

Which tax rate do I charge when I ship to another province?

For goods, the rate generally depends on where the goods are delivered. An Ontario store shipping to a customer in Nova Scotia charges 14% HST, not Ontario’s 13%. Shipping to Alberta means 5% GST. Provincial sales tax in BC, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Quebec is separate, and you only collect it if you’re registered there.

Is my order confirmation email legally required?

In Ontario and BC, you must give the customer a copy of the agreement within 15 days. For most stores, the confirmation email does that job, but only if it includes the required information and the customer can save and print it. Quebec has similar requirements.

Can I have a no-returns policy?

You can choose not to accept change-of-mind returns, as long as you disclose that before the purchase. BC requires you to say so if you have no return, exchange, cancellation or refund policy. Your policy can’t override the cancellation rights the law gives consumers, for example when goods aren’t delivered within 30 days of the supply date.

How fast do I have to refund a cancelled online order?

When a customer cancels under BC’s distance sales rules, the business must refund the full amount within 15 days, in the original form of payment. Quebec also has a 15-day deadline. If you miss it, the customer may ask their card issuer to reverse the charge.

Key takeaways

• Track your sales from day one. The $30,000 GST/HST threshold can be reached in a single quarter, and the obligation starts with the sale that crosses it.
• Charge tax for where the order is delivered. Set your store to calculate tax by shipping address, and test totals for several provinces.
• Check provincial taxes before you ship. BC, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Quebec each have rules for sellers outside the province.
• Put the required disclosures before the pay button. Include the itemized price, taxes, delivery charges and date, total, currency and policies, plus a clear review step.
• Treat the confirmation email as the contract copy. Make it complete, printable and reliably delivered within 15 days.
• Make your delivery dates realistic. In BC and Quebec, missing the date by 30 days can give the customer the right to cancel.
• Publish clear return and refund policies, and make sure you can refund within 15 days when the law requires it.
• Test everything before you take a real payment, including declines, refunds and emails.

Sources

• Canada Revenue Agency: When to register for and start charging the GST/HST
• Canada Revenue Agency: Charge and collect the tax: which rate to charge
• Canada Revenue Agency: GST/HST calculator and rates
• Government of British Columbia: PST Bulletin 001, Registering to Collect PST
• Government of Saskatchewan: Notice: Non-Resident Vendors, PST Registration
• Manitoba Finance: Bulletin 004, Registering for Retail Sales Tax
• Revenu Quebec: Registration under the specified system for suppliers outside Quebec
• Government of Ontario: Safe online shopping
• Government of Ontario: Business guide to consumer protection
• Consumer Protection BC: Selling online: contract rules for businesses
• Consumer Protection BC: Online orders: who is responsible when you don’t get your package?
• Consumer Measures Committee: Internet Sales Contract Harmonization Template
• Office de la protection du consommateur: How to cancel an online purchase
• WooCommerce: Setting up taxes in WooCommerce
• Stripe: Testing

About the author: This article was written by the team at 4GoodHosting, a Canadian web hosting company operating since 2002 with servers in Vancouver and Toronto.