Canadian creators must register for GST/HST once revenue from their worldwide taxable supplies, together with any associates', goes over $30,000 in a single calendar quarter or over the last four consecutive calendar quarters; below that they are small suppliers and may register voluntarily. That is the rule in the CRA's guide General Information for GST/HST Registrants, and the CRA's social media influencers page adds that online content published by influencers on platforms is generally a taxable supply. Income from foreign platforms and brands usually still counts towards the $30,000, even where it is zero-rated.
This page covers the small supplier test, registration timing and how each income stream is treated. Income tax is covered in our CRA checklist for Canadian creators. Sources were checked on 1 October 2026.
How the small supplier test works
GST/HST Memorandum 2-2, Small Suppliers says the threshold is measured in calendar quarters, the three-month periods starting on 1 January, 1 April, 1 July and 1 October, not in your own fiscal quarters. There are two triggers, and the CRA page on when to register for and start charging the GST/HST sets out what each one means.
- Over $30,000 in one calendar quarter: you stop being a small supplier with the supply that took you over, must charge GST/HST on that supply, and your effective date of registration is no later than that day.
- Over $30,000 across the previous four or fewer consecutive quarters, but not in any single one: you stop being a small supplier at the end of the month following the quarter in which you went over, and your effective date is no later than your first supply after that.
- Either way, RC4022 says you then have 29 days from the effective date to register.
Three details in the memorandum matter for creators. First, the count covers worldwide taxable supplies; its Example 6 describes a business with $520,000 of taxable supplies, only $20,000 of them made in Canada, which still has to register. Second, consideration paid in goods or services is valued at its fair market value, so products received for posts count. Third, the calculation leaves out sales of capital property, supplies of financial services, goodwill on selling a business, exempt supplies and the GST/HST itself, and it adds in the supplies of any associates.
The CRA's influencer scenarios add a condition worth noticing: each says registration follows only if the online activity is not a personal endeavour and taxable supplies pass $30,000 over four calendar quarters. Creators who run their channels as a business are in commercial territory; an occasional hobby account that receives the odd gift raises a different question, and one to settle with an adviser rather than assume.
Four-quarter small supplier tracker
Keep one row per calendar quarter and update it in the first week after each quarter closes. All figures come from your own statements, invoices and gift records.
| Tracker column | What to enter | Why it is there |
|---|---|---|
| Calendar quarter | January to March, April to June, July to September or October to December | The memorandum uses calendar quarters, never fiscal ones |
| Taxable revenue this quarter | Canadian and foreign creator income, including zero-rated work and the fair market value of goods received | Worldwide taxable supplies are the measure |
| Associates' revenue | Taxable revenue of any associated person or company, if one exists | The test adds associates in at the start of the quarter |
| Excluded amounts | Equipment sold, exempt supplies and any GST/HST already collected | Shows what was left out and why |
| Single-quarter check | Did this quarter alone pass $30,000? Note the date of the supply that crossed it | That supply becomes your effective date |
| Four-quarter running total | This quarter plus the three before it | The second trigger in the CRA table |
| Key dates | The month-end after the quarter, your first supply after it, and 29 days on from the effective date | Turns a breach into a registration deadline |
A useful habit follows from the rules: check the running total by January 31, April 30, July 31 and October 31, the month-ends on which a four-quarter breach takes effect. A single large brand payment needs checking the day it is agreed.
Income-source treatment table
Zero-rated supplies are still taxable supplies, taxed at 0%, so they count towards the threshold even though you charge no tax on them. The export rules come from GST/HST Memorandum 4-5-3, which says a general provision zero-rates services supplied to a non-resident person unless an exclusion applies, including where the service is rendered to an individual who is in Canada.
| Income source | What CRA guidance points to | In the $30,000 count? | Adviser flag |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sponsorship or brand deal with a Canadian business | A taxable supply made in Canada, at GST or HST depending on the province of supply | Yes, the full fee | Low: confirm which province's rate applies |
| Advertising for a non-resident brand not registered for GST/HST | Memorandum 4-5-3 says section 8 zero-rates advertising services to such a brand | Yes, as a zero-rated supply | Keep proof of non-residence and registration status, as Memorandum 4-5-1 expects |
| Usage rights in your content licensed to a foreign business | Section 10 zero-rates licences of copyright to non-residents not registered under the regular provisions | Yes, at 0% | Check the contract names the non-resident as the party |
| Subscriptions, tips and pay-per-view through a platform based abroad | Turns on who receives your supply: a non-resident platform, or fans, some of whom are in Canada | Yes, whether taxable or zero-rated | High: get written advice on your platform's contract structure |
| Products, services or trips received for posts | Non-cash consideration valued at fair market value under Memorandum 2-2 | Yes | Record a value for each item when it arrives |
| Tournament or contest prize money | The CRA's streamer scenario leaves the prize out of the taxable supplies total | Not in that example | Ask whether your prize paid for a supply you made |
| Fan donations and platform virtual gifts | The same scenario excludes only the prize, which suggests the other streams were treated as taxable | Apparently yes in the CRA example | Medium: the page does not explain each item |
| Physical merchandise sold through an online marketplace | Under the qualifying goods measure, a distribution platform collects GST/HST on sales by vendors who are not registered | Yes, as your sale | Once you register, you charge and collect it yourself |
| Selling a camera or computer you used for content | A sale of capital property, which the memorandum leaves out of the threshold | No | Keep the sale and purchase records together |
Why the platform row is flagged high: platforms describe the relationship differently. OnlyFans' Terms of Service say fan purchases are governed by a contract between fan and creator to which OnlyFans is not a party, while its UK VAT Policy treats creators as supplying OnlyFans, but only for UK VAT. The CRA pages we read do not say how they view either arrangement for GST/HST, and the answer decides whether a supply is zero-rated.
Registering, charging and claiming
Once you register, you charge GST/HST on taxable supplies from your effective date. Memorandum 4-5-3 describes the rates in general terms: GST at 5% in non-participating provinces and HST at the harmonized rate in participating ones, and the CRA's page on which rate to charge sets out the current province figures. If you register voluntarily while still a small supplier, RC4022 says your effective date is usually the date you applied, though the CRA will accept an earlier date within 30 days of receiving your application.
Registration also opens input tax credits. The influencer page says registrants may be able to claim credits for GST/HST paid on purchases and expenses related to their commercial activities. One trap concerns foreign software and service providers registered under the simplified regime: CRA Notice 322 says they need not collect GST/HST if you give your registration number when the supply is made, and that tax they collect generally cannot be claimed as an input tax credit, although you can ask the supplier for a refund if you were registered at the time.
Price brand work with the tax in mind: decide whether quotes are plus GST/HST before you send a rate card. Our UGC creator rates worksheet builds a rate from your own inputs, and the same thinking applies to sponsored posts.
What the digital economy rules do and do not change
Since July 1, 2021 the CRA's digital economy measures have required non-resident vendors and distribution platform operators to register and collect GST/HST on certain digital supplies to Canadian consumers, under a simplified regime. Those rules are aimed at foreign sellers reaching Canadians. A creator resident in Canada still applies the normal small supplier test to their own supplies; the main overlaps are merchandise sold through marketplaces and the GST/HST that foreign platforms may charge you on services you buy. For a comparison with the UK approach, see our UK VAT guide for creators.
Limits of this guide
This is general information from CRA guides and memoranda as they read on 1 October 2026, not tax advice. The memoranda are written for all businesses, not for creators, and the CRA has not published guidance, in the pages we read, on how subscription platforms should be treated for zero-rating. Provincial sales taxes outside the HST system, Quebec's QST, associated-person rules and the quick method are not covered. If you passed the threshold in earlier years without registering, our guide to voluntary disclosure for creators explains the correction route.
Ask a CPA or other qualified tax professional to review your platform contracts and foreign brand agreements before your four-quarter total approaches $30,000, and get their view on zero-rating in writing.