Canada
The federal and provincial taxes are charged together and printed separately, as the CRA and Revenu Québec expect.
What it is
In Canada Cord issues a standard invoice with a sequential number. Canada has no invoice that is filed with the authority, but it does have a rule the document must follow: in Quebec, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba the provincial tax (QST, PST, or RST) is charged together with the 5% GST, not instead of it, and in the harmonized provinces HST is charged. Cord stores one combined rate per line item and the document splits it into its taxes.
| In Canada | |
|---|---|
| Default currency | CAD |
| Tax | GST/HST and your province’s tax |
| Tax ID | BN / GST/HST no., validated; separate QST number |
| Document | Invoice and credit note (Commercial invoice in the editor) |
| Authority | Not applicable to the invoice |
| PDF language | Your client’s or, if they have none, your account’s; in French it names the taxes TPS, TVQ, and TVH |
| Online payments | Card with Cord Payments; pre-authorized debit in CAD (new) |
Requirements
- Plan: any (Free: 10 invoices per month).
- Province or territory in Settings › Tax profile: the catalog and the name of the provincial tax come from it.
- Permissions: Settings for the tax profile and taxes; Quotes to issue.
Set up your account
- In Settings › Tax profile, complete your legal name, your BN / GST/HST no. (nine digits, with or without the RT0001 program account), and your address, and choose your province or territory in the selector.
- If you are registered for the Quebec sales tax, enter your QST registration number (ten digits, TQ, and four digits). It is printed next to your GST/HST number.
- Open Settings › Taxes and review your province’s catalog. If you created it before choosing a province and did not touch it, Cord seeds it again when you choose one.
Taxes by province
The catalog starts with your province’s rate as the default, GST 5% alone (for selling to provinces without their own tax), and the HST of the harmonized provinces, which is charged when selling into them. Another province’s provincial tax (QST, PST, or RST) is only charged if you are registered there: add it by hand.
| Business’s province | Default rate | Printed as |
|---|---|---|
| Quebec | 14.975% | GST 5% + QST 9.975% |
| British Columbia | 12% | GST 5% + PST 7% |
| Manitoba | 12% | GST 5% + RST 7% |
| Saskatchewan | 11% | GST 5% + PST 6% |
| Ontario | 13% | HST 13% |
| Nova Scotia | 14% | HST 14% |
| New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island | 15% | HST 15% |
| Alberta, territories | 5% | GST 5% |
The rates are the CRA’s since April 1, 2025 (Nova Scotia went down from 15% to 14%). An exempt or zero-rated line item uses Zero-rated: Cord stores the rate, not the regime, so a single 0% row covers both cases.
How the breakdown looks
The federal tax is calculated on the base and the provincial tax keeps the rest, so the sum of the two is exactly what was charged. The breakdown appears on the PDF, on the invoice link, on the quote link (also while your client reviews it live), on the printout, on the quote and invoice detail, and in the three editors.
If an older quote or recurrence still had a standalone provincial rate frozen (QST 9.975%, PST or RST 7%, PST 6%), Cord reads it as the equivalent combined rate: your intention was to charge that province’s tax, not to leave out the GST.
Client and product data
- Client: their country and, if a business, their BN or GST/HST number, validated with its check digit. You choose each line item’s rate according to where you sell: Cord does not calculate tax from the client’s address in Canada.
- Product: its default rate can be any in the catalog.
Void or correct
An invoice is voided from its detail if it has no payments applied; with payments, it is corrected with a full or partial credit note, which keeps the invoice’s rates and breakdown.
Get paid online
- Card with Cord Payments, on the quote link and the invoice link.
- Pre-authorized debit in CAD, on the invoice link, in the client portal, and in automatic payments: turn it on with Pre-authorized debit (Canada) in Settings › Payments › Payment methods. Your client states whether they’re paying as a business or an individual, the debit takes up to 5 business days to confirm, and some accounts are verified with micro-deposits. New feature: see Bank debit.
- Outside MXN, Cord charges no platform fee. See Fees.
- Your payouts arrive at your account with a transit number, institution number, and account number. See Payouts.
In Settings › Payments › Payment methods, a business in Canada sees card and pre-authorized debit: Canada has no bank transfer with a reference, and outside MXN each method says it carries no Cord fee.
On the link of an invoice in CAD, your client states whether they’re paying as a business or an individual before the payment form:
Plan limits
| Plan | Invoices per month |
|---|---|
| Free | 10 |
| Starter, Pro, Scale, Developer | Unlimited |
What Cord does not cover yet
- Automatic calculation from the client’s address: in Canada you choose each line item’s rate (the calculation by address is for the United States only).
- TPS, TVQ, and TVH on the invoice link: with a French-speaking client, the PDF names the taxes TPS, TVQ, and TVH, but the invoice link still shows them as GST, QST, and HST.
- Automatic bank transfer: Canada has no bank transfer with a reference; a transfer is recorded by hand.
Common problems
My invoice shows only GST on a sale in Quebec. The line item has the 5% rate. Choose GST 5% + QST 9.975% on the line.
My province is not in the catalog. Check that the province is chosen in Settings › Tax profile. If you had already edited your catalog, Cord does not reseed it: add the rate with + New tax.
Cord rejects my QST number. It must have ten digits, TQ, and four digits, for example 1234567890TQ0001.