The Government of Canada says a tip is usually 15% of the bill. Destination Ontario says 15% to 20%. Travel Alberta says about 15% to 20% of the pre-tax bill. Bonjour Québec says 10% to 15% before tax. The Canada Revenue Agency says the percentage depends on the customer.
How much does Canada say to tip?
Canada.ca calls a tip extra money you pay to reward the person serving you for good work and courteous service. Its sentence on the amount is: "The standard amount for a tip is usually 15 per cent of the bill." Giving a tip for good service is often done in bars, taxis, hotels, restaurants, and "certain other situations." The page does not print a second percent for a bad meal, a coffee counter, or a province.
Fifteen percent of a $60 restaurant bill is $9. The total of those two lines is $69, before any tax the receipt adds. Travel Tipper opens that check for Toronto at $60, two people, 15%. The currency on the Canada.ca page is the Canadian dollar. Twenty percent of the same $60 is $12. Ten percent is $6. Those are the ends of the provincial ranges below, not a second Canada.ca rate.
What do the provincial tourism sites say?
Destination Ontario, last updated July 17, 2026, says a tip of 15% to 20% is customary at bars and restaurants. Tips are also given to tour guides, taxi drivers, and for spa treatments and haircuts. Porters at airports, railway stations, and hotels generally expect $1 or $2 per item of luggage. A separate dining page, last updated September 9, 2026, says a tip of 15% to 20% of the bill is customary for good service at sit-down restaurants. Neither Ontario sentence says "before tax."
Bonjour Québec says tipping is de rigueur in restaurants, bars, and taxis. The amount, which is not included in the bill, generally represents 10% to 15% of the total bill before taxes. The same paragraph says you can add up GST and QST, which total approximately 15%, as a quick calculation. It also says the minimum wage for waiters is lower than for other trades and that tips are part of their income. That wage sentence is the tourism page's wording. Tipping bellhops or porters is at your discretion, generally $1 per bag, and a hotel housekeeper is $1 or $2 per day.
Travel Alberta says tipping is customary in Canada, especially in restaurants and bars and for services like taxis. In Alberta, a standard tip is about 15% to 20% of the pre-tax bill. If a larger group is told the restaurant is adding a mandatory tip, you do not need to add another unless you want to. Payment terminals often prompt for a percentage or a dollar amount. A tip for a guide on a tour is optional, and cash is often appreciated.
| Page | Restaurant range | Before tax? | Other amounts on the same page |
|---|---|---|---|
| Destination Ontario | 15% to 20% at bars and restaurants. Sit-down restaurants: 15% to 20% of the bill for good service | The etiquette lines do not say | Porters: $1 or $2 per bag. Also tour guides, taxis, spas, and haircuts |
| Bonjour Québec | 10% to 15% of the total bill, not included in the bill, in restaurants, bars, and taxis | Before taxes | Porter: generally $1 per bag. Housekeeper: $1 or $2 per day |
| Travel Alberta | About 15% to 20% of the pre-tax bill. Customary especially in restaurants, bars, and taxis | Pre-tax | A mandatory group tip means you do not add another unless you want to. A tour-guide tip is optional |
Canada.ca's "usually 15%" sits inside the Ontario and Alberta ranges and at the top of the Québec range. It is not an average of 10% and 20%. Vancouver uses that Canada.ca sentence.
Is the tip before or after tax?
The CRA's GST/HST page does not pick a side. It says tips or service charges are not usually added to a bill. In general, customers tip a percentage of the bill for service providers such as waiters, waitresses, barbers, hairdressers, and taxi drivers. "The percentage and whether the tip is calculated on the amount of the bill before or after taxes depends on the practice of the particular customer."
That page does separate the tax treatment. A tip or gratuity freely given by a customer, for example cash not recorded on a bill, is not subject to the GST/HST. If the business adds a mandatory or a suggested amount to the customer's bill as a service charge, it has to charge GST/HST on that amount. A line the house printed is not the same thing as cash you chose to leave.
Bonjour Québec and Travel Alberta both describe their ranges as before tax. Canada.ca does not say. The CRA sentence is why this guide does not turn the federal 15% into a pre-tax rule.
| Question | Canada.ca, settling in Canada | Canada Revenue Agency |
|---|---|---|
| How much? | Usually 15% of the bill | A percentage of the bill. The percentage depends on the customer |
| Where? | Often in bars, taxis, hotels, and restaurants, for good service | Examples include waiters, waitresses, barbers, hairdressers, and taxi drivers |
| Before or after tax? | The settling-in page does not say | Depends on the practice of the particular customer |
| GST/HST | Not discussed | A freely given tip is not subject to GST/HST. A mandatory or suggested service charge the business adds to the bill is |
What is a controlled tip?
The CRA's tips and gratuities page is written for employers and employees. Tips are income under the Income Tax Act. Whether they are pensionable under the Canada Pension Plan, or insurable under the Employment Insurance Act, depends on who controls them.
A controlled tip is one the employer possesses and then must pay to the employee. The CRA's examples include a mandatory service charge the employer adds to cover tips, a percentage the employer adds to the bill to cover tips, and a tip pool the employer decides. Controlled tips are part of the employee's remuneration, and CPP contributions and EI premiums are deducted at source when the employment is pensionable or insurable.
A direct tip is paid by the customer to the employee. The employer does not control the amount or the distribution. Examples include cash left on the table that the server keeps, a tip handed to a bellhop or porter, and a card tip the employer returns in cash to the employee at the end of the shift. Direct tips are not subject to CPP contributions or EI premiums. The employee can still choose to make CPP contributions on them with Form CPT20. An employee can receive both kinds. Only the controlled tips are pensionable or insurable earnings.
Quebec is the only province the page names as requiring employees to declare tips to their employer. Employees in a regulated establishment must declare direct tips along with controlled tips. For the Employment Insurance Act, those declared tips are insurable earnings. That is a payroll rule for the worker. It is not a different customer percentage for a bill in Montreal.
What does Travel Tipper do for Toronto?
Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, and Calgary share one country note. The status is expected, and the tip field starts at 15%, because that is the Canada.ca usual amount. Fifteen percent is the low end of the Ontario and Alberta tourism ranges and the high end of the Québec range. The field does not average them into a new percent. The CRA sentence is why the note does not also claim the 15% must be calculated before tax. A home-currency line, if you ask for one, uses the same mid-market table as the currency converter and is not your card's posted charge.
A U.S. sit-down range is the restaurant guide. The comparison table is tipping when traveling. If the check and these pages disagree, pay the check.
Canada tipping FAQ
How much do you tip in Canada?
Canada.ca says the standard amount is usually 15% of the bill. Destination Ontario says 15% to 20% is customary at bars and restaurants. Travel Alberta says about 15% to 20% of the pre-tax bill. Bonjour Québec says 10% to 15% of the bill before taxes. These pages are not averaged.
Is a Canadian tip before or after tax?
The Canada Revenue Agency says the percentage, and whether the tip is calculated before or after taxes, depends on the practice of the particular customer. Bonjour Québec and Travel Alberta both describe their ranges as before tax. Canada.ca does not say. A freely given tip is not subject to GST/HST. A mandatory or suggested service charge the business adds is.
Why does Travel Tipper start Toronto at 15%?
The field starts at 15% because that is the Canada.ca usual amount. It is the low end of the Ontario and Alberta tourism ranges and the high end of the Québec tourism range. Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, and Calgary share that starting field. The guide does not average the ranges into a new percent.
Sources
- Government of Canada, settling in Canada: money — the standard tip is usually 15% of the bill; often in bars, taxis, hotels, and restaurants.
- CRA, GST/HST in special cases — the percentage and the before-or-after-tax choice depend on the customer; GST/HST on a service charge the business adds.
- CRA, tips and gratuities — controlled tips, direct tips, and Quebec declared tips.
- Destination Ontario, about Ontario — 15% to 20% customary at bars and restaurants; porters $1 or $2 per bag. Last updated July 17, 2026.
- Destination Ontario, restaurants — 15% to 20% of the bill for good service at sit-down restaurants. Last updated September 9, 2026.
- Bonjour Québec, good to know — 10% to 15% of the bill before taxes in restaurants, bars, and taxis.
- Travel Alberta, know before you go — about 15% to 20% of the pre-tax bill.
Related: Travel Tipper for Toronto, the pre-tax guide, and the guides hub.