Long-term residential rent is exempt from GST/HST in Canada — but short-term rentals through Airbnb and similar platforms are increasingly treated as a taxable commercial activity.
Last updated: June 2026
If you let residential property on a lease of one month or longer, that rental income is generally exempt from GST/HST — you never charge tax to tenants, regardless of your portfolio size. The trade-off is that you generally cannot claim Input Tax Credits on costs related to that exempt residential letting activity.
Rentals of residential property for periods of less than one month — the classic Airbnb or short-term platform model — are generally treated as a taxable supply of short-term accommodation, similar to a hotel, rather than exempt residential rent. This means income from qualifying short-term rentals counts toward the CA$30,000 threshold like any other taxable business activity, and once registered, you charge GST/HST on the accommodation fee.
If you have both exempt long-term rentals and taxable short-term rentals, you need to track these separately for GST/HST purposes, since they receive fundamentally different tax treatment — the exempt long-term income doesn’t count toward your threshold, while the taxable short-term income does.
No. Long-term residential rental income is exempt and doesn’t count toward the CA$30,000 threshold, no matter how many properties you own.
Yes. Short-term rental income (typically under one month) is generally treated as taxable and counts toward the CA$30,000 threshold, even though your long-term rental income does not.
Generally no, since long-term residential letting is exempt and exempt supplies don’t carry the right to claim related Input Tax Credits.
Often yes — many Canadian cities and provinces have introduced their own short-term rental licensing and tax rules separate from federal GST/HST, so check local requirements too.
No, it’s the same CA$30,000 threshold as any business — the key difference is simply that most long-term residential income is exempt and doesn’t count toward it in the first place.
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