Canada is a rewarding market for online training, and a more complicated one than it looks. Sales tax changes by province, buyers expect to pay in Canadian dollars with a Canadian card, and in Quebec, French is not optional. Here is what to plan for.
This article is general information, not tax or legal advice. Please confirm your obligations with an accountant or lawyer who knows your situation.
1. Sales tax depends on where your buyer is
Canada has a federal Goods and Services Tax (GST). Some provinces combine it with their provincial tax into a single Harmonized Sales Tax (HST). Quebec has its own Quebec Sales Tax (QST), and some provinces charge a separate Provincial Sales Tax (PST).
For online courses and other digital services, the tax you charge generally depends on where your customer is, not where you are. A course sold to a learner in Halifax and the same course sold to a learner in Calgary can carry different tax.
Things to confirm with your accountant:
- Whether you must register for GST/HST, QST or PST, and when
- Which rate applies to each province you sell into
- Whether any of your training is exempt; some educational services can be, depending on what they lead to and who provides them
- What your invoices must show, including your registration numbers
- How sales to businesses, which may claim tax back, are handled
What your store should do: calculate tax from the buyer’s address, show it clearly at checkout, and print it correctly on receipts and invoices. We set up your Kano Store tax rules with you, based on what your accountant confirms.
2. Take payment the way Canadians pay
- Charge in Canadian dollars. Buyers notice when a price is in US dollars, and their banks charge them for the conversion.
- Use a processor that suits Canadian cards. Kano Store supports Moneris, a Canadian payment processor, as well as Stripe, PayPal and Braintree.
- Offer invoices for organizations. Hospitals, school boards and government departments often cannot pay by card at all. Purchase-order checkout and invoices open those buyers up.
- Selling into the US too? Run a separate storefront in US dollars with US tax rules, from the same Moodle or Totara site.
3. A bilingual store
If you sell to Quebec, Quebec’s language law requires French for much of the commercial content offered there, and it has been strengthened in recent years. Take advice on what applies to you. Beyond the law, French-speaking learners across Canada buy more readily in their own language.
A bilingual store means more than a translated home page:
- Product names and descriptions in both languages
- Checkout, error messages and order emails in both languages
- Invoices and receipts in the buyer’s language
- Course content in Moodle or Totara to match
Kano Store runs English and French storefronts from one catalogue, so prices and products stay in step.
4. Privacy and data residency
Some Canadian buyers, especially in the public sector and healthcare, will ask where their data is stored. Have your answer ready. Ask our team about hosting options for Kano Store and your LMS.
Checklist
- Tax registrations confirmed with an accountant
- Rates set per province, and any exemptions identified
- Prices in Canadian dollars
- Payment processor chosen
- Purchase-order checkout for public-sector and corporate buyers
- English and French store content, emails and invoices
- Data residency answer ready
From a Canadian team
Lambda Learning, the company behind Kano Store, has been based in Canada since 2002.
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