- The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) taxes crypto gains either as capital gains or as business income, depending on how you deal in crypto.
- Half of a capital gain is taxable and is added to your other income. Federal rates for 2026 run from 14% to 33%; provinces add their own tax.
- Selling crypto, swapping one crypto for another, paying with crypto and giving it away are all dispositions. Moving it between your own wallets is not.
- Staking rewards from a centralized platform are generally income when they are credited. Mining is in most cases a business.
- If you leave Canada, you are generally treated as having sold your crypto at fair market value on the day you leave.
This page covers income tax for private individuals who hold or trade crypto in Canada. When and how to file is on filing and deadlines, and companies are on business tax. It is general information, not tax advice.
How crypto is taxed
Canada has no separate crypto tax. The CRA says that generally, if a crypto-asset transaction is not made on account of business income, it is capital in nature. You then have a capital gain or loss when you dispose of the crypto: the proceeds minus your adjusted cost base (ACB, usually what you paid plus the costs of buying) and the outlays and expenses of the disposition. You include half of your capital gains (taxable capital gains) in your income for the year. If your activity is a business, the whole profit is business income instead (see mining and trading).
What counts as a disposition
- Selling crypto for Canadian dollars or another government-issued currency.
- Exchanging one crypto-asset for another. In the CRA’s example you dispose of one crypto at its fair market value on the day of the trade.
- Using crypto to buy goods or services. The CRA treats this as a barter transaction, and both parties report it at fair market value.
- Giving crypto away or donating it.
Transferring crypto between wallets you own is not a disposition. For tax reporting, the CRA accepts a crypto-asset’s fair market value in Canadian dollars, determined with a reasonable method that you apply consistently and document.
Average cost and the superficial loss rule
The CRA’s capital gains guide uses an average cost for identical properties: you divide the total cost of the identical properties you bought by the number you own. A sale does not change the average; a new purchase does. Units of the same coin are a typical case. The guide also has a superficial loss rule for capital property: if you sell at a loss and you, or a person affiliated with you, buy the same or identical property in the 30 calendar days before or after the sale and still own it 30 days after the sale, you cannot deduct the loss. You add it to the cost base of the replacement property instead. The CRA’s crypto pages do not discuss either rule specifically.
Rates for 2026
Taxable capital gains and business income are added to your other income and taxed at the rates for your bracket. These are the federal brackets for the 2026 tax year, which you file in 2027. Provinces and territories add their own tax; Quebec has its own income tax return.
| Taxable income (2026) | Federal rate on that part |
|---|---|
| Up to CAD 58,523 | 14% |
| CAD 58,523 to CAD 117,045 | 20.5% |
| CAD 117,045 to CAD 181,440 | 26% |
| CAD 181,440 to CAD 258,482 | 29% |
| Above CAD 258,482 | 33% |
| Item (2026) | Rule |
|---|---|
| Capital gains inclusion rate | One-half |
| Capital losses | Half deductible (allowable capital losses), only against taxable capital gains |
| Net capital losses | Carry back three years or forward indefinitely |
| Business income from crypto | Fully included in income |
In March 2025 the Prime Minister announced that the government would cancel the proposed increase of the inclusion rate, so it remains one-half. You cannot deduct allowable capital losses from other income, such as employment income.
A worked example
Our own example, following the CRA’s rules: a resident of Canada buys 0.5 BTC for CAD 20,000 and later another 0.5 BTC for CAD 40,000, fees included. In 2026 they sell 0.4 BTC for CAD 48,000 and pay a CAD 100 fee. Their other taxable income in 2026 is CAD 70,000, and the trading is not a business.
| Step | Calculation | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Average cost per BTC | (CAD 20,000 + CAD 40,000) ÷ 1 BTC | CAD 60,000 |
| ACB of the 0.4 BTC sold | 0.4 × CAD 60,000 | CAD 24,000 |
| Capital gain | CAD 48,000 − CAD 24,000 − CAD 100 | CAD 23,900 |
| Taxable capital gain | CAD 23,900 × ½ | CAD 11,950 |
| Federal tax on it | CAD 11,950 × 20.5% (income stays within CAD 58,523 to CAD 117,045) | about CAD 2,450 |
Provincial or territorial tax comes on top and depends on where the person lives. The remaining 0.6 BTC keeps an average cost of CAD 60,000 per BTC. This is an illustration, not a tax calculation for your situation.
Mining, trading and business income
Income from crypto-asset transactions may be business income when your activities are consistent with those of a person carrying on a business. The CRA lists factors that point to a business: a history of extensive buying and selling, holding crypto for a short period, knowledge of or experience in crypto markets, spending a substantial part of your time studying them, financing purchases with debt, and advertising that you buy crypto. An isolated transaction can also be an “adventure or concern in the nature of trade”. Business income is fully included in your income.
For mining, the CRA says that in most cases mining activities will be considered as carrying on a business “due to the scale and resources involved”. If you are in the business of mining, the value of the crypto you receive is included in your business income at the time it is earned. The CRA’s crypto pages do not describe when mining is a hobby.
Staking, DeFi, airdrops and NFTs
- Staking on a centralized platform. The CRA says rewards “will generally be considered as income under the Income Tax Act at the time the rewards are credited” to your wallet on the platform. Its page describes validator nodes but does not give a separate treatment for staking on your own node.
- NFTs. The CRA counts non-fungible tokens as crypto-assets, so the same capital-or-business test applies. For GST/HST, an NFT is generally not a virtual payment instrument (see business tax).
- DeFi, lending and airdrops. The CRA’s crypto-asset guide publishes nothing on decentralized finance, lending or airdrops (October 2026). The general rules then apply, and it is worth asking a tax professional.
Moving to or from Canada
You are a resident of Canada for income tax purposes when you have enough residential ties here, such as a home, a spouse or common-law partner, or dependants in Canada. The CRA looks at secondary ties too, such as personal property, economic and social ties, a driver’s license and health insurance.
- Leaving Canada (departure tax). If you stop being a resident, you are deemed to have disposed of certain property at fair market value when you left. Crypto is not on the CRA’s list of exceptions (which covers Canadian real property, business property of a permanent establishment in Canada and registered accounts), so a gain on your crypto is generally included in your return for the year you leave. You calculate it on Form T1243, list your property on Form T1161 if its total value is over CAD 25,000, and can elect on Form T1244 to defer payment; security is required when the deferred federal tax is over CAD 16,500.
- Coming to Canada. For property you own when you immigrate (other than taxable Canadian property), the CRA considers you to have sold it and immediately reacquired it at its fair market value on the date you became a resident. That value becomes your cost, so gains made before you arrived are not taxed in Canada. Keep a record of the value on your arrival date.
Canada has no inheritance tax. When someone dies, the CRA treats them as having sold their capital property, including crypto, at fair market value just before death; more on this in the guide to crypto inheritance in Canada.
Upcoming changes
No change to how individuals are taxed on crypto had been announced when we checked (October 2026); the Spring Economic Update of 28 April 2026 does not change the inclusion rate. What is changing is reporting: Bill C-31 would make crypto platforms report their users’ transactions to the CRA from the 2027 calendar year (the OECD Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework). The bill was still at committee stage in the House of Commons, with a Senate pre-study under way, on 7 October 2026. Details are on filing and deadlines.
Sources
- CRA: Understanding crypto-assets and your tax obligations (last checked October 2026)
- CRA: Reporting income from crypto-asset transactions (last checked October 2026)
- CRA: Reporting income from crypto-asset mining and staking activities (last checked October 2026)
- CRA: Determining the value of crypto-assets for tax filing (last checked October 2026)
- CRA: T4037 Capital Gains 2025 (crypto-assets, identical properties, superficial loss) (last checked October 2026)
- CRA: Federal tax rates and brackets for the current year (last checked October 2026)
- Prime Minister of Canada: Cancels proposed capital gains tax increase (last checked October 2026)
- CRA: Dispositions of property for emigrants of Canada (last checked October 2026)
- CRA: Newcomers to Canada (immigrants) (last checked October 2026)
- CRA: Completing your return for newcomers (last checked October 2026)
- CRA: Capital gains when someone dies (last checked October 2026)
- Spring Economic Update 2026: Tax measures, supplementary information (last checked October 2026)
- Parliament of Canada: Bill C-31 (LEGISinfo) (last checked October 2026)
This page is general information, not tax advice. Rules and rates change, so check the official sources above before you act.