Crypto Taxes in Canada (2026 CRA Guide)

The one-paragraph summary

The CRA treats crypto as a commodity, not currency. Every time you sell, trade, spend or gift crypto, it's a disposition and you owe tax on the gain (or can claim the loss). Capital gains are included at 50% up to $250,000 of annual gains and 66.67% above that. Staking, mining and airdrop income is taxed at your full rate when received. Canadian exchanges now report your transactions to the CRA automatically — assume everything is visible and file accordingly.

How the CRA taxes crypto in 2026

Capital gains vs business income

The single most important classification is whether the CRA treats you as an investor (capital gains) or a trader (business income). Business income is taxed at 100% at your full marginal rate — often 30–50% more tax than the equivalent capital gain. The CRA looks at:

• Trading frequency (dozens of trades per week starts looking like a business)
• Whether you use leverage, derivatives or short-term strategies
• Amount of time you spend on it
• Whether you have advertised or held out as a trader

For most Canadians who buy Bitcoin on Shakepay every payday and hold for years, this is unambiguously capital gains territory. Day traders should assume business income unless a CPA confirms otherwise.

The 2024–2026 inclusion-rate changes

The federal government's 2024 budget raised the capital gains inclusion rate above $250,000 of annual gains from 50% to 66.67%. That $250,000 threshold applies per individual per year, not per trade — you can bank $249,999 in gains and still be at 50% inclusion.

Cost basis: ACB, not FIFO

The CRA mandates the Adjusted Cost Base (ACB) method for identical property. Every time you buy more of a coin, it re-averages your cost per unit. Every crypto tax tool below defaults to ACB — if you're doing it by hand, skip the spreadsheet and use one.

Best Canadian crypto tax software

We've tested Koinly, CoinLedger and Divly on real Canadian portfolios spanning multiple exchanges. Our picks:

Filing your crypto taxes step by step

1. Export your transactions. Every Canadian exchange lets you download a CSV of trades and transfers. Koinly and CoinLedger can also pull them via API — just add read-only API keys.
2. Import into your tax software. Consolidate every exchange, wallet and DeFi platform into one picture. The software calculates your ACB per coin and matches every disposition.
3. Review anomalies. Missing cost basis, unmatched transfers between your own wallets, or spam airdrops need cleanup before the report is right.
4. Download the Schedule 3 report. This is what your accountant or TurboTax needs. It lists every disposition with proceeds, ACB and gain/loss.
5. Enter capital gains on your T1. Schedule 3 line 174 (Publicly traded shares and other property) or line 172 (Personal-use property) depending on classification.
6. Keep records for 6 years. The CRA can reassess for six years from filing.

Related guides

• Best Canadian crypto exchanges — pick platforms that make tax exports easy.
• Best crypto wallet for Canadians — self-custody without losing your paper trail.
• In-depth Bitcoin tax guide — capital gains vs business income examples worked through.