A quotation template that gets Canadian sales tax right by province

Set the province first, then let the tax follow

The most common error on Canadian event quotations is a rate copied from the last job. The CRA publishes one rate per province: 5% GST in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Quebec, Saskatchewan and the territories, 13% HST in Ontario, 14% in Nova Scotia since 1 April 2025, and 15% in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island. Quebec events add 9.975% QST, calculated on the price before GST.

Make the province a dropdown on your quotation and let the tax lines fill in from it. Caterers who cross borders, such as Ottawa firms working in Gatineau or Moncton firms working in Nova Scotia, need this more than anyone.

What a Canadian banquet quotation should show

Event date and times, room or site, the guest count and the minimum guarantee, then each package line with a per-guest price. Room rental, bar, late-night food, linens, audio-visual and security each belong on their own line. Below them, the gratuity or service charge, the tax by type, the total, and the deposit schedule.

Put the per guest all-in figure next to the grand total. Canadian couples split costs between families more often than not, and a single per-person number makes that conversation shorter.

• Your business name and GST/HST number (QST number in Quebec)
• Event date, times and room
• Guest count and minimum guarantee
• Per-guest package prices
• Room rental, bar, rentals and staffing lines
• Gratuity or service charge, taxed
• GST, HST or GST plus QST by line
• Deposit schedule and quotation expiry

Quotation: wedding reception, Mississauga, Ontario

Saturday wedding reception for 250 guests at a banquet hall in Mississauga, Ontario, cocktails 6 pm, dinner 7 pm, last call 1 am

• Gratuity 18% added to the invoice is subject to HST, per CRA travel and convention guidance.
• Deposit held as security; HST is accounted for when it is applied to the final bill.
• Quotation valid for 14 days.

What your quotation must show in Canada

Gratuities on a quotation are taxable once you add them

CRA guidance for the travel and convention industry is plain on this. A gratuity a customer chooses to leave is not subject to GST/HST, but a gratuity or service charge included in the charge for a taxable service on the invoice is. The CRA example is a $1,000 banquet dinner with a 15% gratuity of $150, taxed on the full $1,150.

So if your quotation says "18% gratuity", show the tax on it. Clients who calculate HST on the food alone and then see a higher invoice will assume you slipped something in.

Deposits and when the tax is due

Say on the quotation whether the booking payment is a security deposit or a payment on account, because the tax timing differs. Under CRA policy a deposit given as security is not consideration for the supply until you apply it to the price, and if it is refunded there is no tax. If the client breaks the contract and forfeits it, the forfeited deposit is deemed a taxable supply. Typical Ontario wedding halls take a booking deposit, a second payment several months out, and the balance before the event.

State the refund position in plain words beside the deposit amount, for example "refundable until 180 days before the event, then applied to the final bill". It is the sentence clients reread most often when plans change.

Bar lines depend on who holds the licence

In Ontario, a Special Occasion Permit from the AGCO is needed whenever liquor is sold or served somewhere other than a licensed establishment or a private place such as a home or corporate boardroom. A wedding reception at an unlicensed community hall is the classic case. The AGCO lists a no-sale permit at $50 a day and a sale permit at $150 a day for private events. If your hall is licensed, or your catering company holds a catering endorsement, the bar can run under your licence instead.

Your quotation should therefore say which applies. "Open bar under our liquor licence" and "Bar service; client to obtain the Special Occasion Permit" are very different promises. Other provinces have their own liquor regulators and permit systems, so write the equivalent rule for yours.

Price the bar per guest, per consumption, or as a cash bar, and say which. Consumption bars need a cap or a check-in point with the host, because an open tab on a wedding night surprises nobody except the person paying it.

Corporate and non-resident clients

Corporate bookers want the quotation to look like the invoice they will receive, because their finance team claims input tax credits from it. Put your GST/HST registration number on the quotation, not just the invoice.

For conferences organised by non-residents, a rebate may be available for GST/HST paid on convention facilities and related supplies, with food and beverages limited to 50% of the tax. The rebate rules are in the CRA travel and convention guide, and your quotation should split room, food and beverage, and other services so the organiser can claim.

Expiry, menu changes and the busy season

Saturdays from June to September sell out a year or more ahead in most Canadian cities. Give quotations a short expiry, 14 days is common, and a clear rule on menu price reviews for events more than 12 months away. Many halls fix the per-guest price only when the second payment arrives. Put that rule on the quotation so it is not a surprise later.

Also note statutory holiday surcharges if you charge them. Long weekends such as Victoria Day and Thanksgiving cost more to staff, and clients accept a surcharge that was on the quotation.

Quotation questions from Canada