GST on Gym Memberships in Canada: A Gym Owner's Tax Guide

Yes, gyms charge GST. Once your gym's taxable revenue passes $30,000 in a single calendar quarter, or over four consecutive quarters, you must register and charge GST/HST on memberships, drop-ins, class packs and personal training. In BC that is 5% GST, and memberships are generally not subject to PST unless a taxable good like a t-shirt is bundled in.

Key takeaways

Key takeaways

1. Gyms must register for GST/HST once taxable revenue passes $30,000 in one quarter or across four consecutive quarters.
2. Memberships, drop-ins, class packs and personal training are taxable; the Excise Tax Act health exemption covers licensed practitioners such as physiotherapists, not personal trainers.
3. In BC, memberships and admissions are not subject to PST unless taxable goods are bundled in, but apparel and equipment sales are taxed at 7%.
4. Gift cards are not taxed when sold; GST/HST applies when they are redeemed.
5. The quick method (3.6% for a BC service business) often loses for gyms that pay GST on commercial rent; run the break-even first.
6. This is general information as of October 2026, not tax advice; confirm with an accountant.

This is general information as of October 2026, drawn from CRA and BC government pages I opened and cite below. It is not tax advice. Confirm your own situation with an accountant before you change how you charge or file.

Do gyms have to charge GST in Canada?

You have to register for GST/HST when you stop being a "small supplier." The CRA test is $30,000 of worldwide taxable revenue (including associated businesses). There are two ways to cross it:

• One quarter over $30,000. You stop being a small supplier immediately, and you must charge GST/HST on the very sale that pushed you over. Your registration is effective no later than that day.
• Four consecutive quarters over $30,000 combined. You stop being a small supplier at the end of the month after the quarter in which you crossed, and you must register before your next sale after that.

A small gym selling $8,000 a month in memberships does $96,000 a year, more than three times the threshold. Most gyms with a lease are well past the line. Below it, you can still register voluntarily, which lets you claim input tax credits on your start-up purchases.

The same rule applies to your coaches. A contract coach who bills more than $30,000 in a quarter, or across four quarters, has to register and charge you GST. If you pay contractors, read how to pay coaches in BC alongside this.

What GST/HST rate does a gym charge by province?

The rate depends on the province where the supply is made. As of the CRA's current rate table (effective April 1, 2025): 5% GST in BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Quebec and the territories; 13% HST in Ontario; 14% HST in Nova Scotia; 15% HST in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and PEI.

For a member walking into your Vancouver gym, the answer is simple: 5% GST. It gets less simple with online coaching. Under the CRA's general place of supply rules for services (GST/HST Memorandum 3-3-6, April 2026), if you get the client's home or business address in the normal course of business, the supply is generally made in that client's province. So an online programming client in Toronto may be charged 13% HST even though you are in BC. The CRA also has specific rules for personal services that are checked before the general rules, so have your accountant look at any remote coaching revenue.

What is taxable at a gym? (Table by revenue type)

Most services in Canada are taxable. The CRA's list of exempt supplies covers things like most health, medical and dental services by licensed physicians and dentists, child care, certain education and music lessons, and financial services. Fitness memberships and training are not on it.

Is personal training subject to GST/HST?

Yes, generally. Personal training is a taxable service. The exemption people sometimes mention is in the Excise Tax Act, Schedule V, Part II, section 7, which covers health care services rendered by a "practitioner." The CRA's bulletin on acupuncture (B-110) describes the conditions: a practitioner licensed in a regulated province (or with equivalent qualifications in an unregulated one), providing a service for a health purpose, within their scope of practice. The professions it names under s. 7 include physiotherapists, chiropractors and naturopathic doctors. The CRA states that a supply by someone who is not a practitioner for GST/HST purposes is generally not exempt under s. 7.

A certified personal trainer is not a practitioner in that sense. I would not tell a member or a coach that training is tax-exempt without a written opinion from your accountant.

ClassPass and Wellhub revenue

When a member books through an aggregator, you still delivered a fitness class, which is a taxable service. What changes is who sells it to whom. Depending on how the platform's contract is written, the aggregator may be buying the visit from you, or acting as your agent. That decides whether you charge GST on the payout or the platform accounts for it. I could not find a CRA page that addresses these platforms by name, so get your accountant to read the actual agreement. If you are still deciding whether the channel is worth it at all, the membership pricing decisions piece covers how to value discounted visits.

How should a gym show tax on prices?

The CRA requires you to tell customers whether GST/HST applies (General Information for GST/HST Registrants, RC4022). You have three options: show the tax as a separate line, state the rate that applies, or state that the total price includes GST/HST.

Pick one approach and use it everywhere: website, front desk, Wodify or whatever your billing software is, and the member agreement. A "$200 a month" membership that becomes $210 at checkout feels like a bait and switch. If you price tax-included, $200 including 5% GST means your actual revenue is $190.48, and that difference compounds across every member every month.

Gift cards, prepaid packs and annual memberships

Gift cards follow CRA Policy Statement P-202 (April 2012). Selling a qualifying gift certificate is deemed not to be a supply, so you do not charge GST/HST when it is sold. Tax applies when it is redeemed, on whatever it buys. To qualify, the certificate generally has to have a clear monetary value (or be for a specific supply), be accepted as payment by you, need nothing more than presenting it to redeem, and have no value of its own beyond that. A certificate with a minimum spend condition is treated as a coupon instead.

A class pack or annual membership a member buys for herself is a different thing. It is payment for your services in advance. I would charge GST at the point of sale and record it, the same as a monthly membership, and confirm the timing with your accountant if you sell large prepaid bundles near a year end.

BC PST and your gym

PST in BC is generally 7% and applies to taxable goods, software and certain services acquired in BC. The BC PST FAQ (updated September 2026) says memberships and admissions are not taxed provided no taxable goods are included. The Small business guide to PST (October 2026) lists the services that are taxable, such as legal, telecommunication, online marketplace and related services on taxable goods, and lists personal services among those that are exempt. Personal training is not on the taxable list.

Where PST does bite a gym:

• Retail. Adult apparel, shoes, equipment and accessories you sell are taxable goods. Oral vitamins and dietary supplements are exempt under the PST Exemption and Refund Regulation, s. 3(2)(a). Children's clothing is exempt under s. 9.
• Bundles. Throw a free t-shirt into a membership and you have included a taxable good. Either price the shirt separately or get advice on the bundle.
• Registration. You must register to collect PST if you sell taxable goods in BC in the ordinary course of business. The small seller exemption requires $10,000 or less in eligible retail sales, and also requires that you have no established business premises or regular retail sales from a commercial premises. A gym with a merchandise shelf at the front desk will usually not fit that.
• Your own purchases. PST applies when you acquire taxable goods for use in BC, so budget the 7% on a new rack or rower.

Should a gym use the quick method of accounting?

The quick method lets you remit a flat percentage of your GST-included sales instead of tracking every input tax credit. Per CRA guide RC4058 (Rev. 25, July 2025), you are eligible if your annual worldwide taxable supplies, including associates, are $400,000 or less (GST/HST included), you have a permanent establishment in Canada, and you have been in business for the 365 days before the period (new registrants have a separate rule). Accounting, bookkeeping and legal practices cannot use it.

For a service business with a permanent establishment in BC charging 5% GST, the remittance rate is 3.6%. You also get a 1% credit on the first $30,000 of eligible GST-included sales each fiscal year. You give up ITCs on most operating expenses, but you can still claim ITCs on capital property such as equipment, computers and building improvements.

Worked example (example numbers, not a real gym)

Take a BC gym with $250,000 in taxable sales for the year before tax.

• GST charged at 5%: $12,500. GST-included sales: $262,500.
• Quick method: $262,500 x 3.6% = $9,450. Minus the 1% credit on the first $30,000 ($300). Remittance: $9,150.
• Regular method: $12,500 collected, minus the GST you paid on operating expenses.

The break-even is $3,350 of operating ITCs ($12,500 minus $9,150). If your landlord charges GST on rent, check those invoices first. A gym paying $6,000 a month in rent plus GST pays $3,600 a year in GST on rent alone, which already beats the quick method before you count utilities, software or coaching contractors who charge GST. A gym that owns its space or works out of a low-rent unit may come out ahead on the quick method.

To elect, use My Business Account or Form GST74. Annual filers must elect by the first day of their second fiscal quarter. Once in, you stay at least one year, and after leaving you wait a year before electing again.

Input tax credits gym owners commonly miss

Input tax credits are the GST/HST you paid on purchases used in your commercial activities, claimed back on your return. These are the ones I would check first, with the CRA rule behind each:

• Equipment you bought before registering. A new registrant who was a small supplier can claim ITCs on capital property and inventory on hand on the day of registration.
• Capital purchases while on the quick method. The flat rate does not cover them, so claim them separately.
• Late claims. Most registrants have four years to claim an ITC they missed.
• Receipts that do not qualify. Under $100 you need the supplier name, date and total. From $100 to $499.99 you also need the GST amount and the supplier's GST number. At $500 and over you also need your name, a description and payment terms. Fix your purchase process so contractors and suppliers put their GST number on invoices.
• Meals and entertainment. You claim the allowable part, generally 50% of the GST paid where income tax limits the deduction to 50%.
• Club memberships. You cannot claim ITCs on dues to a club whose main purpose is recreation, dining or sporting facilities, unless you buy them for resale. Do not claim the golf club.

How often does a gym file GST/HST?

The CRA assigns your reporting period by annual taxable supplies: $1.5 million or less files annually, over $1.5 million up to $6 million files quarterly, over $6 million files monthly. You can elect to file more often with Form GST20.

Annual filers generally file and pay three months after fiscal year end. A self-employed owner with a December 31 year end files by June 15 but must pay by April 30. If your net tax last year was $3,000 or more, you may have to pay quarterly instalments this year. Most small gyms land in annual filing, and the risk is obvious: a full year of collected GST sits in the operating account looking like cash. I recommend moving GST collected to a separate account every month, or electing quarterly filing so the bill never grows that large.

GST and PST checklist for gym owners

1. Add up taxable revenue for the last four calendar quarters. Over $30,000 in total, or in any one quarter, means register.
2. Confirm your GST/HST rate for every place you deliver services, including online clients in HST provinces.
3. Decide tax-included or tax-added pricing and make it match across website, front desk, software and member agreement.
4. Pull merchandise out of membership bundles, or price it separately, and register for PST if you sell taxable goods.
5. Treat personal training as taxable unless your accountant gives you a written reason it is not.
6. Ask your accountant to read your ClassPass or Wellhub contract and tell you who accounts for the GST.
7. Run the quick method against your real operating ITCs, with rent in the calculation.
8. Collect ITC-ready invoices from every contractor and supplier, and go back four years for missed claims.
9. Sweep GST collected into its own account monthly.

Taxes are one line of a gym's numbers, and they are usually where cash surprises start. If you want a second set of eyes on how your pricing, payroll and tax setup fit together, start with the gym numbers framework and book a gym numbers teardown.