Is There Tax on Groceries in Ontario? What the 13% HST Covers

Most of what you buy at an Ontario grocery store is tax-free. Basic groceries carry a 0% rate under federal law, so there is no tax on groceries in Ontario when you’re buying staples like fresh produce, meat, bread, eggs, milk, flour, and rice. The 13% Harmonized Sales Tax shows up on specific categories the law treats as snacks or indulgences: candy, chocolate bars, chips, carbonated drinks, alcohol, and single-serving baked goods and frozen treats. Non-food items on your receipt — cleaning supplies, paper products, toiletries, pet food — are taxed at the full 13% as well.¹

What’s Tax-Free at the Grocery Store

The Canada Revenue Agency’s zero-rated list covers most of what goes into a home-cooked meal. Fresh, frozen, canned, and vacuum-sealed fruits and vegetables all qualify. So do fresh meat, poultry, and fish; eggs; most milk products; and breakfast cereals. Bread, flour, rice, and other plain grains are zero-rated, along with cooking oils, salt, spices, and other cooking ingredients.²

Coffee beans and loose tea are tax-free. Frozen fruit juice concentrates qualify as long as they contain at least 25% natural fruit juice by volume. Plain bottled water is zero-rated when the bottle is 600 mL or larger, or when sold in a manufacturer’s multipack of smaller bottles; a single bottle under 600 mL counts as a single serving and gets taxed.²

The underlying idea is that food you take home to prepare and eat should not be taxed. Once a product crosses into ready-to-eat snacking territory, the rules flip.

Grocery Items That Get the Full 13%

The Excise Tax Act lists specific food and drink categories that are taxable even on a grocery store shelf.¹ The main ones:

Carbonated beverages of any size — cola, ginger ale, sparkling water, tonic water, and carbonated mineral water.²
Non-carbonated fruit-flavoured drinks with less than 25% natural fruit juice.
Candy and confectionery, including chocolate bars, candy floss, and chewing gum. Fruits, seeds, nuts, or popcorn coated in chocolate, honey, sugar, or syrup also count.³
Salty snacks: potato chips, corn chips, cheese puffs, popcorn, and brittle pretzels. Salted nuts and salted seeds are taxable too, though unsalted nuts in their natural state are tax-free.⁴
Granola bars, with or without chocolate coating, unless the product is sold primarily as a breakfast cereal.³
Ice cream, frozen yogurt, sherbet, and similar frozen treats in packages under 500 mL or 500 grams.²
Beer, wine, spirits, and any other alcoholic drink.

Snack mixtures that combine cereals, nuts, seeds, and dried fruit are taxable. Even plain nuts become taxable once they’ve been roasted, shelled, or seasoned, because the law stops treating them as being in their natural state.⁴

The Six-or-More Rule for Baked Goods

This one trips up almost everyone. A single muffin, doughnut, cookie, slice of cake, or croissant with sweetened filling bought from the bakery counter is taxable at 13%. Buy six or more of the same item and the purchase is tax-free.² The statute draws the line at quantities of fewer than six single servings, whether the items come prepackaged by the manufacturer or loose from the bakery case.¹

The reasoning: one pastry reads as a ready-to-eat snack, while half a dozen is something you’re bringing home for the household. Plain bread products like bagels, English muffins, and croissants without sweetened filling or coating are tax-free no matter how many you buy.²

Prepared Food and the $4 Rebate

A deli sandwich, a slice of hot pizza, or a container of soup from the grocery store counter is prepared food, and prepared food is normally taxed at the full 13%. Ontario provides a point-of-sale rebate that strips off the 8% provincial portion when the pre-tax price of qualifying prepared food and beverages is $4.00 or less, so you pay only the 5% federal GST.⁵

Once your combined pre-tax total of qualifying prepared items goes over $4.00, the rebate disappears and the full 13% applies to the whole purchase.⁶ The register handles it automatically. At current prices, the ceiling means the rebate mostly covers a single item from the hot food counter.

Non-Food Items Are Where the Tax Usually Comes From

The most common reason a grocery bill carries unexpected tax is a mix of food and household goods. Toilet paper, paper towels, cleaning products, laundry detergent, and garbage bags are all taxed at 13%. So are personal care items like shampoo, toothpaste, and soap. Pet food and pet treats are taxable too, because the zero-rating applies only to food for human consumption.¹

Most grocery receipts flag each line with a tax code, often an “H” next to taxable items and nothing next to tax-free ones. If the total surprised you, that column tells you which items drove it.

Relief for Status First Nations Shoppers

Status First Nations individuals in Ontario, meaning those holding a Certificate of Indian Status issued under the federal Indian Act, can have the 8% provincial portion of the HST removed from taxable purchases at the register by presenting a valid Status Card or Temporary Confirmation of Registration document. The retailer then charges only the 5% federal GST.⁶

Basic groceries that are already zero-rated don’t change — there was no tax to remove in the first place. The relief shows up on taxable grocery items like snacks, carbonated drinks, and prepared meals above the $4.00 threshold. The purchase has to be for personal use; business purchases don’t qualify. The program is specific to Ontario and doesn’t extend to Métis or non-status Indigenous individuals.

1
Government of Canada. Excise Tax Act – Schedule VI, Part III
2
Canada Revenue Agency. Basic Groceries
3
Canada Revenue Agency. Bars
4
Canada Revenue Agency. Snack Foods
5
Canada Revenue Agency. Harmonized Sales Tax for Ontario – Point-of-Sale Rebate on Prepared Food and Beverages
6
Government of Ontario. HST Ontario Point-of-Sale Rebates