How to Report Crypto on Your Taxes in Canada (2026)

Canadian crypto tax is not complicated once you know where each piece goes. Coins you sold or traded are reported on Schedule 3, which now has its own line for crypto. Coins you earned are income. The hard part is the arithmetic in between: Canada uses an average cost across every wallet you own. This guide follows the order you will actually work in, for returns covering the 2026 tax year.

Before you start: what you need

• A full transaction history (CSV) from every exchange and app you used, including Wealthsimple, Coinbase, Kraken, Newton or Shakepay, and any self-custody wallets.
• The value in Canadian dollars of every purchase, sale, swap and reward, at the time it happened.
• Your adjusted cost base (ACB) carried over from previous years for coins you still held on January 1.
• Any losses carried forward from earlier years.
• Records of fees paid to buy, sell or transfer.

The CRA expects you to keep these records and to show how you worked out each value.

Step 1: decide whether you are investing or running a business

Most Canadians who buy and hold crypto make capital gains, and only half of a capital gain is taxable. But the CRA treats crypto activity as a business when it looks like one, and then 100% of the profit is taxable as business income. The CRA lists factors such as:

• how often you trade,
• how long you hold your coins,
• your knowledge of the markets and the time you spend studying them,
• whether you borrow money to buy crypto,
• whether you advertise that you buy or sell crypto.

Even a single transaction can be business income if it was an adventure in the nature of trade, such as buying a token only to flip it. Mining, according to the CRA, is in most cases a business. If your situation is borderline, this is the decision to get professional advice on, because it changes how much of your profit is taxed.

Step 2: work out your adjusted cost base

Your ACB is what you paid for a coin plus the costs of acquiring it, such as trading fees. Canada treats all units of the same coin as identical property, so you average the cost of every unit you own, across every exchange and wallet. Each time you buy, the average changes. Each time you sell, the units you sell take the current average cost.

On the September sale, the ACB of the 0.08 BTC sold is 0.08 × $103,833.33 = $8,306.67. The capital gain is $12,800 − $8,306.67 − $40 = $4,453.33, and half of it, $2,226.67, is the taxable capital gain. Selling does not change the average cost of the coins you keep.

Step 3: calculate each disposition

A disposition is any time you give up a coin. The CRA counts all of these:

• selling crypto for Canadian dollars or another currency,
• trading one crypto for another, including into a stablecoin,
• using crypto to buy goods or services,
• giving crypto away as a gift or donation.

For each one, your proceeds are the fair market value in Canadian dollars of what you received at that moment. In a crypto-to-crypto trade, that is the value of the coin you received, which also becomes that coin's cost. Subtract the ACB of the units you gave up and any selling costs to get your gain or loss.

Step 4: fill in Schedule 3

Schedule 3, Capital Gains (or Losses), has a separate line for crypto. On the 2025 form, the most recent one available, crypto-assets are line 7 in Part 3:

Schedule 3 adds your crypto result to any other capital gains or losses, such as from shares, and the taxable half of the net gain goes on line 12700 of your income tax and benefit return. Expect the same layout for 2026 returns, but check the line numbers on the 2026 Schedule 3 when the CRA publishes it.

If you have a net loss: a net capital loss cannot reduce your salary or other income. You can carry it back up to three years with Form T1A to recover tax paid on earlier gains, or carry it forward indefinitely and claim it on line 25300 in a year with gains. If you sold at a loss and you, or someone affiliated with you, bought the same coin within 30 days before or after, the loss may be a superficial loss and denied. Our tax-loss harvesting guide covers that rule.

Step 5: report crypto you earned

• Staking rewards. The CRA says rewards from staking on a centralized exchange are generally income when they are credited to your platform wallet.
• Mining. In most cases a business: report the value of the crypto you receive as business income when you earn it.
• Getting paid in crypto. The fair market value in Canadian dollars on the day you receive it is income: employment income if your employer pays you, business income if you are self-employed.

Business income is reported on Form T2125, Statement of Business or Professional Activities, and the net amount flows to line 13500. The value you report as income becomes the cost of those coins, so selling them later is a separate gain or loss on Schedule 3, unless your crypto activity as a whole is a business.

Wealthsimple users: what you get and how to use it

Wealthsimple does not issue a T5008 for crypto accounts. Instead it provides a crypto tax statement showing the proceeds and book cost of each sale or trade. For the 2025 tax year that statement was released on March 20, 2026, so plan on a similar timeline for 2026. Wealthsimple also offers:

• a realized gains and losses report that breaks down your proceeds of disposition and adjusted book cost,
• a crypto transaction summary in CSV format for your records,
• an annual charges and compensation report for crypto, which lists fees.

In Wealthsimple Tax, you enter the Total Proceeds of Disposition and the Total Adjusted Book Cost from the report in the capital gains section, and the gain or loss is calculated for you.

Two cautions before you copy the totals:

• The statement is not an official tax slip, so it will not appear in the CRA's Auto-fill my return. You have to enter it yourself, and Wealthsimple tells users to double-check the figures.
• It only knows about coins held at Wealthsimple. If you hold the same coin anywhere else, or moved coins in or out during the year, recalculate your ACB across all your holdings and use that figure instead.

Deadlines and payments for 2026

If your net tax owing is more than $3,000 ($1,800 in Quebec) in the current year and in either of the two previous years, the CRA expects you to pay by instalments during the year. A big crypto gain can put you in that position the following year.

Will the CRA know about my crypto?

Increasingly, yes. Canada is implementing the OECD's Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF). Under draft legislation released in August 2025, crypto platforms collect customer and transaction data from January 1, 2026, and the first reports to the CRA, covering 2026, are due in 2027. Reporting accurately for 2026 is the simplest way to stay ahead of that data.

Common mistakes

• Ignoring crypto-to-crypto trades. Every trade is a disposition, even if you never cashed out.
• Using each platform's book cost as your ACB when you hold the same coin in more than one place.
• Leaving out staking rewards because nothing was sold.
• Rebuying within 30 days of a loss sale, which can make the loss superficial.
• Not reporting a loss year. Reporting it is what lets you carry the loss back or forward.

Frequently asked questions

Where do I report crypto on my Canadian tax return?

Capital gains and losses from crypto go on Schedule 3. On the 2025 form, crypto-assets are line 7 in Part 3, with total proceeds on line 15200 and the total gain or loss on line 15301. Half of your net gain is carried to line 12700 of your return. Business income from crypto goes on Form T2125.

How much of my crypto gain is taxable in Canada?

Half. The capital gains inclusion rate is 50%, and the taxable half is added to your income and taxed at your marginal rate. If your crypto activity is a business, the full profit is taxable.

Does Wealthsimple give you a T5008 for crypto?

No. Wealthsimple does not issue a T5008 for crypto accounts. It provides a crypto tax statement with the proceeds and book cost of each sale or trade, which is not an official slip, so you enter the totals on your return yourself.

Do I have to report crypto if I lost money?

You should. A reported net capital loss can be carried back three years to recover tax on earlier gains, or forward indefinitely to reduce future gains. If you do not report it, you cannot use it.

Is moving crypto between my own wallets taxable in Canada?

No. A transfer between wallets you own is not a disposition. Keep a record of it, though, because you will need the original cost when you eventually sell.

Are staking rewards taxable in Canada?

Yes. The CRA says staking rewards from a centralized exchange are generally income when they are credited to your platform wallet. That value becomes their cost for when you sell them later.

When is the deadline to report 2026 crypto taxes in Canada?

April 30, 2027 for most people. If you or your spouse or common-law partner are self-employed, the filing deadline is June 15, 2027, but any balance owing is still due April 30.

Sources

1. Canada Revenue Agency, Completing Schedule 3
2. Canada Revenue Agency, Reporting income from crypto-asset transactions
3. Canada Revenue Agency, Reporting income from crypto-asset mining and staking activities
4. Canada Revenue Agency, Information for crypto-asset users and tax professionals
5. Wealthsimple Help Centre, Get ready to file your 2025 tax return
6. Wealthsimple Help Centre, Reporting crypto investments on your income tax
7. RSM Canada, Proposed crypto-asset reporting (August 2025)

This guide is general information for the 2026 tax year, not tax, legal or financial advice. Tax rules change often, so confirm your situation with a qualified professional before you file. Spotted an error? Email taxoncrypto@gmail.com.