Canada
The dates that matter, and how they connect to your bookkeeping. Deadlines depend on your situation — your GST/HST reporting period, your payroll remitter type, your province and your business structure — so treat this as an orientation, not a personalised calendar. Always confirm current dates with the applicable authority before you rely on them.
Why bookkeeping makes deadlines easy: when your books are current and reconciled, meeting a filing date is a matter of pulling a figure — not reconstructing months of records under pressure. That's the whole point of keeping up.
How the main deadlines work
If you're registered, your filing and payment dates depend on your assigned reporting period — monthly, quarterly or annually. The period you're on drives when returns and payments are due, so two businesses can have very different GST/HST deadlines.
If you have employees, your source-deduction remittance frequency depends on your remitter type (which the CRA assigns). Regular remitters generally remit by the 15th of the month after the deductions were made; other types have different schedules. T4 information returns are generally due by the last day of February.
Corporations and sole proprietors have different year-end and filing timelines, and instalment obligations can apply. Whatever your situation, the bookkeeping work is the same: reconciled accounts and a clean package ready for your accountant well before the deadline.
Selected dates
A few widely-relevant federal dates, each with its official source and the date we last reviewed it. Your own deadlines may differ.
Contributions made on or before this date (the first 60 days of 2027) can be deducted on your 2026 return, subject to your contribution room.
Official source ↗ · Updated August 21, 2026
File T4, T4A and T5 information returns with the CRA and give copies to recipients by the last business day of February following the year.
Official source ↗ · Updated August 21, 2026
File your 2026 T1 return and pay any balance owing by this date. Interest on unpaid amounts starts the next day.
Official source ↗ · Updated August 21, 2026
If you or your spouse were self-employed, your 2026 return is due by this date — but any balance owing was still due 30 April 2027.
Official source ↗ · Updated August 21, 2026
2026 instalments are due 15 March, 15 June, 15 September and 15 December. The next upcoming date is shown here.
Official source ↗ · Updated August 21, 2026
Provincial requirements vary
Federal GST/HST and payroll are only part of the picture. Depending on where you operate and whether you have employees, provincial obligations may also apply — and they differ by province. These are educational notes, not a complete list; confirm what applies to you with the relevant provincial authority.
Some provinces charge a separate provincial sales tax on top of GST rather than a combined HST — for example PST in British Columbia and Saskatchewan, QST in Quebec, and RST in Manitoba. Whether you must register, charge and file depends on the province and your business. Confirm with the relevant provincial tax authority.
Employers in British Columbia generally register with and report payroll to WorkSafeBC. This is a BC-specific requirement — other provinces have their own workers' compensation bodies. Good payroll bookkeeping keeps the records that support this reporting. Verify current requirements with WorkSafeBC ↗.
Ontario's Employer Health Tax (EHT) is a provincial payroll-based tax that applies to some employers above certain thresholds; British Columbia has its own separate employer health tax. These are not Canada-wide. Confirm whether one applies to you with the relevant provincial authority.
We keep the bookkeeping and payroll records that these filings draw on — organised, reconciled and ready — so whatever applies in your province, the underlying numbers are in order. We provide bookkeeping support, not tax or legal advice; specific obligations are confirmed with your accountant or the authority.
Always verify current deadlines with the applicable government authority.
Dates and rules change, and can shift to the next business day on weekends and public holidays. This page is general information, not tax advice. Last reviewed: August 2026.
With current, reconciled books, filing dates take care of themselves. Tell us where your books stand and we'll help you get — and stay — ready.