Certain customer and itinerary types permit tax-exemptions. Please note that the following exceptions/rules are not exhaustive to cover all situations and are subject to legislative/governmental change without notice.
Ticket Cross-Reference for Canadian Tax Purposes on Continuous Journey:
Tax exempt application on continuous journeys:
- GST-Canadian Goods and Services Tax (XG)
- QST-Quebec Sales Tax (XQ)
- HST-Canadian Harmonized Sales Tax (RC)
- ATSC-Canadian Air Travellers Security Charge (CA)
- AIF-Canadian Airport Improvement Fee (SQ)
- AIFD-Canadian Airport Improvement Fee Deposit (W1)
When two or more tickets are issued for different portions of one single continuous journey, a ticket may be tax exempt if it is issued in connection with an international ticket, provided the following conditions and restrictions regarding stopovers and/or connections are met.
| Tax type | Intra-Canada/Transborder ticket is tax exempt if: | Stopovers |
|---|---|---|
|
GST (XG) QST (XQ) HST (RC) |
Connecting within 24 hours to an international ticket or journey. | One stop, inbound or outbound, permitted on the intra-Canada or transborder journey. |
| ATSC (CA) | Connecting within 24 hours to an international ticket or journey. | No stops allowed in either direction. |
| AIF (SQ) | Connecting within 24 hours to/from an international ticket or journey (within 4 hours for intra-Canada or transborder connections). | No stops allowed in either direction. |
| AIFD (W1) |
Connecting within 4 hours for intra-Canada and transborder itineraries, except for itineraries for travel to/from Hawaii. Connecting within 24 hours for international , including transborder itineraries to/from Hawaii. |
No stops allowed in either direction. |
Ticket Endorsement
For tax exemption, the intra-Canada or transborder ticket, must include the following information, and must be cross-referenced in the endorsement box following the permitted scenarios below:
- Connection to international flight(s):
- Carrier's IATA code
- Flight number
- Flight date
- Origin and destination of the 24 hours connecting flight:
- Air Canada’s 014 connecting ticket (if space permits in endorsement box). Other airline's ticket number is not an acceptable cross-reference without carrier's flight number, date, origin and destination of connecting flights.
Example: AC856 08FEB26 YYZLHR
-
Connection to an international cruise
- CONX TO “cruise’s name”
- Port's name
- Date of sail
- Length of cruise (by days)
Example: CONX TO PRINCESS MIA 08FEB26 7D
Note: Connecting to a cruise does not exempt the ATSC (CA), the AIF (SQ), or the AIFD (W1) as this is not a connection to air transportation.
-
Surface travel exists in the journey
- Mode of transportation
- Dates of travel
- Origin and destination of surface travel (using “//” as symbol in between). This is required in order to connect any intra-Canada/transborder travel to the international travel
Example: GREYHOUND BUS TOUR 08FEB YYZ//DTW
Note: Connecting to any other mode of transportation does not exempt the ATSC (CA), AIF (SQ), or the AIFD (W1) as this is not a connection to air transportation.
Incorrect or Missing Endorsement
-
The travel agency that has issued all the tickets making up the continuous journey must maintain meticulous records which would serve as evidence that the journey was indeed continuous.
- If evidence is not available or cannot be documented or retained at time of sale, any applicable taxes must be collected.
- Travel agencies will be charged a service fee of 20% value of the memo (minimum$50.00 CAD/USD) plus applicable tax for a missing or incorrect cross-reference.
- Air Canada will issue a debit memo for the value of the taxes to the agency.
-
It will be the travel agency’s responsibility to provide the required documentation to validate tax exemption if requested.
- If the agency is unable to provide such information, they will be required to pay the debit memo.
- Air Canada reserves the right to charge interest and penalties should the debit memo amount be substantial.
Revised Dec 1, 2025