How Much to Tip in Canada
15–20% is standard at Canadian restaurants. Calculate your exact tip, see totals per person, and split the bill evenly — with HST-aware tipping options.
🇨🇦 Canadian Tipping Guide
| Service Type | Suggested Tip |
|---|---|
| Full-service restaurant | 15–20% |
| Excellent restaurant service | 20–25% |
| Counter service / café | 0–10% |
| Food delivery (app) | 10–15% |
| Hotel housekeeping (per night) | $2–$5/night |
| Taxi / rideshare | 10–15% |
| Hair salon / barber | 15–20% |
| Massage therapist | 15–20% |
| Movers | 5–10% of total bill |
| Pizza delivery | $3–5 minimum |
Frequently Asked Questions
15% is the standard minimum for adequate service. 18% for good service, 20%+ for excellent. Counter service and takeout: 0–10% is acceptable.
The traditional Canadian standard is to tip on the pre-tax subtotal. Many Canadians tip on the total for simplicity. On a $100 meal, the difference is about $1.50–$2.60 depending on your province.
Not legally, but it is a strong social expectation at full-service restaurants and for most service workers. Some restaurants add an automatic service charge for large groups — check before adding more.
Yes — 10%–15% is the Canadian standard. A minimum of $3–$5 is appropriate for short-distance orders. You can set the tip before placing your order on most apps.
Tip on the subtotal, not the total
The convention in Canada is to tip on the pre-tax subtotal. Tipping on the post-tax total quietly adds an extra 5–15% to what you give, depending on your province, because you are tipping on the government's share as well as the restaurant's.
On a $100 meal in Ontario, 18% on the subtotal is $18.00. The same 18% applied to the $113 HST-inclusive total is $20.34 — a 13% larger tip than you intended. The gap is widest in Quebec (14.975%) and the Atlantic HST provinces (15%), and narrowest in Alberta, where 5% GST makes the two figures almost identical.
The Ontario shortcut: HST is 13%, so a little more than "double the tax" lands close to a 15% tip on the subtotal, and it is the fastest mental check when you do not want to open a calculator. Note that many payment terminals default to calculating their suggested percentages on the total — one reason the machine's suggestion often feels higher than expected.
Terminal prompts have drifted upward
Card terminals that once suggested 10/12/15% now routinely open at 18/20/25%, and increasingly appear at counters where tipping was never customary — takeout windows, bakeries, self-serve kiosks. This is a design choice by the payment software, not a social rule, and the phenomenon has a name: tipflation.
You are under no obligation to accept the default. Every terminal in Canada has a "custom amount" or "no tip" option, even when it is the smallest button on the screen. Full table service still conventionally warrants 15–20%; counter service where nobody serves your table conventionally warrants nothing, though many people round up.
Two things worth knowing about who gets your tip
Tip-outs. In most full-service restaurants your server does not keep the whole tip. A percentage is pooled and shared with kitchen staff, bussers, hosts and bartenders — commonly calculated as a share of the server's sales rather than their tips. A server who is stiffed on a large table can therefore end up paying to have served it.
There is no separate lower wage for servers in Ontario. The province eliminated the liquor-server minimum wage in January 2022, so serving staff now earn the same general minimum as everyone else. Some other provinces retain a lower alcohol-server rate. Either way, tips in Canada are taxable income — servers are required to report them whether they arrive as cash or on a card.
Tipping in Canada — Frequently Asked Questions
Pre-tax subtotal. Tipping on the total adds roughly 13% to your tip in Ontario — $20.34 instead of $18.00 on a $100 meal.
15–20% for full table service. 15% is standard, 18–20% for good service.
No. Every terminal has a custom amount or no tip option. Defaults have drifted to 18–25% and often calculate on the post-tax total.
Usually not. Most restaurants operate a tip-out, sharing a portion with kitchen, bar and support staff — often based on sales rather than tips received.
Not any more — Ontario eliminated the liquor-server wage in January 2022. Servers earn the general minimum wage.