Crypto Capital Gains Canada: Tax Rules, Reporting, and What You Must Know

When you sell or trade cryptocurrency in Canada, you might owe crypto capital gains, tax owed when you profit from selling or trading digital assets. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) treats crypto like property, not currency. That means every time you sell Bitcoin for CAD, trade Ethereum for Solana, or use crypto to buy goods, you trigger a taxable event. It doesn’t matter if you didn’t cash out to your bank—any exchange or disposal counts.

What you pay depends on whether it’s a capital gain, profit from selling an asset held as an investment or business income, earnings from frequent trading treated like a job. Most casual holders pay capital gains tax: only 50% of your profit is added to your income and taxed at your regular rate. But if you’re day trading, using leverage, or buying/selling constantly, the CRA may classify you as a trader—and then 100% of your profits are taxable. There’s no gray area here. The CRA has audited thousands of crypto users since 2020, and they’re using blockchain analytics tools to track transactions across exchanges.

You must report every crypto transaction on your annual tax return using Form T1135 if your total crypto holdings exceed $100,000 CAD at any point in the year. Even if you didn’t make a profit, you still need to keep records: dates, amounts, values in CAD at time of trade, and what you traded for. No receipts? The CRA won’t care. They’ll estimate your gains based on market data—and you’ll end up paying more than you should. Many Canadians think using Coinbase or Bitbuy means they’re safe, but those platforms don’t automatically send tax forms like banks do. You’re responsible for tracking everything yourself.

What about airdrops, staking rewards, or mining? Those count as income when you receive them. If you get 0.5 ETH from an airdrop and it’s worth $1,200 CAD on the day you get it, that $1,200 is taxable income. If you later sell it for $1,500, you owe capital gains on the $300 profit. Same goes for staking rewards—you pay income tax when you get them, then capital gains when you sell them. It’s double taxation, but it’s the law.

There’s no amnesty program. The CRA has a voluntary disclosure program, but it’s not a loophole—it’s a last resort. If you’ve been ignoring crypto taxes and you come forward before they contact you, you might avoid penalties. But if they find you first, you’re looking at fines up to 50% of the unpaid tax, plus interest that compounds daily.

Below, you’ll find real guides from Canadian crypto users who’ve been through audits, tax filings, and exchange reporting nightmares. You’ll see how people handled crypto-to-fiat withdrawals, what happens when banks freeze accounts over unreported gains, and how to prove your transactions when the CRA asks for proof. No theory. No guesswork. Just what actually works in Canada in 2025.