Taxes, invoicing and payments

This page explains taxes, invoicing and payments for:

marine navigation service fees
icebreaking service fees
maintenance dredging service fees

Taxes

Vessel owners or operators must establish the tax status of their vessel with regard to:

Quebec sales tax (QST)
provincial sales tax (PST)
harmonized sales tax (HST)
goods and services tax (GST)

Contact the Canada Revenue Agency for information and advice.

We apply the goods and services tax only if the owner/operator of the vessel is a Canadian resident. If the owner/operator is not a Canadian resident, the shipping agents must submit a goods and services tax declaration form. If either one of them is Canadian, the GST applies.

Owners operators may also be eligible for Quebec sales tax exemptions if they are not:

a resident in the Province of Quebec
registered with Revenue Quebec for QST purposes

In this case, shipping agents or responsible entities must submit a Quebec sales tax declaration form.

Contact our Marine Services Fees Billing, Collections and Compliance Division (MSFBCC) for information on tax declaration forms.

Invoicing and payments

We invoice vessels for icebreaking and maintenance dredging service fees on a per-transit basis. For marine navigation service fees, depending on the applicable rate, we invoice vessels:

monthly
quarterly
annually

For foreign cargo vessels, we bill for each loading and unloading.

We apply the fees to the vessel. Normally, the entity that has control of the vessel at the time of transit must pay the fee. This could be the:

charterer
shipping agent
ship owner or operator

You must pay the fee within 30 days of the invoice date. Send your fee payment and a copy of the invoice to our accounting hub either by

email
fax
mail

Note

You are eligible for a rebate on marine navigation service fees for any quarter where your vessel is inactive. To claim your rebate, please provide a written declaration to the Marine Services Fees Billing, Collection and Compliance Division.

We charge interest on overdue accounts as of the 31st day after the invoice date. This charge compounds monthly, at the average Bank of Canada rate for the preceding month, plus 3%.

Our accounting hub sends vessel operators a monthly statement of account, detailing all related transactions.

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2026-01-30

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Taxes, invoicing and payments

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