Who operates the camp decides the HST
Ontario applies 13% HST to most services, and a private for-profit camp is generally making taxable supplies once it passes the $30,000 small-supplier threshold. Public sector bodies work under different rules on both counts: recreational programs provided primarily to children 14 and under by charities, nonprofits and municipalities are generally exempt, and the small-supplier threshold for most public service bodies is $50,000 rather than $30,000. There is a separate route too: a day camp whose primary purpose is care and supervision of children 14 and under, for less than 24 hours a day, can fall under the child-care exemption regardless of who runs it, while a program sold on instruction, a hockey school or a coding camp, generally cannot.
| The camp | Typical HST posture in Ontario |
|---|---|
| For-profit day camp sold on activities and instruction | Generally taxable at 13% once past the $30,000 threshold; input tax credits recover HST on costs |
| For-profit day camp whose real product is care and supervision | May qualify as exempt child care; CRA looks at the primary purpose, so the position needs support |
| Charity, nonprofit or municipal day program primarily for ages 14 and under | Generally exempt as a children's recreational program; no ITCs, partial recovery possible via the public service bodies' rebate |
| Overnight camp, any operator | Generally taxable: the recreational exemption excludes programs with overnight supervision, and 24-hour care sits outside the child-care exemption |
The answer sets your cost structure as much as your price. An exempt camp recovers no input tax credits, so the 13% on bus contracts, food and supplies becomes a real cost to build into fees; a taxable camp recovers it but must charge parents more. We settle the position, registration included, before the price list goes out.
Deposits and the HST clock
Taxable camps collect money months before they deliver anything, and the timing rules are kinder than most operators assume. A true deposit is generally not consideration until it is applied against the fee, so HST on a January deposit is typically accounted for when the amount is applied or the balance is invoiced, not the day the e-transfer lands. The other side of the rule surprises people: when a family forfeits a deposit on a taxable booking, the kept amount is generally treated as HST-included, so 13/113 of it belongs to the CRA. Refunds after tax has been charged need credit notes and return adjustments, which is one more reason cancellation season deserves clean paperwork.
The receipt parents are waiting for
Camp fees are child care expenses for many families, and the camp is the one who has to paper that claim. Day camps qualify where the camp's purpose is to care for children; overnight camp and boarding fees are claimable only up to weekly caps of $200 for a child under 7, $125 for ages 7 to 16 and $275 where the child qualifies for the disability tax credit, inside annual limits of $8,000, $5,000 and $11,000 on Form T778. A usable receipt shows the camp's legal name and address, the child, the dates and the amount paid in the calendar year.
CRA reviews child-care claims routinely, so every autumn brings a wave of parents asking for reissued receipts. We set camps up with a receipt register so the February batch goes out once, correctly, and if the CRA letter lands on the camp's own desk instead, CRA Audit & Review Support handles the response.
The season's paper year
An incorporated camp files a T2 whatever its size, and our Corporate Tax Filing engagement builds it from books that already separate earned from deferred fees, so an oddly timed year-end does not overstate income. A camp still run personally reports on a T2125 inside the owner's return, which we prepare through Personal Tax Filing. Around the return sit the slips: T4s for the summer staff by the end of February, T4As for specialty instructors who invoiced as contractors, and HST returns that keep their own schedule straight through the off-season. One firm carrying all of it means the deposit ledger, the receipts and the returns tell the same story, quoted in writing after a free 15-minute discovery call.
