Canadian Crypto Staking
Tax Guide 2025

In January 2025, the Canada Revenue Agency published updated administrative guidance clarifying how crypto asset transactions on CSA-registered platforms are treated for income tax purposes. This was a significant development for Canadian stakers because it reduced tax uncertainty on two key actions: depositing crypto onto a registered platform and the act of staking itself.

The core principle is that the CRA does not view these actions as a change in beneficial ownership sufficient to constitute a taxable disposition, provided you are using a platform registered with the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA). The guidance does not apply to unregistered offshore platforms, where the tax treatment remains uncertain and potentially more aggressive.

It is important to note that CRA guidance is administrative interpretation, not legislation. The Income Tax Act itself has not been amended specifically for crypto staking. The CRA's position can change, and court decisions could alter how the rules are applied. This is why consulting a Canadian tax professional remains important.

A disposition occurs when you transfer ownership of a property under the Income Tax Act. For crypto, the most common dispositions are: selling for CAD, trading one crypto for another, using crypto to pay for goods or services, or gifting crypto to someone other than a spouse.

When staking rewards arrive in your account, the CRA treats them as other income under section 3 of the Income Tax Act, taxable in the year received. The amount to report is the Canadian dollar fair market value of the rewards at the exact time they are credited.

This income is taxed at your marginal tax rate (combined federal + provincial), not the 50% capital gains inclusion rate. For most Canadians, this means staking rewards are taxed at a rate between 20% and 53% depending on province and total income.

The fair market value you report also becomes the adjusted cost base (ACB) for that batch of rewards. This matters when you eventually sell: your capital gain will be calculated on any appreciation above what you already reported as income. This prevents double-taxation on the same amount.

When you eventually sell, convert, or otherwise dispose of crypto you received as staking rewards (or purchased), any appreciation above your ACB is a capital gain. As of the 2024 federal budget, the capital gains inclusion rate increased from 50% to 2/3 for individuals with capital gains above $250,000 in a year.

Capital losses can offset capital gains in the current year. Unused capital losses can be carried back 3 years or carried forward indefinitely to offset future gains. They cannot offset ordinary income (such as employment income or staking reward income).

The ACB calculation for crypto uses the average cost method in Canada (not FIFO or specific identification). If you hold multiple purchases and reward batches of the same token, your ACB per unit is the total cost divided by total units held.

Crypto assets (including ETH, SOL, ADA, DOT) are not qualified investments under the Income Tax Act and cannot be held directly inside a TFSA or RRSP. Holding non-qualified investments in a registered account results in a 1% per month penalty tax on the fair market value of the non-qualified investment.

What you can hold in a TFSA or RRSP: Crypto-linked ETFs listed on designated stock exchanges (e.g., Purpose Bitcoin ETF, CI Galaxy Ethereum ETF) are qualified investments and can be held in registered accounts. These are not the same as holding the underlying crypto.

Staking rewards earned in a non-registered account are taxed as income that year. There is currently no way to shield staking income from tax using a TFSA or RRSP directly. This is an active policy area: advocacy groups have pushed the government to create a crypto-eligible registered account structure, but no legislation has passed as of 2026.

The CRA requires you to keep records of all crypto transactions for six years from the end of the tax year to which they relate. For crypto, a full record includes:

• Transaction date and time

  Exact timestamp for each reward, purchase, sale, or trade.

• Amount in crypto

  The number of tokens received, sent, or traded.

• Fair market value in CAD

  The CAD equivalent at the time of the transaction.

• Platform or exchange used

  Name of the platform where the transaction occurred.

• Wallet addresses

  Source and destination addresses for on-chain transactions.

• Fees paid

  Network gas fees and platform fees (may affect ACB or be deductible).

StakeOnix provides a downloadable transaction history from your account dashboard. We recommend exporting this quarterly and running it through a crypto tax tool. Popular options compatible with Canadian tax rules include Koinly, Coinpanda, and CryptoTaxCalculator, all of which support CAD reporting and T1 output.

If you transact across multiple platforms or self-custody wallets, you will need to consolidate records from all sources to calculate your accurate ACB across your full portfolio.

Crypto income and gains are reported in two places on the T1 General:

Most crypto tax software (Koinly, etc.) will generate a summary report you can use to populate these forms. If your crypto activity is complex (many trades, multiple platforms, DeFi), working with a Canadian accountant who specialises in crypto is strongly recommended.