Staking, mining and crypto rewards: what CRA has and hasn’t said

What CRA says about staking

CRA’s page “Reporting income from crypto-asset mining and staking activities” (modified 2025-11-10) does address staking, but narrowly. It says rewards received from staking crypto-assets on a centralized crypto-asset exchange platform “will generally be considered as income under the Income Tax Act” at the time the rewards are credited to your wallet on the platform.

Two details are worth noticing. First, timing: the income arises when the reward is credited, not when you later sell it. Second, scope: the statement is about staking through a centralized platform. The page describes proof-of-stake and validator nodes in general, but it does not extend the same statement to staking you do yourself or through DeFi contracts.

What CRA says about mining

On the same 2025-11-10 page, CRA says that in most cases mining activities will be considered carrying on a business because of the scale and resources involved. The value of mining rewards must be included in business income at the time it is earned.

CRA also notes that mining equipment such as ASIC miners and GPU rigs may fall in capital cost allowance class 50, and that non-residents mining with equipment located in Canada may be carrying on business in Canada.

For GST/HST, CRA’s page on crypto-asset transactions (modified 2025-11-10) says that, generally, a person engaged in mining is considered not to be engaged in commercial activity for GST/HST purposes, with limited exceptions where mining is performed for a known person.

What CRA hasn’t addressed

As of 2026-10-30, CRA’s crypto-asset pages are silent on several situations that many Canadians are in:

• Self-custody staking: running your own validator, or delegating from your own wallet to a validator.
• DeFi rewards: reward tokens paid by protocols for lending, providing liquidity or other activity.
• Liquid staking: depositing a token and receiving a receipt token that represents your staked position and its rewards.
• Cost basis of rewards: what cost to assign to a reward unit when you later sell or swap it.
• Character of staking income: whether staking rewards are business income or income from property.
• Slashing: how a penalty that destroys part of your staked tokens is treated.

Silence is not the same as an answer. It means you need a reasoned approach, ideally worked out with a tax professional, and records good enough to support it.

Approaches people commonly discuss

Tax professionals and commentators discuss a few ways of handling the gaps. We describe them so you recognize them, not to recommend one. None of them is CRA’s stated position for self-custody or DeFi rewards.

• Income when received, with that value as cost. The reward is treated as income at its Canadian-dollar value when you receive it, and that same value becomes its cost for a later sale. This mirrors CRA’s position for centralized platforms. The open question is whether it applies outside them.
• Newly created property with no cost. Some argue that rewards created by a network are not income when received, but have no cost, so the full value is taxed when you dispose of them, possibly as a capital gain. CRA has not endorsed this view.
• Liquid staking as a swap or not. Some treat depositing into liquid staking as a crypto-for-crypto exchange, which CRA lists as a disposition. Others treat it as keeping the same economic position. A related question is whether a receipt token that grows in value creates income along the way or only a gain when you exit.

A worked example

The numbers below are hypothetical and rounded so the logic is clear.

The example shows why the cost-basis question matters even where CRA has spoken. Without a reasoned approach, it is easy to report the same value twice, or not at all.

Records to keep for every reward

Whatever approach you and your adviser settle on, it depends on the same raw facts. CRA’s records page (modified 2025-11-10) asks you to keep the date, units, type and Canadian-dollar value of each transaction. For rewards, that means:

• The date and time each reward was credited or claimed.
• The number of units and which asset.
• The value in Canadian dollars at that moment, and the price source you used.
• Whether it came from a centralized platform, your own validator, a delegation, a DeFi contract or a liquid staking token.
• Any slashing penalties, lock-up periods or unbonding delays.
• For mining: hardware receipts, power and pool fees, and exported pool records.

The staking income calculator on our sibling site can help you total reward values for a year. Pair it with the record keeper so each reward is logged as it arrives.

Your checklist

• Log each reward with date, time, units and Canadian-dollar value when it is credited.
• Note where each reward came from: centralized platform, own validator, delegation, DeFi or liquid staking.
• Keep platform exports and on-chain transaction IDs for every reward.
• Record slashing penalties and lock-up or unbonding periods.
• Agree on a cost-basis approach with a tax professional and apply it consistently.

Sources and dates

• Reporting income from crypto-asset mining and staking activities — Canada Revenue Agencyin force
  Page date 2025-11-10 · checked 2026-10-30. Mining is usually a business; staking rewards on a centralized platform are generally income when credited. Silent on self-custody/DeFi staking.
• Collecting and remitting GST/HST from crypto-asset transactions — Canada Revenue Agencyin force
  Page date 2025-11-10 · checked 2026-10-30. Mining generally not a commercial activity for GST/HST; selling a virtual payment instrument is an exempt financial service.
• Keeping books and records of crypto-assets for tax filing — Canada Revenue Agencyin force
  Page date 2025-11-10 · checked 2026-10-30. What to record per transaction, wallet addresses, yearly balances; export platform history; keep records at least six years.
• Understanding crypto-assets and your tax obligations — Canada Revenue Agencyin force
  No date shown on page · checked 2026-10-30. Defines crypto-assets; lists dispositions (sell, trade, barter, gift, gamble) and acquisitions including mining/staking rewards.