The Canadian Goods & Services Tax (GST)
Graffiti in Toronto restroom "GST = General Sh*t Tax"
If Americans (in general) and Minnesotans (in particular) think they pay too much in taxes, Canada will make them think again. The Goods & Services Tax (GST) is a 5% (formerly 7%) universal tax (on top of the 7-8% Provincial Sales Tax or PST) on nearly everything you buy (food, services and goods). You'll be happy if the exchange rate is really good, because it might end up costing you more than in the U.S.
Other tax acronyms to know are HST (Harmonized Sales Taxes; Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland) and TVQ (Quebec).Until October 1, 2000 you could get TVQ reimbursed --but no more.
Visitor GST Rebate Program Cancelled - April 1, 2007
As of April 1, 2007 the Canadian government cancelled the visitors (GST) rebate program. See their information page for more details. This followed the reduction of the GST from 7%.
What is a shame is that there was a time when you could get all of your sales taxes back both provincial and national. Then they phased out the provincial rebates. Then the whole thing. While it lasted it was one way to reduce some of the expenses on a Canadian trip.
The process was a litle tedious requiring collecting receipts and only applied to large purchase and accomodation but it was great to get the tax money back when you did. It was possible when returning from Winnipeg to get the whole thing processed before you crossed the border including converting the Canadian currency into US dollars.