Tipping in Canada is a fairly standard practice, depending on the services you have received. From dining out to getting a haircut, it is expected that you tip for the service provided.
Canada is a vast country and home to many types of climates, people, and cultures. It is home to gleaming tourist meccas such as Vancouver and Toronto, vast farm and prairie lands, beautiful snow capped mountain scapes, and of course some beautiful beaches.
While Canada is vast and varied, its customs are standard throughout the country. Canada prides itself in being a diverse and multicultural country, so you will find many people learning to adhere to a Canadian way of life. This includes tipping in Canada. For many foreigners, it is definitely a learning curve!
This guide to tipping in Canada will ensure that you know how you are expected to tip, when, and why you’re tipping in the first place!
Do You Tip In Canada?
Tipping is a standard part of Canadian culture. Even as a tourist, you are expect to abide by these social norms while visiting Canada.
In Canada, you tip for anyone who provides a service for you. Servers, bartenders, hairstylists, taxi drivers, manicurists, you name it. If they provided a service for you, it is proper etiquette to tip, but not a requirement.
In many coffee shops and stores you will see tip jars placed near cash registers. Many foreigners may think it is customary to tip for counter service, but it isn’t considered a social norm. I usually just dump the extra 15-20 cents from my large latte into the tip jar while the barista gives me some precious caffeine.
How Much To Tip in Canada
When you are at a restaurant, bar, or lounge, it is expected that you tip for the service you receive. Servers make a serving wage in Canada that is far below minimum wage. The average minimum wage across Canada is $11.43 per hour as of early 2018, whereas the average serving wage is about $10.45. This doesn’t hold a candle to the USA serving wage of $7.25, but it is still customary to tip in Canada for your service.
$10.45 is far below the average living wage of $17.00 an hour in Canada, and many servers rely on their tips to live. Not many people would choose to do a server’s job – long hours, shift work, and often abuse and a strict dress code for female servers. This is why tipping in Canada is so important!
An average tip in Canada is 15-20% of the total of your bill, however this doesn’t all go to your server. Servers in Canada usually tip out the kitchen and bar staff to keep things as equal as possible. This means if no tables tip, the server is paying out of their own pocket to cover their tip out. If you are happy with your service, aim for a 25% tip. Even with average or terrible service, I am to tip at least 10% of my total bill.
Note that if you have a large group, a 15-18% gratuity will often be added to your bill automatically. Make sure you double check your bill so you aren’t double tipping (I have definitely done this before).
Guide To Tipping in Canada
Below are the customary tipping standards for common services that people traveling to Canada will require.
Restaurants, Lounges, and Bars
Tip 15-20% of your total bill for normal service, 10% for subpar service, and 25% for exceptional service.
Tip $1 per drink, or 10% of your total tab.
Tip 10% of your total fare.
Tip 10% of your total cost.
On average, I tip about $3-5 per day, depending on the services I require. If my room is particularly messy, I will leave a little more for the maids. If I valet a vehicle, I will tip $5 or so. Room service get’s a 10% gratuity, and I tip $5 or so if my luggage is brought up to my room for me.
Tip 10% of the cost of your tour package.
Of course, tipping in Canada isn’t concrete, and these are just averages. If you had good service, tip more! It is never a bad thing. If you have received very bad service, you aren’t obligated to tip at all. Use your better judgement and everyone will be happy!
6 thoughts on “Ultimate Guide To Tipping in Canada”
Thank you! I found your guide very useful. We are visiting Canada from Australia in September. Australia does not have a tipping culture so am finding the notion of tipping for everything quite difficult! For exceptional service in a restaurant we may add $10 to the bill, but can do this as part of our credit card payment. Average wage of a waiter in Australia is around $17.00 per hour and there are penalty rates for weekend work, so quite different to Canada.
I am glad you found it useful! You will get used to tipping pretty quickly, don’t worry. Enjoy Canada, it’s a great country! If you’re paying on credit or debit, the machines will have a tip option so you don’t forget about it. You can select a percentage or a dollar amount.
In my personal experience, Canadians do not tip out of Canada, I drove cab in Bangor Maine and Canadians would come over and shop, no tip whatsoever.
I am sorry they didn’t tip, usually we are much more polite than that! I always make sure to tip my drivers.
Thank you so much for this super informative post! It’s a great idea to develop a guide for tipping in Canada – I know when I first moved there I really struggled!
Of course! It seems like such a straightforward concept as a local, but you don’t often realize how different it may be for tourists!