Crypto Inheritance Guide

Crypto inheritance in Canada

Last reviewed: October 2026

In short

There’s no inheritance or estate tax in Canada. Instead the person who died is treated as having sold all their capital property, including crypto, at fair market value just before death, and the gain goes on their final tax return, half of it taxable. Assets left to a spouse roll over untaxed. Probate is provincial, and so are the rules on executors‘ access to online accounts.

The deemed disposition

The CRA puts it in one sentence: “When a person dies, they are considered to have sold all their property just prior to death, even though there is no actual disposition or sale” (CRA). The CRA’s list of capital property names crypto-assets explicitly. The gain, the value at death minus what the person paid, goes on the final return, and half of it is included in income (CRA); the proposed increase in that inclusion rate was cancelled in 2025 (Prime Minister’s Office).

Two consequences for crypto:

  • The estate pays the tax, not the heir. The heir receives the coins at their value on the date of death; their own gain starts from there.
  • The purchase records matter. Without them, the CRA can treat the cost as zero and tax the whole value. Executors should look for exchange histories and old statements as hard as they look for the coins. Finding crypto lists where.

The spousal rollover. Property left to a surviving spouse or common-law partner who lives in Canada passes at cost, so no gain arises until the spouse sells; the property has to vest in them within 36 months (CRA). Crypto left to a spouse is therefore usually untaxed at death.

How the CRA treats crypto

Crypto “is not government-issued currency”, and the CRA taxes profits on it as either a capital gain or business income, depending on how the person traded (CRA). For an ordinary holder it’s a capital gain. For valuing coins at death the CRA’s general advice applies: a reasonable method, such as the rate on the exchange the person used or an average across large exchanges, applied consistently and recorded (CRA). See Valuing crypto at the date of death.

Returns and deadlines

  • The final return is due on 30 April of the year after death if the person died between 1 January and 31 October, and six months after the death if they died in November or December (CRA).
  • The estate files its own trust return (T3) for income after death. For up to 36 months it can be a graduated rate estate, taxed at personal rates rather than the top rate (CRA). Crypto that rises in value between death and distribution is the estate’s gain.

Probate

Probate is provincial. The court confirms the executor and issues the document exchanges will ask for: in Ontario, a Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee (Ontario). Fees are a percentage of the estate:

  • Ontario: estate administration tax of $15 per $1,000 above the first $50,000, which is exempt (Ontario). A $500,000 estate pays $6,750.
  • British Columbia: $6 per $1,000 between $25,000 and $50,000, then $14 per $1,000 above that (Probate Fee Act).

Crypto in a wallet counts towards the estate value like anything else. Once probate has been applied for, the will is on the court file, and anyone can obtain a copy for a fee (Advisor.ca). Seed phrases don’t belong in it; see What to put in your will.

Executors’ access to online accounts

Canada has a uniform model law giving executors access to a deceased person’s digital assets, but only four jurisdictions have adopted it: Saskatchewan (2020), Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick (2022) and Yukon (2023) (Hull & Hull). Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec have no dedicated law (Sun Immigration Law). In practice, exchanges everywhere release funds to an executor with the probate document; the laws matter more for email and cloud accounts. For a wallet the person held themselves, no law helps: the executor needs the keys.

Crypto reporting is coming

Canada is adopting the international crypto reporting framework (CARF). The bill before Parliament applies it to the 2027 calendar year onwards, with the first reports from exchanges due in May 2028 (Library of Parliament). It wasn’t yet law in October 2026. For executors it changes little today; for planners it means undeclared holdings will be visible to the CRA within a few years.

Checklist for Canadian executors

  • List every account and wallet, using Finding crypto, and look for the purchase records as well.
  • Value each holding at the date of death with one documented method.
  • Report the deemed disposition on the final return; use the spousal rollover where it applies.
  • Get the provincial probate document and send claims to exchanges with it.
  • Give each heir a note of the value at death, their starting point for later gains.

Not tax or legal advice. Rules as of October 2026; check the linked CRA and provincial pages.