Guide
CRA mileage rate 2026: 73¢/km, full rates and logbook
General information, not tax advice. Always check the current rules on canada.ca before claiming.
For 2026, the CRA's reasonable automobile allowance rate is 73 cents per kilometre for the first 5,000 km driven for business, and 67 cents per kilometre after that: a one-cent increase across the board compared to 2025. In the Northwest Territories, Yukon and Nunavut, add 4¢/km to both tiers.
The 2026 rates at a glance
| Region | First 5,000 km | Above 5,000 km | 2025 (for reference) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Provinces | 73¢ / km | 67¢ / km | 72¢ / 66¢ |
| NWT, Yukon, Nunavut | 77¢ / km | 71¢ / km | 76¢ / 70¢ |
A worked example
You drove 8,000 business kilometres in 2026 (provinces):
(5,000 × $0.73) + (3,000 × $0.67) = $3,650 + $2,010 = $5,660 in tax-free allowance.
Work out your allowance
Enter your work kilometres and pick your region.
That figure holds only if you can show the kilometres behind it: the CRA expects a dated log, trip by trip. Build one from your Google Timeline. It is read in your browser, and the file is never uploaded.
Who these rates apply to
- Employees: your employer can pay you a per-kilometre allowance tax-free as long as it's "reasonable": these CRA rates are the benchmark. A flat monthly car allowance, by contrast, is taxable.
- Self-employed: you deduct actual vehicle expenses prorated by business use, and that proration is computed from your kilometre log, which makes the log itself the foundation of the deduction.
The CRA logbook: what it must contain
Whether you're justifying an allowance or prorating expenses, the CRA expects a logbook recording, for each business trip: the date, destination, purpose, and distance driven, plus odometer readings at the start and end of the year. And because the rate drops after 5,000 km, the running total matters, not just the annual sum.
If you use Google Maps, your phone has already recorded every drive in your Timeline, with GPS timestamps and distances. Turned into a dated record of your distances:
- Export your Timeline from your phone (see the Timeline export guide).
- Open the file in Time-mile: your Timeline file is read in your browser and never uploaded.
- Filter to your business trips by date and activity type; the distance column gives you per-trip kilometres.
- Export a PDF report or a CSV: the app applies the 5,000 km threshold for you, trip by trip.
The logbook itself is kept as the year runs. A record built at filing time backs your distances; it is not the logbook the CRA asks for. Time-mile can keep that logbook for you: choose the CRA scheme, open a logbook for a full base year, or a three-month sample in a later year, then import a fresh Timeline export every week and confirm that week's trips with their purpose. The PDF carries the odometer readings and the date each entry was made. It comes with the subscription for the year in progress.
Check one setting before you rely on it. Anyone who turned Timeline on after its move to the phone got auto-delete at three months by default. Left that way, by the time you file your 2026 return most of 2026 is gone. Set it to 36 months in Google Maps (profile picture → Your Timeline → More → Location & privacy settings → Auto-delete Timeline), and export what the phone holds now. Why the default deletes your year, and what it cannot undo.
Keep your CRA logbook from real GPS data
Import your Google Timeline every week and confirm the trips; each entry is dated as you make it.
Launch Time-mileOfficial sources
The full dated history of these figures, each read at the authority that published it: CRA automobile allowance rates on lexrates.
Frequently asked questions
What is the CRA mileage rate for 2026?
For 2026, the CRA's reasonable automobile allowance rate is 73 cents per kilometre for the first 5,000 km driven for business, and 67 cents per kilometre after that. That is a one-cent increase across the board compared to 2025.
Does the CRA mileage rate change after 5,000 km?
Yes. The rate drops from 73 cents per kilometre for the first 5,000 business kilometres to 67 cents per kilometre for every kilometre after that, so your running total matters, not just the annual sum.
What is the CRA mileage rate in the Northwest Territories, Yukon and Nunavut?
In the Northwest Territories, Yukon and Nunavut you add 4 cents per kilometre to both tiers, which makes the 2026 rate 77 cents per kilometre for the first 5,000 km and 71 cents per kilometre above that.
What does a CRA mileage logbook need to include?
For each business trip the CRA expects the date, destination, purpose and distance driven, plus odometer readings at the start and end of the year. Because the rate drops after 5,000 km, the running total also needs to be clear.
Can I use my Google Timeline as a CRA mileage log?
As evidence of your distances, yes: your Timeline records every drive with GPS timestamps and distances. As a CRA logbook, it has to be kept while the year runs, not rebuilt at filing time. Time-mile keeps one week by week from your Timeline, over a full base year or a three-month sample, with the odometer readings and the date each entry was made.