The initiative by the Canadian Massage Therapist Association (CMTA) to have massage therapy among the health services exempted from GST made progress with MP Brad Vis‘ presentation of the petition signed by 18,362 Canadians supporting this change.

Further, on June 17, 2024, Dr. Stephen Ellis, MP for Cumberland-Colchester in Nova Scotia, presented a motion to include massage therapy services among the health services to be exempted from GST in private members’ Bill C-323.   Previously, Bill C-323 was limited to exempting mental health services from GST/HST.

This is the motion text: That the motion be amended by deleting all the words after the word ‘“That” and substituting the following:

“Bill C-323, An Act to amend the Excise Tax Act (mental health services), be not now read a third time but be referred back to the Standing Committee on Finance for the purpose of reconsidering Clause 1 with the view to amend the clause so as to include massage therapy among the health services to be exempted from the Goods and Services Tax, and the committee be invited to consider reporting the bill back to the House within 15 sitting days following the adoption of this order.”

While this does not ensure that massage therapy services will be exempted in the next budget, it does link massage therapy services with mental health services which the current Federal Government has previously said they will exempt from GST/HST.

The results of the committee consideration of the amendment will be available once Parliament reconvenes in the fall.