QR code menu for restaurants in Canada
Updated October 19, 2026
A QR code menu puts your menu on your guests' phones: they scan the code on the table, read, order and pay without an app. For a Canadian restaurant, two details decide whether it works: the language of the menu, which matters most in Quebec, and the sales tax on the bill, which changes by province. Menuthere handles prices in Canadian dollars, adds your GST, HST or combined GST and QST rate at checkout, and takes card payments through your own Stripe account. The menu and table codes are free, with 0% commission.
In short
- Free plan: digital menu, table QR codes and up to 50 orders a month. Lite (US$17 a month) adds card payments and unlimited orders.
- Stripe in Canada: 2.9% + CA$0.30 per domestic card payment, paid to your own account. Apple Pay and Google Pay appear where the guest's phone supports them.
- One tax rate per store: enter 13% in Ontario, 5% in Alberta, or 14.975% for GST plus QST in Quebec.
- Quebec: write the menu in French first. Menuthere's automatic translation doesn't include French, so you type the French yourself and add English as a second name.
- Ontario chains with 20 or more locations must post calories. Any restaurant can add kcal per dish.
French and English on the same QR menu
Section 52 of Quebec's Charter of the French Language says catalogues, brochures, order forms and similar documents available to the public must be drawn up in French, whatever the medium. A version in another language is allowed only if the French one is available on terms at least as favorable. A QR menu that guests order from is the kind of document a Quebec restaurant should treat this way.
Here is how to build a French-first menu in Menuthere:
- Write dish names and descriptions in French as the main text. Customers see this first.
- Add the English name as a second name on each dish, on any plan. It shows on a second line under the French name in the layouts that display it, and on the cart and order. See dish names in a second language.
- Leave the menu's primary language as written. Menuthere's language button translates automatically into English, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, Hindi, Japanese and some other languages, but not French, so don't rely on it for Quebec.
Outside Quebec, most restaurants write in English. A French second name still helps in bilingual areas such as Ottawa or parts of New Brunswick, and it costs nothing.
What Menuthere doesn't do: it doesn't translate into French, and it doesn't check your menu for Charter compliance. The Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) is the authority.
Sales tax on the bill, province by province
Restaurant meals in Canada carry GST or HST, and in some provinces a provincial tax too. These are the CRA's GST/HST rates (Nova Scotia's HST fell to 14% on April 1, 2025):
| Province or territory | Federal + provincial | Rate to enter in Menuthere if both apply to meals |
|---|---|---|
| Ontario | 13% HST | 13% |
| New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island | 15% HST | 15% |
| Nova Scotia | 14% HST | 14% |
| Quebec | 5% GST + 9.975% QST | 14.975% |
| Alberta, Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut | 5% GST | 5% |
| British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan | 5% GST + provincial sales tax | 5%, plus the PST only if your province charges it on restaurant meals |
Provincial sales tax rules for prepared food differ between provinces, so check your own province before you add PST to the rate.
How Menuthere shows it: you set one rate for the store. With dish prices entered before tax, checkout adds one tax line labeled GST at the full rate you entered. It doesn't split HST or QST into separate lines. If your customers or accountant need GST and QST shown separately, issue those receipts from your POS. Quebec also has its own billing rules for the restaurant sector, so check Revenu Québec's mandatory billing requirements before replacing your till receipts. See Tax: GST and VAT.
Worked example: the same dinner in Montreal and Toronto
A table orders two mains at CA$19.00 and two glasses of wine at CA$5.00, so CA$48.00 before tax. Guests pay by card through Stripe.
| Montreal (GST + QST, 14.975%) | Toronto (HST, 13%) | |
|---|---|---|
| Food and drinks | CA$48.00 | CA$48.00 |
| Tax line at checkout | CA$7.19 | CA$6.24 |
| Guest pays | CA$55.19 | CA$54.24 |
| Stripe fee (2.9% + CA$0.30) | CA$1.90 | CA$1.87 |
| Menuthere commission | CA$0.00 | CA$0.00 |
In Montreal, CA$7.19 is CA$2.40 GST plus CA$4.79 QST, which Menuthere shows as one combined line.
Payments Canadian guests will use
| Payment | With a Menuthere QR menu | Plan |
|---|---|---|
| Visa, Mastercard and other cards | Online through your own Stripe account. See Stripe's fees in Canada. | Lite |
| Apple Pay, Google Pay | Shown by Stripe on supported phones and browsers | Lite |
| Interac debit, cash, your card terminal | Guests order by QR and pay at the counter or at the table on your own terminal. You mark the order paid. | Free |
Menuthere's checkout has no tip line. Restaurants that rely on tips usually keep the bill and the tip on their own terminal: guests order by QR, then pay the server.
Calories: Ontario's chain rule
Ontario's Healthy Menu Choices Act requires food-service chains with 20 or more locations in Ontario to post calories beside each food and drink item, and to show the daily-calorie statement that begins "Adults and youth (ages 13 and older)". Smaller restaurants don't have to. On every Menuthere plan you can add kcal, the 14 common allergens and a halal mark to each dish. See allergens and nutrition.
Delivery bags: send app customers to your own QR link
Print the same QR code on a sticker for every app order. On a CA$40 delivery order, the commission you pay is roughly:
| App | Commission on CA$40 |
|---|---|
| DoorDash Basic, 20% | CA$8.00 |
| DoorDash Premier, 29% | CA$11.60 |
| Uber Eats Lite, 20% (GST/HST added to the fee) | CA$8.00 + tax |
| SkipTheDishes, about 20–30% (contract rate) | about CA$8.00–12.00 |
| Your own Menuthere link, Stripe fee | CA$1.46 |
Rates are from our pages on DoorDash, Uber Eats and SkipTheDishes in Canada. For delivery from your own site, see the online ordering system for Canada.
Set it up
- Sign up at /get-started and find your restaurant on Google.
- Import your menu from a photo or PDF and set the currency to Canadian dollars.
- In Quebec, type French names first and add English second names.
- Set your tax rate for your province under
Settings → Payments & tax. - Add tables and download the codes. Make a view-only code for the waiting area, and design tent cards with the table QR card maker.
- Connect Stripe on Lite, or start on Free and take payment at the counter.
Plans are billed in US dollars: Free US$0, Lite US$17, Pro US$39 a month, no contract. See pricing or the best online ordering systems in Canada.
FAQs
Does a QR menu in Quebec have to be in French?
Quebec's Charter of the French Language requires catalogues, order forms and similar documents for the public to be in French, whatever the medium. Write your QR menu in French first and add English as a second name on each dish.
Can Menuthere translate my menu into French automatically?
No. The automatic language button covers English, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, Hindi, Japanese and some other languages, but not French. Type French names yourself, on any plan.
How do I charge HST or GST and QST on QR orders?
Enter one combined rate for your store, such as 13% in Ontario or 14.975% in Quebec. Checkout adds it as a single tax line.
What does Stripe charge in Canada?
Stripe's standard price is 2.9% + CA$0.30 per successful domestic card payment. Menuthere adds no commission on top.
Can guests pay with Interac from the QR menu?
Not online in Menuthere's checkout. Guests can order by QR and pay with Interac on your own card terminal, and you mark the order paid.
Do I need to show calories on my QR menu in Ontario?
Only if your chain has 20 or more locations in Ontario. Any restaurant can add calories to each dish in Menuthere.
Sources (6)
- Canada Revenue Agency, GST/HST rates by province (Nova Scotia 14% from April 1, 2025; Quebec 5% GST + 9.975% QST listed): canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/businesses/topics/gst-hst-businesses/charge-collect-which-rate/calculator.html (accessed 19 Oct 2026)
- Charter of the French Language, CQLR c C-11, section 52: legisquebec.gouv.qc.ca/en/document/cs/c-11 (accessed via its published text, 19 Oct 2026)
- Revenu Québec, Mandatory billing in the restaurant sector: revenuquebec.ca/en/businesses/mandatory-billing/restaurant-sector/ (accessed 19 Oct 2026)
- Government of Ontario, Calories on menus (Healthy Menu Choices Act, 20 or more locations in Ontario): ontario.ca/page/calories-menus (accessed 19 Oct 2026)
- Stripe Canada pricing (2.9% + CA$0.30 per successful domestic card transaction): stripe.com/en-ca/pricing (accessed 19 Oct 2026)
- Menuthere commission pages: menuthere.com/en/delivery-app-commission/doordash-canada, /uber-eats-canada, /skipthedishes-canada (accessed 19 Oct 2026)