Mileage log requirements in Canada

What your records have to contain to survive a check by the Canada Revenue Agency, and the rate DriveHub applies.

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Updated 26 Sep 2026

Country

The rate

$0.73 per km

First 5,000 km per year; $0.67 per km after that.

In force from 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2026.

Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut: $0.77 per km ($0.71 beyond the band). The territories add 4 ¢.

This is the limit on what an employer may deduct for a per-kilometre allowance it pays an employee. Self-employed, you deduct your actual vehicle costs in proportion to your business kilometres instead.

The rule that governs it

Motor vehicle records; full logbook, with a simplified regime available after a base year.

What every trip has to record

"For each business trip, keep a log listing the following: date · destination · purpose · number of kilometres you drive." And separately: "Record the odometer reading of each vehicle at the start and end of the fiscal period."

Prefer to keep it by hand? A blank log with these fields: CSV · PDF.

What form the records may take

None is prescribed. Guide T4002: "We do not issue record books nor suggest any type of book or set of books", and "If you want to keep computerized records, make sure they are clear and easy to read." The CRA accepts records kept in "paper format", on paper "later converted to and stored in an accessible and readable electronic format", or in "an accessible and readable electronic format" from the start, and records "originally produced in electronic format" must be kept "in an electronic readable format, even if you have paper printouts" — the rule of ITA s. 230(4.1): "Every person required by this section to keep records who does so electronically shall retain them in an electronically readable format for the retention period referred to in subsection 230(4)." Every record must "be kept in English, French, or a combination of these two languages", and an electronic one must be "accessible to CRA officials and readable by CRA software", with "proper backup copies". What the statute fixes is the result, not a layout: ITA s. 230(1) asks for records "in such form and containing such information as will enable the taxes payable under this Act … to be determined."

How long to keep them

Six years from the end of the tax year for which the logbook is last used to establish business use — "The logbook for the full 12-month period must be kept for a period of six years from the end of the tax year for which it is last used to establish business use." A base-year log used for five later years must therefore be kept up to 11 years.

What it costs to get wrong

The claim first, and an offence behind it. The CRA: "You can deduct motor vehicle expenses only when they are reasonable and you have receipts to support them. To get the full benefit of your claim for each vehicle, keep a record of the total kilometres you drive and the kilometres you drive to earn business income." T4002, under Consequences of not keeping adequate records: "If you do not keep the necessary information and you do not have any other proof, we may have to determine your income using other methods. We may also disallow expenses you deducted if you cannot support them. There are penalties for not keeping adequate records, for not giving the CRA access to your records when requested and for not giving information to CRA officials when asked." A sample-period log that moves more than 10 % from the base year stops standing for the year: "the sample period logbook would only be reliable for the three-month period it had been maintained." Where records are inadequate, ITA s. 230(3) lets the Minister "require the person to keep such records and books of account as the Minister may specify"; and failing to comply with s. 230 is an offence under s. 238(1), "liable on summary conviction to (a) a fine of not less than $1,000 and not more than $25,000; or (b) both the fine described in paragraph 238(1)(a) and imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months."

Where this comes from

The requirements above are quoted from the Canada Revenue Agency. DriveHub re-checks these, and the rate, against the authority's own pages; this page is built from that record.

DriveHub records this automatically. It tracks each drive in the background and keeps the start and end, the distance and the route. Tracking and the missing-drive check are free; the report in the shape a tax office expects is part of DriveHub Pro.