CoinTracker Review For Canadians

Crypto tax software is the part of the Canadian crypto journey nobody gets excited about and everyone ends up needing. If you traded across more than one exchange, rebuilding your adjusted cost base by hand in a spreadsheet gets ugly fast. CoinTracker is one of the best-known tools, so I looked at what it actually offers a Canadian filer, and what I could not verify.

Part of my guide to crypto taxes in Canada.

Does CoinTracker Work In Canada?

Yes. CoinTracker's own Canada pages say it supports Adjusted Cost Base calculations, applies the superficial loss rule automatically, and generates a CRA-oriented summary that includes your ACB and realized gains, plus a Schedule 3 form. ACB matters because Canada's identical-property rules average your cost, rather than letting you pick first-in first-out or last-in first-out the way the US does. If a tool calculates your gains on the wrong basis, your return will be wrong even if the totals look tidy. So the first thing I check on any tool is that it uses ACB, and CoinTracker says it does.

How Much Does CoinTracker Cost In Canada?

Here I have to be straight with you. CoinTracker's plans are annual, tiered by transaction count, with a free tier and six paid tiers. The pricing page would not load for me in this check, and I do not copy prices from third-party review sites because they go stale. For a baseline, the comparison I could verify is CoinLedger: it sells one-time reports at $49 (Hobbyist, up to 100 transactions), $99 (Investor, up to 1,000) and $199 and up (Pro, 3,000 and up), with a 14-day money-back guarantee, shown in USD. Compare the same transaction count on each before paying.

What Should You Check Before You Pay For Crypto Tax Software?

1. List every exchange and wallet you used, including any you closed. Check each is on the tool's integration list.
2. Count your transactions, including swaps, staking rewards and transfers between your own wallets. That number decides your tier.
3. Run the free portfolio first and see whether your balances match what the exchanges show.
4. Confirm the report uses average cost (ACB) and flags superficial losses before you buy the full report.
5. Compare it against your CRA records or an accountant's numbers on one tax year.

Does CoinTracker Support The T1135?

I could not confirm that it does. T1135 is the CRA form for foreign property over CAD 100,000, and it is a separate question from capital gains. See my T1135 and crypto guide. If you might need it, ask support before buying.

Pros And Cons Of CoinTracker For Canadians

If tax is the real pain point, my guide to reporting crypto taxes in Canada shows what the CRA wants, and my free calculator gives you a quick estimate.

What Does The CRA Require Your Tax Software To Capture?

Before judging any tool, it helps to know what the CRA expects you to keep. Its record-keeping guidance says to record, for each transaction, the number of units and type of crypto-asset, the date and time, the value in Canadian dollars at the time, a description of the transaction and counterparties including wallet addresses, and the beginning and ending balances for each wallet with associated costs by year. If you use custodial platforms, keep trade ledgers and transfer records for deposits and withdrawals. Records must be kept at least six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to.

The CRA also says transfers between wallets you own are not a disposition. A tool that treats an exchange-to-wallet transfer as a sale will overstate your gains, which is the most common error I see when people import a messy history.

Which Exchanges Does CoinTracker Support For Canadians?

CoinTracker publishes an integrations directory, and I could confirm from search results that it has a page for Newton, one of the Canadian exchanges I rank. I could not open its full list, so I will not claim support for any other exchange. Do this before paying: list every exchange and wallet you have used, find each on the integrations page, and run the free portfolio to see whether the balance matches. If a Canadian exchange or a wallet you used is missing, ask support whether it can be added by CSV before you commit to a paid plan. CoinLedger, for comparison, states over 1,000 integrations and unlimited wallet syncs on all plans, including a free portfolio tracker.

What Does An Adjusted Cost Base Calculation Look Like?

Canada's tax rules average the cost of identical properties, so your cost base for each coin is the average of what you paid, not first-in first-out. Here is a simple example with round numbers that I made up purely to show the arithmetic. You buy 1 coin for $20,000 and later 1 more for $30,000. Your total cost is $50,000 for 2 coins, an average of $25,000 each. If you sell 1 coin for $40,000, your gain is $40,000 minus $25,000, which is $15,000. A tool that applied first-in first-out would instead show a $20,000 gain. That difference is why I check the method first. The CRA's crypto pages I read describe how dispositions work but do not walk through the averaging maths, so confirm with your tool's documentation and an accountant.

When Does Paid Software Make Sense?

1. You used two or more exchanges, or any wallet, in the tax year.
2. You had swaps, staking rewards or transfers between your own wallets. The CRA treats a swap of one crypto-asset for another as a disposition and staking rewards on a centralized platform as income when they are credited.
3. You mined. The CRA says mining value is included in business income when it is earned.
4. You are close to the T1135 threshold. See my T1135 guide.
5. You only bought and held on one Canadian exchange. In that case the exchange's own annual statement and a spreadsheet may be enough, and my free calculator can estimate the result.

If you plan to compare tools properly, read my CoinLedger review and Koinly review next, and my filing guide to see where the numbers go on the return.