How to buy gold in Canada (2026 guide)

What are the ways to buy gold in Canada?

There are six common routes. They differ in what you actually own, what you pay on top of the gold price, and how easy it is to sell later.

Each option is covered in more depth in where to buy gold bars in Canada and how to invest in gold.

How much more than the spot price will you pay?

The spot price is the market price of gold for immediate settlement. It changes all day. No shop sells you a bar at spot. You pay a premium on top, which the Royal Canadian Mint defines as the extra cost over the bullion value. It covers making, shipping and the seller’s margin.

Three rules of thumb come from the Mint’s own buying advice:

• Coins tend to have higher premiums than bars.
• Small (fractional) coins tend to have higher premiums than larger coins.
• Bigger bars benefit from lower premiums, but you need more money for one piece.

The other cost is the spread: the gap between the price a seller asks and the price it will pay to buy the same item back. If you buy and later sell to the same place, the spread is what you lose if the gold price has not moved. Our 1 oz gold bar price guide walks through a worked example.

Gold is priced by the troy ounce (31.1035 g) or by the gram. Jewellery is a different product with its own costs; see jewellery vs investment gold.

How do you buy gold bars or coins, step by step?

1. Decide how much and what form. A 1 g or 5 g bar is easy to afford but carries a bigger premium per gram. A 1 oz bar or coin is the most common size.
2. Check today’s price. Look at the live price per ounce and per gram so you know what the gold itself is worth.
3. Get two or three quotes. The Mint suggests you shop around, ask for competitive quotes and check each one against the spot price.
4. Ask the buyback price. Ask what the seller would pay you for the same item today, and what you need to sell it back (for example, the original receipt).
5. Choose how to pay. Banks usually take payment from your account with them (TD and CIBC both do for branch orders). Ask whether the price changes by payment method.
6. Plan pickup or delivery. Insured delivery or branch pickup is common. CIBC, for example, asks the person who ordered to show two pieces of ID at pickup.
7. Keep your receipt. You need it for buyback and to work out any gain if you sell.

Be wary of anyone who promises returns or rushes you. The Mint says you should never feel pressured into buying an investment product.

Where should you keep the gold once you buy it?

Storage is part of the cost. The Mint notes that how you store physical bullion comes with its own costs. Your main choices:

• At home. No fee, but think about theft. Ask your home insurer how much jewellery and bullion your policy covers.
• Bank safety deposit box. A yearly rent. Ask whether the contents are insured, and by whom.
• Bank or dealer storage. TD offers TD Secure Storage for TD customers. Some dealers offer vault storage for a fee.
• No storage at all. A gold ETF or a vaulted digital gold product means someone else holds the metal. You own units or a claim, not a bar in your hand.

Do you need ID, and is buying gold reported or taxed?

ID and reporting. Under Canada’s anti-money-laundering rules, a dealer in precious metals is covered once it buys or sells precious metals, stones or jewellery worth $10,000 or more. A covered dealer must verify your identity and report to FINTRAC (Canada’s financial intelligence agency) when it receives $10,000 or more in cash in one transaction, or several cash amounts that add up to $10,000 or more within 24 hours. It must also try to identify anyone in a suspicious transaction, whatever the amount. Banks have their own ID checks too.

GST/HST. The CRA’s GST/HST Memorandum 17-1 (July 2026) says a “precious metal” is a gold bar, ingot, coin or wafer refined to at least 99.5% purity (bars must generally be accepted for trading on Canadian financial markets, and coins must be government-issued). Selling a qualifying precious metal is generally an exempt financial service. Karat gold in jewellery is not a precious metal under this rule, so jewellery is generally taxable. Check your receipt, and ask the seller if you are unsure.

Tax when you sell. Selling gold for more than you paid can create a capital gain. The CRA lists jewellery and coins as “listed personal property”, which has its own rules. See how gold is taxed in Canada and ask a tax professional about your case.

What should you check before you buy?

Before you pay, write down four numbers for each quote: the gold content in grams, the price, the premium over spot, and the buyback price. The best deal is usually the one with the smallest gap between what you pay and what you could sell for, not the lowest sticker price.

If you want to start small, RemitBee Gold is a new RemitBee product coming in early 2027: pure 24K gold from $10 at the live market price, with one 0.5% fee shown before you confirm and storage in an insured vault in Canada. You can join the waitlist at gold.remitbee.com.

Next steps: work out what your gold is worth with the gold value calculator, and check the gold price in Canada today.

Common questions

Sources

• Royal Canadian Mint: Buying bullion
• Royal Canadian Mint: Can I buy physical bullion from a Canadian bank? (Oct 24, 2024)
• Royal Canadian Mint: Glossary of bullion terms
• Royal Canadian Mint: 2026 Gold Maple Leaf 1 oz (bullion)
• CRA: GST/HST Memorandum 17-1, Definition of financial instrument (precious metals, July 2026)
• CRA: T4037 Capital gains guide
• FINTRAC: Dealers in precious metals and stones
• FINTRAC: When dealers in precious metals and stones must verify identity
• TD: Precious metals
• CIBC: Precious metals purchasing
• RBC Capital Markets: Metals (retail bullion at RBC branches)
• Ontario Securities Commission, GetSmarterAboutMoney: ETF fees
• Global News: Costco is selling gold bars in Canada (Sept 28, 2023)

Checked against these sources on October 24, 2026. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.