Words and Phrases - "service is performed"

Place where a service is performed based on where the task is physically performed and on location of equipment used in performing the task

44. Although the word performed is not defined in the ETA, the place where a service is performed is traditionally the place where the person physically doing the work is situated at the time the work is being conducted. For example, if a supplier in a non-participating province sends a technician to a participating province to provide programming services, the service is considered to be performed in the participating province since the service is physically performed in that province.

45. Where all of the activities carried out by the supplier in performing a service are clearly undertaken in a province (that is, the employees performing the service are in the province, or the supplier's equipment used to provide the service is located in the province), the place of performance of the service is in the province.

46. Where part of the activities carried out by the supplier in performing a service are carried out in a province, the province where those activities are performed must be taken into consideration in determining the place where the service is primarily performed. For example, a supplier may prepare a report in a province in respect of programming services carried on outside the province. Where the report is a component of the services supplied, the place where the report is prepared must be considered when determining the place of supply.

47. Electronic commerce allows services to be provided remotely. A supplier can provide a service to a customer in another province without physically being in that other province. For example, a supplier can have a technician perform work from a province by electronically accessing a customer's computer located in another province, rather than sending the technician to the other province. Work is being performed both at the location of the service provider, as well as the location of the customer's property that is the object of the service. It is therefore necessary to take into account the location of the customer's property when determining the place of performance.

48. ... [A] supply of a service is performed at least in part in a province if either:

• the service requires a person to perform a task (that is, the supplier acts through one or more of its employees), and the person performing or physically carrying out the task is situated in the province at the time the activity is done
• the service includes operations performed by a supplier's equipment (for example, computer equipment), and the equipment is located in the province
• the supply involves doing something to or with a recipient's equipment by accessing it from a remote location, and the recipient's equipment is located in the province (however, this does not apply to a service wholly performed outside the province, where the results are subsequently delivered electronically to a recipient's computers in another province, such as a programming service carried out at the supplier's location in a province and emailed to a recipient in another province)
• any activity related to the performance of the service is undertaken in the province

Online translation or editing service performed in the province of the online provider

Example 18

• An online service provider located in P.E.I., which specializes in document editing and translation, is emailed documents for editing or translation from a client based in Saskatchewan, without receiving an address, and sends the edited or translated documents back to the same email address.
• The Canadian element of the service is performed primarily in a participating province, and the participating province in which the greatest proportion of the Canadian element of the service is performed is P.E.I.

Single exam-admin service performed predominantly in province where the marking (cf. proctoring) occurred

Example 19

• A non-resident organization, registered under the regular regime, hires a New Brunswick company to administer an examination for 20 of its members in Canada, which entails three hours of proctoring the exam in Ontario and seven hours of marking it in N.B. The only address obtained by the N.B. company is the organization’s non-resident address.
• The N.B. company is making a single supply of its exam-administering service, the Canadian element of which is performed primarily in participating provinces – and the greater proportion is in N.B.