Introduction
Architects routinely travel — to sites under construction, to client offices, to city planning departments, to contractor meetings, and to professional development events. Vehicle costs and travel expenses are legitimate business costs of an architectural practice. They are also one of the most frequently reviewed categories in CRA examinations of professional corporations, because the line between business travel and personal travel is easily blurred and often poorly documented.
Vehicle Expenses: The Two Approaches
When a vehicle is used for both business and personal purposes, there are two approaches to claiming vehicle costs through a corporation:
The corporation owns the vehicle: The vehicle is purchased or leased by the corporation, and all vehicle costs — fuel, insurance, maintenance, loan interest or lease payments — are paid by the corporation. The business-use portion is deductible; the personal-use portion creates a taxable employee benefit (a standby charge and operating cost benefit) for the shareholder or employee who uses the vehicle personally.
The individual owns the vehicle: The shareholder or employee owns the vehicle personally and is reimbursed by the corporation for business kilometres driven. The corporation pays a per-kilometre rate (up to the CRA's prescribed rate, which in 2026 is $0.72 per kilometre for the first 5,000 kilometres and $0.66 per kilometre thereafter). Reimbursements at or below the prescribed rate are not a taxable benefit. Reimbursements above the rate create a taxable benefit.
For most architectural practices where the principal uses one vehicle for mixed purposes, the corporation-owned vehicle approach is common — but requires careful tracking of business vs. personal use to calculate the correct employment benefit.
The Logbook Requirement
Regardless of which approach is used, the CRA requires a mileage logbook to support vehicle expense claims. The logbook should record:
• Date of each trip
• Starting and ending odometer readings
• Destination
• Business purpose
Without a logbook, the CRA may disallow vehicle expense claims in their entirety or apply an arbitrary business-use percentage. This is not a documentation formality — it is a requirement that the CRA enforces.
For architects who drive regularly to sites, a digital logbook app (MileIQ and similar tools) makes this straightforward to maintain contemporaneously rather than trying to reconstruct it at year end.
Site Visits vs. Commuting
Travel from a personal residence to a client's office or a project site is generally deductible business travel — because the site or client office is a temporary work location, not a regular place of work. Travel from a personal residence to the architect's own office is commuting, which is not deductible.
This distinction matters for architects who work from both a home office and a studio. Trips from home to the studio are commuting. Trips from home directly to a site or client meeting are business travel. Where the architecture firm's principal place of business is the home office (as is common in solo practices), travel from home to any client location or site is generally business travel.
Air Travel, Hotels, and Client Entertainment
For travel that involves flights, hotels, and similar costs — travel to a project in another city, attendance at a client presentation, or visits to a construction site during the build phase — the same "purpose of earning income" test applies. Business travel costs are deductible. Personal vacations, even if a site visit is squeezed in, do not transform the trip into a business expense.
Meals during business travel are deductible at 50% — the standard limitation on meals and entertainment under section 67.1 of the Income Tax Act. Accommodation and transportation during genuine business travel are deductible at 100%.
Client entertainment — meals with a client, event tickets, hospitality — is deductible at 50% where there is a clear business purpose connected to earning income. Social meals without a specific business connection are not deductible.
When to Speak With a CPA
Architects with significant vehicle and travel expenses benefit from reviewing their documentation practices with a CPA. Many architectural practices under-claim legitimate travel because they lack a consistent logbook and are uncertain about what qualifies. Others over-claim by including personal travel that does not meet the income-earning test. Neither outcome is optimal.