CPP and EI deduct from January and stop at the annual ceiling. The 2026 maximums, the CPP2 second tier, and how to predict the month your own raise lands.
Sometime between spring and fall, on exactly the same salary, your net pay jumps — sometimes by $150 or more per cheque — and stays up for the rest of the year. Nobody gave you a raise. What happened is simpler: you finished paying CPP and EI for the year. Both programs deduct from your first dollar of the year (CPP after a small exemption) until you hit an annual ceiling, and then they stop, mid-pay-period, without asking anyone. Understanding the two ceilings explains most "my paycheque changed and I don't know why" moments in Canadian payroll.
| Program | 2026 rate | Applies to earnings | 2026 maximum you pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| CPP (base + first additional) | 5.95% | $3,500 to $74,600 | $4,230.45 |
| CPP2 (second additional) | 4.00% | $74,600 to $85,000 | $416.00 |
| EI | 1.63% | First dollar to $68,900 | $1,123.07 |
| Combined maximum | $5,769.52 |
Quebec runs the same design with its own plan: QPP at 6.30% to the same $74,600 ceiling (maximum $4,479.30), QPP2 at 4% to $85,000 (maximum $416), EI at a reduced 1.30% (maximum $895.70), plus QPIP at 0.430% on earnings up to $103,000 (maximum $442.90). The mechanics — deduct, hit the ceiling, stop — are identical.
It depends on your salary, because the ceiling is a dollar amount, not a date. On a $60,000 salary paid bi-weekly, EI is 1.63% of every cheque and never maxes out — $60,000 is under the $68,900 ceiling, so EI runs all year. CPP at $60,000 is 5.95% of earnings over the $3,500 exemption, a total of $3,361.75 — also under the maximum, so it runs all year too. No mid-year raise at $60,000. At $85,000, the picture changes: EI reaches its $1,123.07 maximum once cumulative earnings pass $68,900 — about 81% through the year, so mid-October on an even salary. CPP maxes once earnings pass $74,600 for the first tier and $85,000 for CPP2 — the very end of the year at exactly $85,000 of salary. At $120,000, everything happens sooner: EI finishes around the end of July (57% of the year), CPP's first tier in mid-August, and CPP2 almost immediately after, because only $10,400 of earnings sit in the CPP2 band. From September onward, a $120,000 earner's bi-weekly net pay is roughly $220 higher than it was in January, on the same salary.
CPP2 is the newest piece. Before 2024, earnings above the CPP ceiling simply weren't pensionable. The CPP enhancement added a second, higher ceiling — $85,000 for 2026 — and a 4% contribution on earnings between the two ceilings. It buys a larger CPP pension in retirement, calculated on that higher slice of earnings. Two practical notes: CPP2 has no $3,500 exemption (the band starts exactly at $74,600), and because the band is narrow, high earners burn through it fast — on a $150,000 salary, CPP2's entire $416 is collected by about mid-February, folded into the same CPP line on your pay stub as the first tier. Your stub will not show it separately; your T4 will (boxes for CPP and CPP2 contributions are separate).
An annual calculator knows your total CPP for the year; it does not know which cheque it came off. Most, including ours, divide the annual amount evenly across pay periods for display. Your employer does the opposite: full deductions from January, nothing after the ceiling. Both reach the same December total, but your January net pay is lower — and your November net pay higher — than the even split. Budget with the January number, and treat the mid-year bump as what it is: the same money, timed differently. If you change jobs mid-year, the new employer's payroll system starts your CPP and EI from zero — you can over-contribute across the two jobs, and the excess comes back to you as a refund when you file your return, which is one of the most common reasons two-job years end with a refund.
Run your own salary through the take-home pay calculator and compare the CPP + EI line with $5,769.52: if it matches, both programs max out for you during the year, and you have a raise coming on a date you can estimate from the math above.