Total income tax by province: the bracket-by-bracket bill, your average and marginal rates, and an RRSP what-if that shows what a contribution actually saves you.
Enter employment income and a province. Add an RRSP contribution to see the estimated refund effect — the difference between the tax with and without the deduction.
| Gross pay (annual) | $0 |
| Federal income tax | $0 |
| Provincial income tax | $0 |
| CPP + CPP2 | $0 |
| EI premiums | $0 |
| Total income tax | $0 |
| Net pay (annual) | $0 |
| Average (effective) tax rate | 0% |
| Marginal rate on your next $100 | 0% |
Federal tax is the same everywhere in Canada (Quebec residents get a 16.5% abatement on top). Your province adds its own table — the calculator above switches automatically; the federal table is here for reference.
| Taxable income | Federal rate |
|---|---|
| Up to $58,523 | 14% |
| $58,523 – $117,045 | 20.5% |
| $117,045 – $181,440 | 26% |
| $181,440 – $258,482 | 29% |
| Over $258,482 | 33% |
Federal tax is calculated on taxable income, then reduced by non-refundable credits at 14%: the basic personal amount of $16,452 (it phases down to $14,829 between $181,440 and $258,482 of income — the calculator models that), the Canada employment amount of up to $1,501, and credits for your CPP/QPP and EI/QPIP contributions. Your province runs the same play with its own brackets, basic personal amount, and lowest rate.
An RRSP contribution is a deduction, not a credit: it removes income from the top of your stack, so it saves tax at your marginal rate. Run the example this page loads with — $100,000 in Ontario, no RRSP: total income tax is $20,153. Add a $10,000 RRSP contribution and taxable income drops to $90,000; total tax falls to $17,153, an estimated refund effect of $3,000. That's a 30% return on the contribution from tax alone — because at $100,000 in Ontario the top dollars sit in the 20.5% federal bracket plus 9.15% Ontario with the first surtax layer stacked on. The same $10,000 contribution at a $45,000 salary would save noticeably less, because those dollars come off at lower brackets. This is the entire logic of "contribute in high-income years, withdraw in low-income years."
Two honest limits on the what-if: it assumes you have RRSP room (the 2026 dollar limit for new room is $33,810, plus whatever you've banked), and CPP/EI don't change — contributions are charged on your gross pay either way, which is why the refund effect is a tax-only number.
Four deductions come off your gross pay, in this order. First, CPP (or QPP in Quebec): 5.95% of earnings between the $3,500 basic exemption and the 2026 maximum pensionable earnings of $74,600, plus CPP2 at 4% on earnings between $74,600 and $85,000 — a maximum of $4,646.45 for the year. Second, EI: 1.63% of insurable earnings up to $68,900, a maximum of $1,123.07 (Quebec pays 1.30% plus QPIP instead). Third, federal income tax using the five federal brackets, reduced by your non-refundable credits. Fourth, provincial income tax using your province's own brackets and basic personal amount. What's left is your net pay.
Two rates describe your tax bill. Your average (effective) rate is total income tax divided by gross income — the share of your pay that goes to income tax overall. Your marginal rate is what the next $100 costs you in tax and payroll deductions; it's the rate that matters for a raise, overtime, or an RRSP decision. Because brackets are progressive, your marginal rate is always higher than your average rate — and no, moving into a higher bracket never makes your whole paycheque taxed at the higher rate. Only the dollars inside the bracket are. Our marginal vs effective rate guide walks through a full example.
One quirk to expect: CPP and EI are deducted from the first paycheque of the year until you hit the annual maximums, then they stop. On a salary over about $74,600, CPP is finished partway through the year and your net pay jumps — the mid-year "raise" explained in our CPP & EI maxed-out guide. This calculator spreads the annual amounts evenly across your pay periods, so your early-year cheques will be slightly smaller and your later cheques slightly larger than the figure shown.
Why is my actual paycheque different? Employers withhold using payroll tables and the TD1 forms you filed, and they deduct CPP/EI at full speed from January. Bonuses and overtime are withheld at your marginal rate, benefits and union dues may come off too, and any RRSP contributions through payroll lower taxable income. The annual total is what this calculator estimates; the timing inside the year varies.
Is CPP a tax? It's a mandatory pension contribution, not income tax — you get a pension back for it in retirement — but it comes off your pay the same way, so we show it in your deductions and also give it back to you as a tax credit in the calculation, the same way your return does.
What changed for 2026? The lowest federal rate is 14% for the full year (it was a blended 14.5% in 2025 after the mid-2025 tax cut), federal brackets and the basic personal amount were indexed 2.0%, the CPP ceiling rose to $74,600 with CPP2 up to $85,000, and the EI ceiling rose to $68,900 at a slightly lower 1.63% rate.
What this estimate includes — and what it doesn't. The calculator models 2026 employment income with the basic personal amount and the standard payroll credits (CPP/QPP and EI/QPIP contributions, plus the federal Canada employment amount of up to $1,501). It does not model RRSP or other deductions, or any other credits — no spousal, age, pension, tuition, or medical amounts, and no low-income credits such as the Canada Workers Benefit. Treat the result as a solid estimate, labelled honestly: basic personal amount and standard payroll credits only. Your pay stub and your notice of assessment are the final word.