Tax year 2026
Guides
A calculator gives you a number. These explain where the number came from, which parts of it are fixed by statute, and where an estimate stops being reliable.
Every figure quoted in a guide is either read from the 2026 rules the site publishes or computed with the same engine the calculators use, so nothing here can drift away from what the calculator says. Each guide lists the authorities behind it at the bottom.
All guides
- How salary after tax is calculated in Canada
The order the deductions come off in, why the pension contribution is split into a piece that reduces income and a piece that earns a credit, and why doing it in the wrong order gives an answer that is wrong twice. - How CPP works
The basic exemption, the two ceilings, the split between the base and enhanced slices, and why the enhanced slice quietly lowers your income tax while the base slice does not. - How EI works
One flat rate on earnings up to a ceiling, a lower rate in Quebec because the parental insurance plan covers what EI covers elsewhere, and what the premium actually buys. - Marginal tax rate versus average tax rate
Why your average rate is far lower than your bracket, and why your true marginal rate is rarely the bracket rate either once the Ontario surtax and the federal credit phase-out are counted. - How bonuses are taxed in Canada
A bonus is not taxed at a flat rate. The honest figure is the tax on the year with the bonus minus the tax on the year without it, and a bonus above the pension ceiling costs no further contribution. - How RRSP contributions affect income tax
A deduction saves tax at the rates it actually spans, which is less than your top marginal rate as soon as the contribution crosses a bracket boundary, and it changes nothing about CPP or EI. - Hourly wage versus salary
Converting between an hourly rate and an annual salary is arithmetic, but the number of paid hours in a year is an assumption, and the two pay structures differ in what they include beyond the rate. - Comparing job offers in different provinces
What actually differs between provinces at the same salary, how large the gap really is, and the costs outside the payroll calculation that decide the answer more often than tax does. - Gross pay versus net pay
The difference between what you negotiated and what arrives, which deductions are statutory and which are your employer's, and why net pay is a smaller share of gross at higher salaries. - Understanding your Canadian paycheque
A line by line reading of a Canadian pay statement, what each code means, and the three ordinary reasons your paycheque does not equal your annual net pay divided by the number of pay periods.
If you would rather run the numbers
Figures last verified 2026-08-18