CPP and EI Max 2026: Rates and Payroll Deductions

All amounts are in Canadian dollars. The examples assume ordinary pensionable and insurable employment with one employer for the full year; special eligibility rules and pay-period rounding can change an individual calculation.

To calculate one employee's CPP and EI for a specific salary and pay frequency, or to work out Quebec contributions, use the calculators; they give planning estimates with stated assumptions.

2026 CPP and EI maximum contributions

CPP and EI use different earnings limits. CPP also has a $3,500 annual basic exemption; EI has no equivalent exemption. The employer amounts below are paid on top of salary, not deducted from the employee's pay.

Sources: CRA's CPP tables, CPP2 tables and EI premium tables. Employer EI assumes the standard 1.4 multiplier; qualifying premium-reduction arrangements can differ.

When all three limits are reached, employee CPP, CPP2 and EI total $5,769.52. The corresponding employer contributions total $6,218.75. Neither total includes income tax, benefits or other payroll costs.

2026 Canadian payroll deductions at a glance

Who pays what, and where it is remitted.

On eligibility, CPP contributions run from age 18 to 70; stopping is optional starting at 65.

Gross salary is a starting point, but pensionable and insurable earnings are not interchangeable in every case. Benefits and special payments can have different treatment. Check the payment type before applying these salary examples to a bonus, benefit or termination payment.

What the contributions look like at three salaries

These annual illustrations assume all salary is pensionable and insurable, a full CPP exemption and no special elections. They isolate employee contributions so you can see how each ceiling works. They are not take-home pay calculations or instructions to deduct one-twelfth of the totals each month.

At $60,000, CPP is ($60,000 minus $3,500) × 5.95%, and EI is $60,000 × 1.63%.

At $75,000, regular CPP and EI reach their limits, but only $400 falls into the CPP2 band: $400 × 4% = $16.

At $90,000, CPP2 reaches its $416.00 maximum because only the $10,400 band between the two pension ceilings is subject to CPP2.

A raise therefore does not increase every contribution by the same percentage. EI can also stop before CPP2 does. To try another salary or pay frequency, run it through the one-employee CPP and EI calculator and read its assumptions alongside the result.

Max EI contribution 2026 in Ontario

The maximums are the same in Ontario as in every province outside Quebec: $1,123.07 employee EI on $68,900 at 1.63%, and $5,769.52 combined with CPP and CPP2. Ontario differs in provincial income tax and in the Employer Health Tax (EHT) paid by the employer.

Ontario income tax in 2026

Ontario tax is calculated alongside federal tax and added to it. Ontario's 2026 provincial rates in CRA's T4127 payroll deductions formulas run from 5.05% on the first $53,891 of taxable income to 13.16% over $220,000. The full bracket table is in the Canada payroll tax rates guide.

Ontario Employer Health Tax

EHT is paid by the employer on Ontario remuneration. It is not deducted from the employee. Under the Ministry of Finance's EHT guidance, the exemption amount is $1 million, and it is available only to eligible employers whose Ontario payroll, including associated employers, is under $5 million (registered charities qualify regardless). The rate depends on total Ontario payroll before the exemption: 0.98% up to $200,000, rising in steps to 1.95% on payroll over $400,000.

As a hypothetical, an eligible employer with $2,000,000 of Ontario payroll pays 1.95% on the $1,000,000 above the exemption, which is $19,500 for the year. An employer or associated group with $5 million or more of Ontario payroll gets no exemption.

Ontario workers' compensation is a separate employer premium collected by the WSIB and set by industry classification.

Quebec: QPP, reduced EI and QPIP

Quebec employment uses Quebec Pension Plan contributions rather than CPP. QPP has regular and second additional contributions. Quebec employees also pay reduced EI premiums and separate Quebec Parental Insurance Plan premiums.

QPP uses a $74,600 first ceiling and $85,000 additional ceiling, with a $3,500 basic exemption. EI uses $68,900 in maximum insurable earnings. QPIP has its own higher ceiling of $103,000 and an employer rate of 0.602%.

Sources: Revenu Québec's QPP contribution tables and QPIP premium tables, plus CRA's EI tables linked above.

Use the Quebec contribution calculator for an estimate. These contributions do not represent every Quebec employer cost; other obligations, including the Health Services Fund and workers' compensation, are covered in the employer-only costs section.

Federal and provincial income tax withholding

CPP and EI are capped; income tax is not. The employer withholds federal and provincial or territorial income tax from every pay, and the amount depends on the employee's pay, pay frequency, tax credits and province of employment. Subtracting CPP and EI from gross pay never gives net pay.

How withholding is set: the TD1 and the pay calculation

Each employee completes a federal TD1 and a provincial or territorial TD1 so the employer knows which credits to apply. Employers must get a completed TD1 form from an employee when the employee starts work. A new TD1 form is required within 7 days of a change to the employee's situation that may reasonably be expected to change their personal tax credits for the year. Quebec employees use a Revenu Québec withholding form for provincial tax. Payroll then applies CRA's formulas to taxable pay, which is why a bonus, a pay-frequency change or a mid-year TD1 update all move the withholding.

CRA publishes the method in T4127 Payroll Deductions Formulas and offers the Payroll Deductions Online Calculator (PDOC) for federal, provincial and territorial deductions outside Quebec. For Quebec provincial tax, QPP and QPIP, CRA's page points employers to Revenu Québec's WebRAS. The T4032 tables serve employers who prefer a table-based method.

Federal income tax brackets for 2026

For 2026, CRA's T4127 January 2026 edition sets the lowest federal rate at 14%, with the top rate of 33% over $258,482. The full bracket table is in the Canada payroll tax rates guide. A few provinces changed rates during 2026, so use the edition that matches the pay date.

Province of employment, not home address

Withholding follows the province of employment, which comes from CRA's employer-establishment test rather than where the employee lives. A full-time remote employee may remain reasonably attached to an employer establishment, while an employee with no such attachment may use the paying establishment. A change of home address alone does not change the province. See CRA's guidance to determine the province of employment.

Employer-only payroll costs

Deductions from the paycheque are half the picture. Employers also owe amounts that never reduce the employee's pay and show up only on remittances, assessments and board invoices.

Employer CPP, CPP2 and EI

The employer matches CPP and CPP2 dollar for dollar and pays 1.4 times the employee EI premium unless a premium reduction applies. The table shows the employer side at three salaries, using the same assumptions as the employee examples above: full year, one employer, all pay pensionable and insurable.

These totals sit on top of salary. They exclude the provincial taxes and workers' compensation below, benefits and vacation pay.

EI premium reduction

Employers that offer a qualifying short-term disability or wage-loss plan may be eligible for a reduced EI premium rate, and the employees share in the saving. The program has its own application and conditions, so start with the federal premium reduction program page rather than assuming the standard 1.4 multiplier applies.

Provincial health and payroll taxes

Several provinces charge employers a levy on payroll. These are not withheld from the employee, and each has an exemption that changes the answer for smaller employers.

Sources: Ontario's EHT guidance, British Columbia's employer health tax overview (rates from the 2024 return onward) and Manitoba Finance. Associated-employer rules can remove an exemption, so confirm with the province before relying on a threshold.

Workers' compensation

Every province and territory runs its own workers' compensation board, such as WSIB in Ontario, WorkSafeBC, the Alberta WCB and Quebec's CNESST. The employer pays premiums on assessable earnings, and the rate depends on the industry classification.

Remittance deadlines and penalties

CRA assigns each employer a remitter type, and the type sets the deadline for getting withheld amounts to CRA. An existing employer whose average monthly withholding amount (AMWA) in the calendar year before the previous calendar year was less than $25,000, and who has not been assigned another remitter type, is a regular remitter. Regular remitters remit monthly, for the calendar month, with the remittance due on the 15th day of the next month. Late remittances draw penalties that rise with the number of days late, plus interest.

The deadlines for every type, the PD7A statement and payment methods are in the payroll remittance guide, and CRA's when to remit page confirms yours.

Year-end: T4s, RL-1s and the end-of-February deadline

After the calendar year closes, the employer files an information return for every employee paid. T4 slips and the T4 Summary are due by the last day of February following the calendar year the information return applies to. When that due date falls on a Saturday, a Sunday, or a public holiday recognized by the CRA, the return is considered on time if the CRA receives it, or it is postmarked, on or before the next business day. Employees need their copy by the same date. Filing thresholds, late penalties and the step-by-step process are in the T4 slip guide.

Quebec employers also file an RL-1 slip for each employee and the RL-1 summary with Revenu Québec. Per Revenu Québec's RL slip filing deadline page, the general deadline is also the last day of February. The RL-1 summary is also where the Health Services Fund payment for the year is reconciled.

Reconcile the T4 totals to the year's remittances before filing. A gap between what was withheld and what was remitted is better found in January than in a CRA notice. The items that most often make a T4 wrong are taxable benefits left out of earnings, pensionable and insurable earnings that do not match the payments made, and a wrong province-of-employment code.

Taxable benefits left out of earnings

Employer-paid benefits can add to taxable income and, in some cases, to pensionable and insurable earnings. Employer-paid group life premiums are a taxable benefit, calculated by policy type. Personal use of a company vehicle and some parking arrangements also need review. Missing them makes the T4 wrong and the CPP and EI calculations short.

Annual limits are not a pay-period formula

Annual limits become per-period amounts. As an estimate, take a hypothetical employee paid $2,500 gross every two weeks, which is 26 pay periods a year. The $3,500 basic exemption is spread over those periods: $3,500 ÷ 26 = $134.62 for each one.

CPP for the period is ($2,500 minus $134.62) × 5.95% = $2,365.38 × 5.95% = $140.74, and EI is $2,500 × 1.63% = $40.75, each rounded to the cent. Payroll software, not an annual estimate, sets the exact figure: a mid-year hire, an irregular payment or a change in CPP eligibility changes the exemption and the year-to-date balances. To try your own salary and pay frequency, use the CPP and EI calculator.

Changing employers is another distinction. CRA instructs a new employer to calculate CPP and EI without counting deductions made by the previous employer, subject to business-succession rules. Eligible excess employee contributions are reconciled on the employee's tax return. See the CRA employers' guide for the applicable treatment.