Updated Checked by the Tax-Services.ca editorial team How we check
CPA income in Canada usually runs from about $25 to $71 an hour, with a median near $40 an hour, according to Job Bank. Over a 2,080-hour year that median is roughly $84,000 before tax, and an Ontario employee would keep about $63,000 of it.
“CPA income” can also mean money from cost-per-action affiliate marketing. This page assumes you meant accountants, meaning chartered professional accountants, since it’s a tax site. Affiliate payouts aren’t covered here.
What CPAs earn per hour
Job Bank publishes wages for the occupation Chartered Professional Accountant, Certified General Accountant (CPA, CGA). The data covers 2023 to 2024, comes from Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey, and was updated on November 19, 2025. The table shows the hourly ranges for Canada and Ontario, and what each becomes over 2,080 hours (40 hours for 52 weeks, our assumption).
| Low | Median | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canada, per hour | $25.00 | $40.36 | $71.43 |
| Ontario, per hour | $24.73 | $40.87 | $72.12 |
| Canada, per year at 2,080 hours | $52,000 | $83,949 | $148,574 |
Job Bank shows the same Canada figures for the chartered accountant title (CPA, CA). Treat all of these as a spread, not a promise. Pay depends on the employer, the city, the years you’ve worked and the kind of work, and Job Bank’s page doesn’t break that down. Nationally, 93.9% of people in the CGA title get at least one non-wage benefit, such as a pension or insurance plan, so the hourly figure isn’t the full package either.
What you keep on those salaries
These are annual figures for an Ontario employee from our take-home pay calculator. It counts the basic personal amount and the pension and EI credits only.
| Gross pay | Income tax | CPP and EI | You keep |
|---|---|---|---|
| $52,000 | $6,625 | $3,733 | $41,641 |
| $84,000 | $15,266 | $5,730 | $63,004 |
| $148,600 | $39,303 | $5,770 | $103,528 |
Look at the last row. Is the raise worth it? Yes, but the share you keep falls from about 80% to about 70%, and the tax on your next dollar climbs from 19% to 43.4%. A raise from $84,000 to $148,600 adds $64,600 to the gross and roughly $40,500 to your pocket.
Spread over twelve months, the middle row means about $5,250 of take-home a month, and the top row about $8,627. Those are ballpark figures before any benefit premiums, union or professional dues, or RRSP contributions come off your paycheque.
Employee or running your own practice
Plenty of accountants leave a firm and go solo. The headline figure looks bigger. It’s revenue, though. Say your net business income is $80,000. The self-employed tax calculator gives $22,126 in income tax plus CPP, leaving $57,873. An employee on $80,000 keeps $60,303 in the take-home tool. One reason for the gap: you pay both halves of CPP, and there’s no EI in this tool, so the comparison is rough.
Two limits on that calculator. Deductions lower income tax there but not CPP, and it leaves out EI and GST/HST. So use it for a rough view and run the real return at year end. Going solo also means no employer pension, no paid sick days and no one else covering the quiet months, so a few weeks of slow billing matter more than the tax.
Turn a target into a number
Working backward is often more useful. If you want to keep $5,000 a month, the net to gross calculator tells you the salary needed. Comparing a job offer in hours with one in salary? The hourly to salary calculator does the multiplication, and you can decide if 2,080 hours fits your case.
Is a CPA the same as someone who does your taxes?
Not always. CPA is a professional designation, and plenty of people with it work in audit, corporate finance or management, not in personal tax at all. Lots of people who prepare returns don’t hold it. If you’re trying to find someone for your own return, the guide to choosing a tax preparer covers what to ask. It also means a CPA salary figure says little about what a tax preparer earns.
Mistakes when reading pay data
The biggest slip is treating a median as your offer. Half of the people in the survey earn less. That’s what a median is. A second is ignoring bonuses and benefits that don’t show up in an hourly rate. And the wage is a 2023 to 2024 snapshot, so it will be behind today’s market.
Fees are a different question. What a CPA charges clients isn’t published by any official source, so ask for a price in writing before you agree to anything.
How we checked the figures
Hourly wages are from Job Bank (Government of Canada), based on Statistics Canada‘s Labour Force Survey for 2023 to 2024, updated November 19, 2025. Tax, CPP and EI figures come from our calculators using 2026 federal and Ontario rates. Annual amounts are our own arithmetic at 2,080 hours. This site is independent and isn’t affiliated with CPA Canada or any government.
Frequently asked questions
What is the median hourly wage for a CPA in Canada?
Job Bank shows $40.36 an hour for Canada and $40.87 for Ontario, from Labour Force Survey data for 2023 to 2024.
How much is that per year?
About $83,949 before tax at 2,080 hours a year, which is our assumption of 40 hours for 52 weeks.
How much of an $84,000 salary do I keep in Ontario?
About $63,004 a year in our take-home pay calculator, which counts the basic personal amount and the pension and EI credits only.
Do CPAs earn more when self-employed?
We couldn't confirm that on an official page. Revenue isn't income. On $80,000 of net business income our self-employed tool leaves about $57,873 after tax and both halves of CPP.
What do CPAs charge clients?
We couldn't find fee levels on an official page, so we don't quote any. Ask for a price in writing.
All payroll and salary calculators
- How to choose a tax preparer in Canada
How to decide if you need a tax preparer, what a preparer does, the questions to ask before you hire one and where to find free help in Canada