Updated Checked by the Tax-Services.ca editorial team How we check
Taxation in Canada is shared between Ottawa and the provinces, and the tax bill on a $75,000 salary in Ontario comes to about $18,075 once income tax, CPP and EI are added up. That’s 24% of pay before you’ve bought anything. Add sales tax on $30,000 of spending and it climbs to roughly 29%.
Who collects which tax?
You’ll meet Ottawa first: it taxes income, sets the GST and runs CPP and EI. Each province taxes income too and chooses its own sales tax setup. The CRA collects most of it for everybody, but not all.
| Tax | Set by | Collected by |
|---|---|---|
| Personal income tax | Federal and provincial governments | CRA, except Quebec residents’ provincial tax |
| GST (5%) | Federal government | CRA, or Revenu Québec in Quebec |
| HST | Federal and participating provinces | CRA |
| CPP and EI | Federal government | CRA through payroll |
| QPP and QPIP | Quebec | Through payroll in Quebec |
The CRA’s overview says it administers HST in Ontario and the Atlantic provinces, while Quebec runs its own individual and corporate tax. Alberta administers its own corporate tax. Property tax sits outside this page, since it varies by where you live. The property tax calculator is the place to start.
How does income tax work across the two levels?
You pay federal tax on a five-bracket scale, from 14% to 33% in 2026, and then your province’s tax on top. In Ontario the provincial scale runs from 5.05% to 13.16%. Quebec has four brackets of its own, and Ottawa cuts federal tax by 16.5 points for Quebec residents.
The income tax calculator joins both layers for any province or territory. Each bracket taxes only the slice of income inside it, so moving into a higher bracket never cuts your pay below what you had. You keep the same amount on the lower slices and get the new rate only on the extra dollars. Our guide to how Canadian income tax works goes through brackets and credits step by step.
What are the sales tax rates in 2026?
Sales tax is where you’ll see the provinces differ most. Five per cent GST applies everywhere, and here’s what sits on top.
| Rate you pay at the till | Where |
|---|---|
| 5% GST only | Alberta, Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut |
| 13% HST | Ontario |
| 14% HST | Nova Scotia (cut from 15% on 1 April 2025) |
| 15% HST | New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island |
| 5% GST plus 7% PST | British Columbia |
| 5% GST plus 6% PST | Saskatchewan |
| 5% GST plus 9.975% QST | Quebec |
Manitoba adds a 7% retail sales tax to GST. We couldn’t check that for 2026, and Revenu Québec’s rules put the QST at 9.975% of the price before GST, so confirm both before relying on them. Some goods aren’t taxed at all, and the GST/HST calculator only covers ordinary purchases. The CRA’s page on which GST/HST rate to charge puts it plainly: basic groceries are taxed at zero per cent in every province and territory. For the full province-by-province picture, see our GST, HST, PST and QST guide.
What does the whole system cost one worker?
Take a $75,000 salary and $30,000 of taxable spending in a year, both assumptions. In Ontario, our engine gives $8,259 of federal tax and $4,446 of provincial tax, so $12,705 in all. CPP takes $4,246 and EI $1,123. HST on the spending is $3,900, and the total is about $21,974, or 29.3% of pay.
Now the same person in Alberta, on the same pay and the same spending, where the provincial income tax is lighter and there’s no provincial sales tax at all.
The numbers are these. Income tax is $12,269, payroll deductions are the same $5,370, and GST on the spending is $1,500. The total is about $19,138, or 25.5%.
Ontario costs more.
The gap is $2,836, nearly all of it sales tax and provincial income tax. The take-home pay calculator shows the pay side of this on its own.
Which tax takes the biggest bite?
For the Ontario worker above, income tax is by far the heaviest piece: $12,705 of the $21,974, or about 58%. Payroll deductions (CPP and EI) come to roughly 24%, and the HST on spending makes up the last 18% or so. Your own mix will shift with how much you spend and how much of it is taxed, since groceries carry no GST or HST. It’s a ballpark, but it shows why people feel the pinch on payday more than at the till.
What do people get wrong about Canadian taxes?
Judging a province by its income tax alone, which is easy to do when that’s the number on your pay stub. A low sales tax can offset a higher income tax, and the other way round. And treating a marginal rate as the rate on all your income, which it never is.
Spending is a guess in our example, and the tool leaves out credits, benefits, property tax and every tax you pay through a business. Your own total will differ, so use this to see the pieces, not as a bill.
Where we got these figures
Federal brackets and the Quebec abatement come from the Canada Revenue Agency and the Department of Finance Canada. Sales tax rates come from the CRA’s GST/HST rate tables and provincial pages. The CPP and EI figures use the CRA’s 2026 limits. This site is independent of every government body named here.
Frequently asked questions
Which levels of government tax Canadians?
Federal and provincial or territorial governments both tax income, and sales taxes vary by province. Property tax depends on where you live.
Does the CRA collect all income tax?
Almost all. Quebec runs its own individual tax, so Quebec residents file a separate Quebec return.
What is the GST rate?
5% federally. In HST provinces it is combined with a provincial part, giving 13% in Ontario and 15% in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador and PEI.
What are the federal income tax rates for 2026?
14%, 20.5%, 26%, 29% and 33%, starting to climb at $58,523.
Which province has the lowest sales tax?
Alberta, Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut charge only the 5% GST.
- How Canadian income tax works: brackets and credits
How federal and provincial Canadian income tax stack up, what marginal and average rates mean, and how credits and deductions change your bill