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Go from five days to four on an $80,000 salary in Ontario and you give up $16,000 of pay before tax. Your take-home pay drops by only about $10,390 a year, because less income tax, CPP and EI come off the smaller cheque. That works out to roughly $200 per day off after tax. All figures are 2026 estimates.
Enter your pay, pick a four-day week or a stretch of unpaid leave, and see how your province stacks up against the rest.
How much take-home pay do I lose on a four-day week?
A 20% pay cut on $80,000 in Ontario costs about $10,390 in take-home pay. That’s 65% of the $16,000 you give up before tax, since the smaller cheque carries less deduction. Where you live moves the answer a bit, because provincial rates and credits differ.
| Province | Pay lost before tax | Take-home pay lost |
|---|---|---|
| Quebec | $16,000 | $9,500 |
| Ontario | $16,000 | $10,390 |
| Alberta | $16,000 | $10,425 |
Why is the loss smaller than the pay cut?
The dollars you stop earning were the ones taxed at your highest rate. On the Ontario example, income tax falls by $4,683, CPP by $847 and EI by $80. Pay level changes the split: at $150,000 you lose about 57 cents of take-home pay for each lost dollar, and at $50,000 it’s 73 cents.
What does a month of unpaid leave cost?
Four weeks of unpaid leave on an $80,000 salary removes $6,154 of pay and about $4,142 of take-home pay, or $207 for each day off. You feel 67% of the lost pay, a bit more than the 65% on a four-day week. Unpaid leave is a different thing from EI or parental benefits, which have their own rules.
Does an RRSP contribution change the answer?
Yes, a fixed RRSP contribution makes the cut hurt a little more. With $8,000 going into an RRSP each year, the same four-day week costs $10,743 in take-home pay. The deduction was already sheltering part of the income you’re losing, so the tax saved by the cut drops to $4,330. Check your room first on the RRSP calculator. If money gets tight, you can trim the contribution after the change and rerun the numbers with the lower amount.
What does this estimate leave out?
It skips benefits, employer pension matching, bonuses tied to salary and income-tested credits like the Canada Child Benefit, which can go up when your income goes down. Lower CPP contributions also mean a slightly smaller pension later (see the Canada Revenue Agency: CPP contribution rates). For your real cheque, run the take-home pay calculator at the new salary and compare it with the Canada Revenue Agency: payroll deductions tables. Weighing a raise instead? Try the salary increase calculator, or work backwards from a target cheque with the net to gross calculator.
Where does this information come from?
Tax, CPP and EI rules come from the CRA payroll deductions tables and CPP rate pages for 2026; every dollar figure on this page is a result from the site’s own pay engine. Checked in October 2026. This is an independent information site: we provide no services, we do not represent the CRA or any organization, and we do not guarantee that anything here is accurate or current. We accept no liability for decisions based on it. Check the official source before you rely on it. See the full disclaimer.
Frequently asked questions
Does a four-day week lower my CPP and EI?
Yes. Both are charged on pay, so they shrink with it. On an $80,000 salary in Ontario, a 20% cut lowers CPP by $847 and EI by $80 a year. Your future CPP pension grows a little more slowly as well.
Is the tax saving the same in every province?
No. Provincial rates and credits differ, so the take-home loss on the same $16,000 pay cut runs from about $9,384 in Nova Scotia to $10,871 in Nunavut. Quebec sits near the low end at $9,500.
Can I claim the pay cut on my tax return?
There's nothing to claim. The cut lowers your income and the tax follows it down. That saving is already inside the estimate, which is why your take-home loss is smaller than the pay you give up.
How much does one day off cost after tax?
On an $80,000 salary in Ontario, a day dropped from a four-day week costs about $200 of take-home pay, even though it removes about $308 of pay before tax. The higher your pay, the less of each day you keep.