CPP and EI in Canada 2026: rates, maximums, CPP2 and what your employer pays

Two deductions appear on almost every Canadian paycheque besides income tax: Canada Pension Plan (CPP) contributions and Employment Insurance (EI) premiums. Both are a percentage of your pay up to a yearly ceiling, both are matched or exceeded by your employer, and both work differently in Quebec. This guide sets out the 2026 figures and how they are applied.

All rates and maximums below come from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and, for Quebec, from Revenu Québec and Retraite Québec. Dollar amounts at different salaries are calculated live by the CPP and EI calculator.

The short version

For 2026, employees outside Quebec pay CPP of 5.95% on earnings between $3,500 and $74,600, CPP2 of 4% on earnings between $74,600 and $85,000, and EI of 1.63% on earnings up to $68,900. On a $75,000 salary that comes to $5,370 for the year, and your employer pays $5,819 on top.

2026 rates and maximums

The CPP basic exemption is $3,500, and it has stayed the same for many years. The YMPE and YAMPE rise each year with average wages.Canada Revenue Agency↗Canada Revenue Agency↗Canada Revenue Agency↗

How CPP is worked out

CPP is charged on your pensionable earnings above the basic exemption, up to the year’s maximum pensionable earnings (YMPE). The rate of 5.95% has two parts: the base rate of 4.95% and the first additional rate of 1%, which pays for the enhancement to CPP benefits phased in over recent years. Of the $4,230.45 maximum, $3,519.45 is the base part.

On each paycheque, your employer takes off the basic exemption for that pay period (the yearly exemption divided by the number of pay periods) and deducts CPP on the rest. Once you have paid the maximum for the year, CPP stops until January.

CPP2: the second earnings ceiling

CPP2, the second additional CPP contribution, applies only to earnings above the YMPE, up to the year’s additional maximum pensionable earnings (YAMPE). On that band, between $74,600 and $85,000, you pay 4%, up to $416 for the year. Your employer pays the same.Canada Revenue Agency↗

If you earn less than the YMPE, you pay no CPP2 at all. At $80,000 you pay $216.00, and at any salary above the YAMPE you pay the full $416. CPP2 builds a larger CPP pension on that higher band of earnings.

EI premiums

EI premiums are 1.63% of your insurable earnings, up to the maximum insurable earnings of $68,900. The most an employee pays in 2026 is $1,123.07. Unlike CPP, EI has no basic exemption: premiums start with the first dollar of insurable earnings. They pay for regular benefits if you lose your job, and for special benefits such as sickness, maternity, parental and caregiving benefits.Canada Revenue Agency↗

Contributions at common salaries

For an employee outside Quebec, paid the same salary all year:

The per-paycheque column is the year’s total spread evenly. In practice, on a salary above the ceilings your contributions are higher than this early in the year and stop once you reach the maximums, so your paycheques get larger towards the end of the year. Everything above $100,000 is the same as the last row, because every contribution is already at its maximum.

What your employer pays

Your employer matches your CPP and CPP2 contributions dollar for dollar, and pays EI at 2.282% of your insurable earnings, which is more than your own premium. The employer’s EI maximum for 2026 is $1,572.30.Canada Revenue Agency↗

The employer’s share doesn’t come out of your pay, but it is part of what a job costs your employer, which is worth remembering when you compare a salaried job with contract work.

Quebec: QPP, QPIP and a lower EI rate

If you work in Quebec, the Quebec Pension Plan (QPP) replaces CPP. It uses the same earnings ceilings and basic exemption, but a higher rate of 6.3% (a base rate of 5.3% plus the first additional 1%), for a maximum of $4,479.30. QPP2 matches CPP2: 4% between the two ceilings, up to $416.Retraite Québec↗

Quebec also runs its own parental benefits through the Quebec Parental Insurance Plan (QPIP), so EI premiums there are lower, at 1.3% (maximum $895.70). QPIP premiums are 0.43% of earnings up to $103,000, a maximum of $442.90. Employers pay 0.602%.Revenu Québec↗

On $75,000, a Quebec employee pays $5,713 in total, against $5,370 elsewhere. The higher QPP contribution and the added QPIP premium outweigh the EI discount.

If you’re self-employed

Self-employed people pay both the employee and the employer share of CPP and CPP2 on their net self-employment income, through their income tax return rather than a paycheque. For 2026 that is a maximum of $8,460.90 in CPP and $832 in CPP2.Canada Revenue Agency↗

In Quebec, the self-employed pay both shares of QPP instead, up to $8,958.60 plus $832 of QPP2.Retraite Québec↗ They also pay QPIP premiums at a self-employed rate, which our calculator doesn’t include.

EI is optional for the self-employed. You can sign up to pay premiums in exchange for access to special benefits such as sickness and caregiving benefits and, outside Quebec, maternity and parental benefits, but you are not covered for regular benefits if your business stops. The calculator doesn’t include it.

What your contributions pay for

CPP contributions are not a tax in the usual sense: they build your own entitlement. The more years you contribute, and the more you earn up to the ceilings, the larger your CPP retirement pension. The same contributions also give you and your family cover for the CPP disability benefit and survivor benefits. The enhanced parts, the first additional contribution and CPP2, are what will make CPP pensions larger for people who contribute in the years since the enhancement began.

EI premiums buy insurance rather than savings. If you lose your job through no fault of your own, or need time off for illness, a new child or to care for a family member, EI can replace part of your earnings for a period, provided you have worked enough insurable hours.

Some people don’t contribute at all. CPP contributions stop if you are receiving a CPP disability pension, and working people who already receive a CPP retirement pension can, past a certain age, elect to stop contributing on form CPT30.Canada Revenue Agency↗ The calculator assumes you contribute for the whole year.

Two jobs or a job change

Each employer deducts CPP and EI as if it were your only employer, and each one applies the full yearly maximums. If you have two jobs at once, or change jobs during the year, you can end up paying more than the maximum in total. You get the excess back when you file your income tax return. With two jobs at once, each employer also applies the CPP basic exemption, so slightly too little CPP may be deducted in total; that is settled on your return too.

A new employer starts your CPP and EI from zero, so after a job change late in the year these deductions can reappear on your paycheques even though you had already reached the maximums with your old employer. Employers don’t get their share back.

How CPP and EI affect your income tax

CPP and EI both give you some income tax relief. The base part of your CPP contributions and all of your EI premiums earn a non-refundable credit at the lowest federal rate of 14% and, outside Quebec, at the lowest provincial or territorial rate. The enhanced part of CPP (the first additional contribution and CPP2) is deducted from your income instead, so it saves tax at your marginal rate. The Canada take-home pay guide shows how these fit into the full paycheque calculation, and the tax brackets guide gives the rates.

Work out your own contributions

Enter your salary, province and pay frequency, or switch to self-employed, to see your 2026 contributions and your employer’s share.

To see take-home pay after these deductions and income tax, use the Canada income tax calculator or the salary after tax guide.

These figures are estimates for a steady salary over the full year with one employer, calculated from the CRA’s and Revenu Québec’s 2026 rates. They are not tax advice.