All the Numbers

Tax brackets after 2026 are projected, not published

From the All the Numbers wiki · Tax

Federal and Ontario brackets, personal amounts, most credits and the CPP/EI ceilings are indexed every January.[1][2][3] The values for a future year are not published, and cannot be, because they depend on a CPI series that does not exist yet.

What the engine does

It takes the 2026 figures, each cited on the Sources page, and grows every indexed threshold at this plan's own inflation rate[4] — the same rule the TFSA dollar limit already follows.[5] Inflation itself is covered in inflation and today's dollars. A salary that only keeps pace with inflation therefore pays the same tax in real terms year after year, which is what actually happens.

Two figures are fixed in statute and are held flat on purpose: the $3,500 CPP basic exemption, and the Ontario Health Premium tiers (unchanged since 2004).

Why it used to be different

Until 2026-09-15 the engine held every band at its 2026 value while salaries indexed. On a salary that merely kept pace with inflation that charged 44% more tax by year 24 than an indexed model — the single largest divergence in a replay against a competitor's ledger — and it made every long plan look poorer than it should. A stated projection is more honest than a stated freeze when the freeze is known to be wrong in one direction.

What it is not

A projected band is a simulation input, not a fact. The page never quotes a future year's bracket as though CRA had published it; the number that matters is the tax, and the tax carries this note.

See also

  • Age, spouse and caregiver credits · Some credits depend on who you are or who you support. The age amount starts at 65 and shrinks with income; the spouse amount is the basic personal amount less your partner's income. All the Numbers applies the age amount, and the spouse amount for a couple; not the caregiver credits.
  • Combined marginal tax rates · The marginal rate is the federal and Ontario tax on the next dollar of income. In 2026 it runs from 19.05% to 53.53% on ordinary income, and the top rate is lower on capital gains and dividends than on interest.
  • CPP and EI contributions · Canada Pension Plan and Employment Insurance contributions come out of each paycheque up to a yearly ceiling. The plan calculates both from salary, and treats the self-employed as paying both halves of CPP.
  • Income tax brackets and your marginal rate · Federal and Ontario tax are each charged in slices of income at rising rates, then reduced by credits, with an Ontario surtax and health premium on top. The marginal rate is what the next dollar costs; the average rate is total tax over income.
  • Income tax in Alberta · Alberta taxes income in six brackets from 8% to 15%, with a large basic personal amount, no surtax or health premium, and amounts that grow by at most 2% a year.
  • Income tax in British Columbia · British Columbia taxes income in seven brackets from 5.6% to 20.5%, with no surtax or health premium, a tax reduction for low incomes, and its amounts frozen from 2027 to 2030.
  • Income tax in Manitoba · Manitoba taxes income in three brackets from 10.8% to 17.4%, takes back the basic personal amount from high incomes, and has a family tax benefit for lower incomes. Its amounts are fixed in the statute.
  • Income tax in New Brunswick · New Brunswick taxes income in four brackets from 9.4% to 19.5%, indexes its amounts each year, and reduces the tax of lower-income families.
  • Income tax in Newfoundland and Labrador · Newfoundland and Labrador taxes income in eight brackets from 8.7% to 21.8% and reduces the tax of lower-income families.
  • Income tax in Nova Scotia · Nova Scotia taxes income in five brackets from 8.79% to 21%, indexes only some of its amounts, and has a low income tax reduction, an amount for young children and an age tax credit.
  • Income tax in Nunavut · Nunavut taxes income in four brackets from 4% to 11.5%, refunds a cost of living credit and charges employees a payroll tax.
  • Income tax in Prince Edward Island · Prince Edward Island taxes income in six brackets from 9.5% to 20%, indexes none of its amounts, and reduces the tax of lower-income families.
  • Income tax in Saskatchewan · Saskatchewan taxes income in three brackets from 10.5% to 14.5%, has credits for children and seniors, adds a fixed step to its main credit amounts in 2027 and 2028, and pays a low-income tax credit every quarter.
  • Income tax in the Northwest Territories · The Northwest Territories tax income in four brackets from 5.9% to 14.05%, refund a cost of living credit and charge employees a payroll tax.
  • Income tax in Yukon · Yukon taxes income in five brackets from 6.4% to 15% and gives the federal credit amounts at its lowest rate.
  • Inflation and today's dollars · The default inflation rate is 2.5% a year. A future dollar amount can be shown as is, or divided by (1 + inflation) for each year to show what it would buy today.
  • TFSA contribution room · Room starts accruing the year you turn 18, not the year you open an account, and it never expires. Withdrawals come back the following January. Limits past 2026 have not been announced, so the plan projects them by the rule the Act sets and says so.

References

  1. ↑CRA — Canadian income tax rates for individuals (2026); thresholds indexed 2.0% · Federal personal brackets 2026 (14/20.5/26/29/33) · See the source · effective 2026-01-01
  2. ↑CRA — Combined 2026 federal/Ontario rates; $150k/$220k thresholds not indexed · Ontario personal brackets 2026 (5.05/9.15/11.16/12.16/13.16) · See the source · effective 2026-01-01
  3. ↑TaxTips.ca 2026 federal credits · Federal basic personal amount (maximum, before the phase-out) · $16,452 · effective 2026-01-01
  4. ↑PWL Capital — Financial Planning Assumptions (Market Capitalization Weighted Portfolio), mid-year 2026 data update, Table 1 (Expected Inflation Composition) · Assumed long-run CPI inflation: half Canadian historical inflation since 1900, half the Bank of Canada target (PWL Capital, Financial Planning Assumptions, Table 1) · 2.5% · effective 2026-08-17
  5. ↑FP Canada / IQPF Projection Assumption Guidelines 2026 (inflation 2.1%, no separate rule for unindexed thresholds); planning software indexes every bracket the same way, e.g. Snap Projections help, "Taxable Income and Taxes Payable" (help.snapprojections.com/article/32-taxable-income): "The Provincial and Federal Tax brackets and applicable tax credits and deductions are indexed to inflation" under the assumption "that the current Canadian tax system is not going to change drastically" (read 2026-09-19) · In projected years every tax threshold follows the plan's indexation rate — including Ontario's statutory bracket edges, which the Taxation Act 2007 does not index — because a projection under "law as written" becomes undefined once an indexed edge overtakes a fixed one (about 19 years at 2%). Set to hold them nominal instead · effective 2026-09-19