CPP & EI Contribution Calculator

Enter your income to see this year’s CPP base contribution, the CPP2 layer above the first ceiling, and EI premiums — with the employer match alongside. Ceilings and rates are current for the 2025 tax year.

2025 tax year rates All 13 provinces Updates as you type

Your income

$

How it works. CPP has two layers: the base 5.95% on earnings between the $3,500 exemption and the $71,300 ceiling (YMPE), and CPP2 at 4% on the band from $71,300 to $81,200 (YAMPE). EI takes 1.64% of insurable earnings up to $65,700. Self-employed people pay both CPP halves and pay no EI unless they opt in for special benefits.

Your contributions this year

$0

Employee contributions on $0 of income

CPP $0 EI $0
CPP base (5.95% up to $71,300)$0
CPP2 (4% from $71,300 to $81,200)$0
EI (1.64% up to $65,700)$0
Your employer also pays (CPP match + 1.4 × EI)$0
Total you pay$0

Self-employed workers pay both halves of CPP; EI is optional for them through the special-benefits opt-in. Contributions stop for the year once each ceiling is reached.

An estimate is a starting point. Get your real number.

This calculator uses published rates. Your actual position depends on the credits, deductions and structure behind your numbers.

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How CPP and EI contributions are built

The Canada Pension Plan takes 5.95% of earnings between the $3,500 basic exemption and the year's maximum pensionable earnings (YMPE) of $71,300. A second layer, CPP2, takes 4% of the band between the YMPE and the additional ceiling (YAMPE) of $81,200 — so higher earners contribute on more of their income than the single ceiling used to allow. EI premiums run at 1.64% of insurable earnings up to $65,700. Employers match CPP and CPP2 dollar for dollar and pay 1.4 times the employee's EI premium on top. In return, CPP builds retirement, disability and survivor benefits, and EI funds income support between jobs and during parental leave.

Self-employed people fund both CPP halves themselves — flip the status above and the calculator doubles the contribution — and pay no EI unless they opt into the special-benefits program. If you run payroll for staff, our payroll service handles the withholding, and the take-home pay calculator shows the same deductions from the employee's side of the cheque.

What this calculator does not cover

Quebec runs its own plan: workers there contribute to the QPP, not the CPP, at Quebec's own rates and ceilings, so these figures do not apply to Quebec payroll. Some employers also qualify for a reduced EI rate when they provide a qualifying short-term wage-loss plan, which this tool does not model, and it does not estimate the pension or benefits your contributions will eventually pay out. For withholding set-up and remittances, see our payroll service.

2025 CPP and EI parameters
Parameter2025
CPP earnings ceiling (YMPE) $71,300
CPP2 ceiling (YAMPE) $81,200
Basic exemption $3,500
CPP rate (each side) 5.95%
CPP2 rate 4.00%
EI insurable maximum $65,700
EI employee rate 1.64%

Rates reviewed for the 2025 tax year by Udit Gupta, Founder and Tax Accountant. Federal and provincial rates change annually, and this tool is an estimate for planning rather than tax advice. Confirm current figures before relying on them for a filing.

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Frequently asked questions

An employee maxes out at $4,034 of base CPP — 5.95% of the gap between the $3,500 exemption and the $71,300 ceiling — plus $396 of CPP2, about $4,430 in total. A self-employed person pays both halves, so the ceiling is roughly $8,860. Earn at or above $81,200 and you hit both maximums.
It is a second contribution band that sits on top of the traditional ceiling: 4% of earnings between the YMPE of $71,300 and the YAMPE of $81,200, matched by the employer. If you earn less than $71,300 you never pay it; at $81,200 or more it adds $396 per side for the year.
Not by default — EI is optional for the self-employed. You can register for the special-benefits program to access maternity, parental, sickness and caregiving benefits, and you then pay the employee premium on your earnings. Regular job-loss benefits are not part of that deal, so many self-employed people skip it.
CPP and EI are withheld per cheque until your cumulative earnings reach each ceiling — $71,300 for base CPP, $81,200 for CPP2 and $65,700 for EI. Higher earners hit the maximums partway through the year, which is why late-year paycheques are noticeably larger than January ones.
Your employer matches your CPP and CPP2 dollar for dollar and pays 1.4 times your EI premium. On the default $90,000 income that is roughly $5,939 of employer-side cost that never shows on your pay stub. The calculator prints the match line whenever you select employee.

What Canadians search about this

Answered plainly. Browse every question in the Canadian tax answers directory.

For the 2025 tax year the filing and payment deadline is 30 April 2026. If you or your spouse were self-employed, the filing deadline moves to 15 June 2026, but any balance owing is still due 30 April 2026. Interest starts the day after the payment deadline, and a late-filing penalty applies on top when a return with a balance owing is filed late. File on time even with nothing owing, because income-tested benefits are recalculated from the filed return.
A refund is the tax already paid minus the tax actually owed. Add the income tax withheld on your slips to any instalments you paid, work out tax payable on your total income after deductions and credits, and the difference comes back if the first figure is larger. Large refunds usually trace to over-withholding on employment income, RRSP contributions, or credits transferred to you. Run the numbers through the CRA's or a commercial estimator before you file.
Sign in to CRA My Account and open the tax returns section, where you can view and print your assessed T1 return and notices of assessment for past years. If you have not registered, you set up My Account using your social insurance number, date of birth and an amount from a recent return, or you sign in through a participating bank. A representative can pull the same records once you authorise them, usually with an AUT-01.
There is no single figure. Most provinces charge land transfer tax on the purchase price using a graduated scale, so the amount rises with the price, and Toronto adds a second municipal tax on top. Alberta and Saskatchewan charge registration fees instead of a transfer tax. Some provinces add rates for non-resident buyers and offer first-time buyer rebates. Check your province's land transfer tax page and your lawyer's statement of adjustments for the exact amount.
Tax evasion is a criminal offence, prosecuted separately from an ordinary reassessment. On conviction a court can impose a fine set as a share of the tax evaded and, in serious cases, imprisonment, and the tax, interest and civil penalties remain owing on top. The CRA can also apply a gross negligence penalty for a false statement without any prosecution. Correcting a past return before the CRA contacts you can reduce or avoid penalties through the Voluntary Disclosures Program.
File on time anyway. The late-filing penalty is charged on the balance owing and costs far more than interest alone, so filing protects you even when you cannot pay a cent. Then pay what you can and call the CRA to arrange payments based on your income and expenses; interest keeps running while you pay it down. Where penalties or interest arose from serious illness, a disaster or a CRA error, ask for taxpayer relief on an RC4288.
Udit Gupta, founder of Tax Filings Canada

Rates and method reviewed by Udit Gupta

Ex Big 4 — Ernst & Young, Deloitte · International & cross-border tax specialist · CPA Canada (In-Depth Tax Program) · Chartered accountant, ICAI & MIA

Udit Gupta has over 15 years of experience helping corporations and business owners with corporate structuring, corporate tax filing, bookkeeping, payroll, GST/HST, cross-border tax and CRA representation. He is Big 4 trained, at Ernst & Young and Deloitte, and qualified as a chartered accountant in India and again in Malaysia. In 2014 he founded his accounting practice to serve entrepreneurs, startups and non-resident business owners across Canada. View full member bio.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India — member 521458 · Malaysian Institute of Accountants — member CA 44667 · Ex Big 4: Ernst & Young, Deloitte · CPA Canada (In-Depth Tax Program), completed 19 Dec 2023 · In-Depth GST/HST Part I, 12 Jul 2022 · Part II, 5 Jul 2023

Editorial policy. Every page is researched against primary sources — the Income Tax Act, CRA publications and CPA Canada guidance — and every rate or threshold is stated with the tax year it applies to.

Sources. CRA — Businesses · Income Tax Act (Justice Laws Website)

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