CPP Contribution Rates Canada 2026

The full CPP contribution rates Canada applies in 2026 — the 5.95% rate, the $74,600 ceiling, the second CPP2 contribution, the exemption for every pay period, and what each one costs you at the maximum.

Last updated: July 2026 · Canada Revenue Agency · 2026 tax year

How to Read This Table

CPP is not charged on every dollar you earn. Contributions start above the basic exemption of $3,500 and stop at the maximum pensionable earnings ceiling of $74,600 — the band between the two is your contributory earnings, and 5.95% of it is what comes off your pay over the year. Your employer pays the identical amount alongside you; that employer half never comes out of your pocket. Above $74,600 a separate 4% contribution called CPP2 applies, on earnings up to $85,000 only. If you are self-employed you pay both halves yourself, which is why the self-employed maximum is exactly double the employee maximum.

CPP Contribution Rates 2026

The basic exemption has stayed at $3,500 in every year shown. The rate climbed from 4.95% in 2018 to 5.95% in 2023 as the CPP enhancement phased in, and has been steady at 5.95% since — what moves now is the ceiling, which is reset every January.

CPP2 — the second contribution

Since January 2024 higher earners make a second contribution on the slice of earnings above the regular ceiling. It is charged at 4% between the maximum pensionable earnings and a higher ceiling, and it stops there — no CPP of any kind applies above $85,000 in 2026.

The exemption on each paycheque

The $3,500 exemption is annual, but your employer applies it in slices, one per pay period, so the deduction comes off evenly through the year rather than giving you a CPP-free January. The slice depends on how often you are paid.

Understanding Your CPP Contributions

Reaching the maximum is more common than people expect. Any salary at or above $74,600 produces the full $4,230.45 employee contribution, and once you cross $85,000 you have also paid the full $416 of CPP2 — a combined $4,646.45 for the year, matched dollar for dollar by your employer. Because the deduction stops once you hit the ceiling, high earners often notice their net pay jumping late in the year: nothing changed about their salary, they simply finished paying CPP for that calendar year. In January the counter resets and the deduction reappears.

Self-employment changes the arithmetic rather than the rules. There is no employer to match you, so you remit both halves — 11.90% of contributory earnings, to a maximum of $8,460.90, plus up to $832 of CPP2 — through your personal tax return rather than through payroll. The trade-off is real but not one-sided: the employer half is deductible against your income, and every dollar contributed builds the same pension entitlement an employee earns.

Two edge cases catch people out. If you hold more than one job, each employer applies the exemption and deducts independently, which can leave you over-contributing across the year — the excess comes back as a credit when you file. And if you work in Quebec, none of these numbers are yours: the Québec Pension Plan sets its own rate, and it is not the same as the CPP rate. Contributions made to either plan still count toward one combined pension, so a career split between Quebec and another province is not penalised.