--- title: "2026 CPP, CPP2 and EI Maximums: Payroll Figures in One Table" url: https://www.everstonecpa.com/tax-update/payroll-figures-2026 description: "Every 2026 payroll figure in one table: CPP, CPP2 and EI maximums, rates, exemptions and pensionable earnings. Check the calculation steps beside them." type: tax-update updated: 2026-10-08 summary: "For 2026 the year’s maximum pensionable earnings is $74,600 and the CPP contribution rate is 5.95%, giving a maximum contribution of $4,230.45 each for employee and employer. Second CPP contributions apply between $74,600 and $85,000." faq_count: 4 publisher: EverStone CPA Inc., a Chartered Professional Accountant firm registered with CPA British Columbia and CPA Alberta service_area: British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Manitoba language: en-CA contact: info@everstonecpa.com · https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online --- [Home](https://www.everstonecpa.com/) [Tax updates](https://www.everstonecpa.com/tax-updates) CPP and EI max 2026: $4,230.45 and $1,123.07 Payroll # Payroll figures 2026: CPP and EI max $4,230.45 and $1,123.07 By EverStone CPA · Updated August 2026 These are the numbers a 2026 pay run is built on. [The deduction calculator](https://www.everstonecpa.com/payroll-deduction-calculator) checks a single cheque against them, and [payroll we run](https://www.everstonecpa.com/payroll-services-canada) applies them for you every period. The figures on this page, in one view. **Quick answer:** For 2026 the year’s maximum pensionable earnings is $74,600 and the CPP contribution rate is 5.95%, giving a maximum contribution of $4,230.45 each for employee and employer. Second CPP contributions apply between $74,600 and $85,000. **Payroll with this year’s numbers loaded?** We run each pay with the current CPP, EI and tax tables and file the remittances and T4s, with payroll included in bookkeeping from $325 a month. [Get My Fixed Quote](https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online?service=payroll#enquiry-form) Looking ahead: see the [2027 payroll figures](https://www.everstonecpa.com/tax-update/payroll-figures-2027). ## Where we work These figures apply to every Canadian pay run outside Quebec. The practice works online, including for [Abbotsford businesses](https://www.everstonecpa.com/accountant-abbotsford), and serves [Chilliwack farms and trades](https://www.everstonecpa.com/accountant-chilliwack), [Langley owner-managed firms](https://www.everstonecpa.com/accountant-langley) and [Mission operators](https://www.everstonecpa.com/accountant-mission), across [the wider Fraser Valley](https://www.everstonecpa.com/accountant-fraser-valley), and on to [companies in Vancouver](https://www.everstonecpa.com/accountant-vancouver). **In force** · 1 January 2026 This measure is law and applies now. ## Every 2026 payroll figure, in one table Every 2026 payroll figure, in one table | Figure | 2026 | | Year’s maximum pensionable earnings (YMPE) | $74,600 | | CPP basic exemption | $3,500 | | Maximum contributory earnings | $71,100 | | CPP contribution rate | 5.95% each, employee and employer | | **Maximum CPP contribution** | **$4,230.45** each side | | Maximum CPP, self-employed | $8,460.90 | | Second ceiling for CPP2 (YAMPE) | $85,000 | | CPP2 rate, on earnings from $74,600 to $85,000 | 4.0% each side | | Maximum CPP2 contribution | $416.00 each side | | Maximum insurable earnings for EI | $68,900 — up from $65,700 | | EI premium rate, employee | $1.63 per $100 of insurable earnings | | EI premium rate, employer | $2.28 per $100 — 1.4 times the employee rate | | **Maximum EI premium, employee** | **$1,123.07** | | Maximum EI premium, employer | $1,572.30 per employee | Add CPP and CPP2 together and an employee at or above the ceiling contributes **$4,646.45** for the year, with the corporation matching it — close to $9,300 before a dollar of income tax. That combined figure is the one that belongs in the salary-versus-dividend decision, because dividends carry no CPP at all. **Free: The 2026 payroll remittance calendar** Every remittance date for the year on one printable page. No email wall — it’s just useful. [Download the PDF](https://www.everstonecpa.com/downloads/everstone-payroll-remittance-calendar.pdf) Two of the queries reaching this page name a province — “alberta cpp and ei max 2026”, “manitoba cpp and ei max 2026”. Every figure above is **federal and identical in each province and territory except Quebec**, which runs its own pension plan and its own parental insurance premium. An Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario or BC employer uses exactly these numbers. ## How it works If you have employees — including yourself, if your corporation pays you a salary — you must withhold amounts from each paycheque and send them to the CRA. Three of them matter here: Canada Pension Plan contributions, second CPP contributions, and Employment Insurance premiums. CPP works between two lines: the $3,500 basic exemption, below which nothing is due, and the year’s maximum pensionable earnings (YMPE), $74,600 for 2026. You contribute 5.95% of earnings between them, and your employer matches it. Above the YMPE a second tier begins, called CPP2. It applies to earnings between $74,600 and $85,000 for 2026. This is not a higher rate on all your income — it is a separate contribution on that band only. Employment Insurance is simpler: a premium on insurable earnings up to a ceiling, which rose from $65,700 to $68,900 for 2026. The employer pays 1.4 times the employee’s premium. **Would rather not track these figures yourself?** We run payroll with each year’s CPP, EI and tax tables already loaded, as part of bookkeeping from $325 a month. See [our payroll service](https://www.everstonecpa.com/payroll-services-canada), or [get a payroll quote](https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online?service=payroll#enquiry-form). [Get My Fixed Quote](https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online?service=payroll#enquiry-form) ## How it applies to you Every employer withholds and remits these. So does every incorporated owner-manager who pays themselves a salary — your corporation is your employer, and it owes the employer half. Owner-managers routinely overlook that employer half. At or above the ceiling, the 2026 maximum employee CPP is $4,230.45; with CPP2 it is $4,646.45, and the corporation matches it, close to $9,300 combined before income tax. Running payroll through your own corporation puts you on the other side of these rules. For the version that applies to your company, [send the question](https://www.everstonecpa.com/quick-question) and a CPA answers it, usually the same business day. That figure is why CPP belongs in the salary-versus-dividend decision rather than being filed away as a payroll detail. Dividends carry no CPP. Salary does, on both sides. ## How to calculate it To work out an employee’s CPP for the year, take it in these steps: Calculation steps | Step | Detail | | Take pensionable earnings for the year | usually gross salary | | Subtract the basic exemption | $3,500 | | Cap the result at the YMPE less the exemption | $74,600 − $3,500 = $71,100 | | Multiply by the CPP rate | 5.95% | | That is the employee’s base CPP | maximum $4,230.45 for 2026 | | If earnings exceed the YMPE, add CPP2 on the band above it | between $74,600 and $85,000 | Worked through at the ceiling: $74,600 − $3,500 = $71,100 of contributory earnings. $71,100 × 5.95% = $4,230.45. That is the employee’s base CPP maximum for 2026, and the employer pays $4,230.45 as well. With CPP2 the employee’s total reaches $4,646.45, matched again by the employer. Someone earning less than the ceiling contributes 5.95% of their earnings above $3,500, not the maximum. ## What changed Both the CPP and EI ceilings rose. EI maximum insurable earnings increased from $65,700 to $68,900. Adding CPP2, an employee at or above the ceiling contributes $4,646.45 in total CPP for 2026, and the employer matches it. ## What to do If your own corporation pays you a salary, treat CPP as a cost with two halves: the employee half comes off your paycheque, the employer half out of the company, and both leave accounts you own. CPP is not purely a cost. It buys future pension entitlement, and for many owner-managers that is worth having. The point is to make the decision knowingly rather than discovering the employer half at year-end. The rates and ceilings change every January. Anything you calculated using last year’s figures will be wrong for this year, and payroll software does not always update on schedule. **The practical point.** For an owner-manager, CPP and CPP2 are a real cost on both sides of the salary decision, since the corporation pays the employer half. They belong in the salary-versus-dividend calculation rather than being treated as a payroll detail. ## The terms used on this page YMPE The year’s maximum pensionable earnings — the ceiling for base CPP contributions. $74,600 for 2026. Basic exemption The first $3,500 of earnings, on which no CPP is due. CPP2 A second contribution on earnings between the YMPE and a higher ceiling — $74,600 to $85,000 for 2026. Insurable earnings The earnings EI premiums are charged on, up to $68,900 for 2026. ## Common questions about CPP and EI max 2026: $4,230.45 and $1,123.07 **What does an employee at the ceiling contribute in 2026?** $4,646.45 in total CPP, and the employer matches it. That is base CPP plus CPP2. **How is the base CPP maximum worked out?** Contributory earnings are $74,600 − $3,500 = $71,100. At 5.95% that is $4,230.45 — the employee’s base CPP maximum for 2026, with the employer paying $4,230.45 as well. **What if I earn less than the ceiling?** You contribute 5.95% of your earnings above $3,500, not the maximum. The basic exemption means the first $3,500 is not contributory. **Does this change the salary-versus-dividend decision?** It belongs in it. CPP and CPP2 are a real cost on both sides for an owner-manager, because the corporation pays the employer half — they are not merely a payroll detail. EI maximum insurable earnings also rose from $65,700 to $68,900. ## Where this comes from Every figure on this page is taken from the source below, not from interpretation: - [CRA — CPP contribution rates, maximums and exemptions](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/businesses/topics/payroll/payroll-deductions-contributions/canada-pension-plan-cpp/cpp-contribution-rates-maximums-exemptions.html) - [ESDC — 2026 Employment Insurance premium rate](https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/news/2025/09/canada-employment-insurance-commission-sets-the-2026-employment-insurance-premium-rate.html) - [CRA — Second additional CPP (CPP2) contribution rates and maximums](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/businesses/topics/payroll/calculating-deductions/making-deductions/second-additional-cpp-contribution-rates-maximums.html) **General information, not tax advice.** This page explains a change in general terms. It cannot account for your circumstances and does not create a professional relationship. Confirm anything that affects a decision — [send an enquiry](https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online?service=payroll#enquiry-form). 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Ask free through [the quick-question form](https://www.everstonecpa.com/quick-question); a CPA replies within one business day. Need more? A 45-minute **Advice Call** is $225 plus GST, credited to your first invoice if you become a client within 60 days. Want us to take it on? [Send an enquiry](https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online?service=payroll#enquiry-form). [Ask a Free Question](https://www.everstonecpa.com/quick-question) [Book a Paid Advice Call](https://www.everstonecpa.com/advice-call) Email info@everstonecpa.com ★★★★★ “…have been completing my bookkeeping, taxes and financials for the last 2 years and they have been amazing. Thank you!” R. H. · Google review --- Source: https://www.everstonecpa.com/tax-update/payroll-figures-2026 Prices: https://www.everstonecpa.com/pricing · Contact: info@everstonecpa.com · https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online