Provincial and Territorial Tax in Canada
Federal tax is only half the bill. Every province and territory charges its own income tax on top, with its own brackets, rates, and credits — and the province you live in on 31 December decides which one applies to you. This guide explains how the two layers fit together, gives Ontario as a worked example, and explains why Quebec is different. It gives no advice about where to live.
Two layers of tax
Your total income tax is federal tax plus provincial or territorial tax. Each province sets its own brackets, rates, and credits. The CRA collects provincial tax for every province except Quebec, so most Canadians file one return covering both layers. Quebec files a separate provincial return with Revenu Québec.
How the two layers fit
Your federal tax is worked out from the federal brackets and the federal basic personal amount. Your provincial tax is worked out separately, from your province’s brackets and its own basic personal amount, applied to the same taxable income. The two amounts are added together for your total bill.
That is why the same income can mean different tax in different provinces. A person earning $90,000 in Alberta, Ontario, and British Columbia pays three different totals, because the provincial rates and brackets differ — and because some provinces add surtaxes or health premiums on top.
Ontario as an example
Ontario is the largest province, so it is the usual example. For 2026, Ontario’s provincial rates run from 5.05% to 13.16%, and the Ontario basic personal amount is $12,989. Ontario also has a surtax on higher provincial tax and an Ontario Health Premium.
Combined with the federal rates, the top marginal rate in Ontario is 53.53% on income above $235,675 — the Ontario top threshold. That figure is often quoted, but it applies only to the last slice of income for a high earner in Ontario, not to all income and not in any other province.
Quebec: a separate system
Quebec is the only province with its own tax agency and its own return. Quebec residents file the federal T1 with the CRA and the provincial TP-1 with Revenu Québec, and Quebec sets its own rates, brackets, and credits. Quebec residents also pay into the Quebec Pension Plan instead of the Canada Pension Plan, and pay a different EI rate — 1.30% for employees in 2026, against 1.63% outside Quebec.
Quebec also has its own sales tax, the QST, charged alongside GST. If you live in Quebec, the federal figures on this site are only half your bill, and you should check the Revenu Québec rules for the provincial half.
The other provinces and territories
Each of the other provinces and the three territories publishes its own tax table on canada.ca, with its own brackets, rates, and credits. British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and the Atlantic provinces each have their own structure, and the territories have theirs. Some provinces have no provincial sales tax (Alberta), some have a harmonised sales tax, and some have their own — but sales tax is separate from income tax, and this site covers income tax only.
Provincial credits and benefits also differ: some provinces offer their own credits for rent, property tax, or sales tax, usually claimed on the provincial part of the return. The CRA’s provincial pages list them.
Where to check your province
The province that taxes you is the one where you lived on 31 December of the tax year. If you moved during the year, that date decides it — not where you lived longest, and not where you worked.
To find your province’s rates, use the CRA’s provincial and territorial tax page on canada.ca, which links to each province’s table for the current year. Rates and thresholds change every year with indexation and budgets, so check the current year rather than relying on a figure from an earlier year.
Sources: Canada Revenue Agency, canada.ca; CRA, provincial and territorial tax; CRA, Ontario tax tables 2026.