True cost of an employee
A salary is not what an employee costs. Add the employer contributions — pension plan, employment insurance, payroll taxes, workers’ compensation — and see the real cost, by the year and by the hour, in your province.
CNESST, WSIB, WorkSafeBC… specific to your classification unit. 1% is a starting value, not an official average.
2,080 hrs = 40 hours a week, 52 weeks.
Real cost to the employer
an hour — above the salary
- Gross salary
- EI Employment Insurance,
- QPIP Parental insurance
- Workers’ compensation At your own rate
- Total contributions
Statutory rates for 2026. Excludes payroll taxes above the exemption thresholds, and any group insurance, pension, equipment or training you provide: the figure is a floor. Worked out in your browser; nothing is sent or stored.
The 2026 employer rates, province by province
| Province or territory | Pension plan | EI | Payroll tax |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quebec | QPP 6.30 % | 1.82 % | 1.65 % from dollar one |
| Ontario | CPP 5.95 % | 2.28 % | 1.95 % above $1,000,000 |
| British Columbia | CPP 5.95 % | 2.28 % | 1.95 % above $1,000,000 |
| Manitoba | CPP 5.95 % | 2.28 % | 4.30 % above $2,250,000 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | CPP 5.95 % | 2.28 % | 2.00 % above $2,000,000 |
| Alberta | CPP 5.95 % | 2.28 % | — |
| Saskatchewan | CPP 5.95 % | 2.28 % | — |
| Nova Scotia | CPP 5.95 % | 2.28 % | — |
| New Brunswick | CPP 5.95 % | 2.28 % | — |
| Prince Edward Island | CPP 5.95 % | 2.28 % | — |
| Yukon | CPP 5.95 % | 2.28 % | — |
| Northwest Territories | CPP 5.95 % | 2.28 % | — |
| Nunavut | CPP 5.95 % | 2.28 % | — |
Quebec is the only province where a small employer pays a payroll tax from the first dollar: the Health Services Fund has no exemption, while elsewhere the first million — and up to $2.25M in Manitoba — is exempt. That, along with QPP and QPIP, is what explains the roughly two-point gap between Quebec and Ontario.
Workers’ compensation premiums (CNESST, WSIB, WorkSafeBC and their counterparts) are not in the table: they are set per classification unit and range from cents to several dollars per $100. Publishing an average would mislead, so the page asks for yours.
Frequently asked
At minimum the pension plan (CPP, or QPP in Quebec) and Employment Insurance, plus your province’s workers’ compensation premium. Five provinces add a payroll tax on top. On a $65,000 salary with a 1% premium, that comes to roughly 9% of gross in Ontario and roughly 11% in Quebec.
Three gaps stack up: QPP is 6.30% against CPP’s 5.95%, QPIP adds 0.602%, and above all the Health Services Fund applies from the first dollar of payroll. Everywhere else, payroll taxes exempt the first million or more, so a small employer pays none.
Because QPIP covers parental benefits, which EI covers elsewhere in the country. Quebec employers pay a reduced EI rate — 1.82% against 2.28% — but contribute to QPIP on top of it.
No, which is why this page asks for it rather than assuming it. The premium — CNESST, WSIB, WorkSafeBC depending on the province — is set per classification unit: an office and a roofing crew are nowhere near each other. Your exact rate is on your assessment notice.
Payroll taxes above the exemption thresholds, Quebec’s labour standards contribution, and anything you choose to offer: group insurance, a pension plan, leave beyond the minimum, equipment, training. The figure is a floor, not a ceiling.
No. Everything is worked out in your browser. Nothing is sent, stored or tracked.
That hourly figure is useful elsewhere
It is the loaded rate — the one to use when pricing a meeting, a project or a quote. Most people plug in the salary instead, and understate by roughly 10%.