Check a payroll calculation: CPP, CPP2 and EI
Calculation check · 2026 rates · updated 2026-10-10
Enter one pay and see each deduction worked step by step, the way ApexLedger works it: the CRA's formulas and 2026 rates, for employees outside Quebec. Hold it against a pay stub, or against the CRA's own calculator.
Enter the pay's earnings and the figures appear here, step by step.
The 2026 figures
| CPP rate, employee and employer | 5.95% |
|---|---|
| CPP basic exemption for the year | $3,500 |
| Maximum pensionable earnings (YMPE) | $74,600 |
| Maximum CPP for the year, each | $4,230.45 |
| CPP2 rate, on earnings from $74,600 to $85,000 | 4% |
| Maximum CPP2 for the year, each | $416.00 |
| EI rate, employee | 1.63% |
| Maximum insurable earnings | $68,900 |
| Maximum EI premium for the year, employee | $1,123.07 |
| Employer EI premium | 1.4 times the employee's, to $1,572.30 |
From the CRA: CPP contribution rates, maximums and exemptions, CPP2 rates and maximums, and EI premium rates and maximums.
How each one is worked
- CPP exemption for the pay. The year's $3,500 divided by the pay periods in the calendar year, with the third decimal dropped, not rounded: $134.61 bi-weekly, $291.66 monthly, $145.83 semi-monthly, $67.30 weekly; $129.62 in a year with 27 bi-weekly pay dates and $66.03 with 53 weekly ones.
- CPP. 5.95% of the pay's pensionable earnings above that exemption, rounded to the cent, and never more than what is left of $4,230.45 for the year. Once the year's earnings have passed $74,600, no more CPP is taken.
- CPP2. 4% of the part of the year's pensionable earnings between $74,600 and $85,000 that falls in this pay, to a maximum of $416.00.
- EI. 1.63% of the pay's insurable earnings, rounded to the cent, and never more than what is left of $1,123.07 for the year.
- Employer. The same CPP and CPP2 as the employee, and 1.4 times the EI premium.
- Vacation pay is pensionable and insurable when it is paid, not while it only accrues.
Income tax
Federal and provincial income tax on a pay is worked by the CRA's Payroll Deductions Formulas (T4127, option 1): the pay is annualized, the claim amounts from the TD1 forms and the CPP and EI credits are applied, and the year's tax is divided back over the pay periods. A bonus or retroactive pay is taxed by the CRA's bonus method. The surest check of a tax figure is the CRA's own calculator, below, with the same pay, province, claim codes and year-to-date amounts.
Check it against the CRA
- Payroll Deductions Online Calculator (PDOC): the CRA's calculator for CPP, EI and income tax on a pay.
- T4127, Payroll Deductions Formulas: the formulas themselves, with the rounding rules and the basic exemption table.
These are the CRA's general rules for 2026 for employment outside Quebec; Quebec has its own pension and parental insurance plans and is not covered here. Rates change every year. ApexLedger records and calculates what you enter and does not give payroll advice; confirm any figure you rely on with the CRA.