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CPP and EI employer cost
calculator (Canada)

Work out your 2026 employer CPP, CPP2 and EI premiums, including the Quebec QPP and QPIP path.

Your numbers

Employer CPP and EI
 
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What are the 2026 CPP rates and maximums?

The employer rate is 5.95% on pensionable earnings between $3,500 and $74,600, a maximum of $4,230.45. CPP2 adds 4% on earnings between $74,600 and $85,000, up to $416.

How we calculated this

The calculator works out each employer contribution for calendar 2026 and adds them. Outside Quebec: CPP at 5.95% of pensionable earnings between the $3,500 basic exemption and $74,600, CPP2 at 4% on earnings between $74,600 and $85,000, and EI at 1.4 times the employee premium of 1.63% on insurable earnings up to $68,900. In Quebec: QPP at 6.30% on the same band, QPP2 at 4%, EI at 1.4 times the Quebec employee rate of 1.30%, and QPIP at 0.602% on earnings up to $103,000. Each line is capped at its own annual maximum before the total is struck. The working and the sources are below.

New to the term? Read the plain-English definition of CPP and EI contributions in the HR Glossary.

Your working
Assumptions
  • Uses calendar 2026 rates and maximums: employer CPP $4,230.45, CPP2 $416, EI $1,572.30 outside Quebec; QPP $4,479.30, QPP2 $416, EI $1,253.98, QPIP $620.06 in Quebec. All reset on 1 January.
  • Treats the maximums as per employer, which is how the CRA applies them. An employee with two jobs generates two full sets of employer contributions, and a mid-year hire starts the exemption and the maximum again with you.
  • Uses the standard EI multiplier of 1.4. Employers with a qualifying short-term disability plan can get a lower multiplier through the EI Premium Reduction Program, so their EI line is lower than shown.
  • Covers CPP, CPP2, EI and (in Quebec) QPIP only. Employer health taxes, workers' compensation premiums, group benefits and any pension plan you offer sit on top.
Sources

What to do about it

These premiums are the fixed price of having someone on payroll in Canada. What is not fixed is how long they stay and what they contribute while they are here. These steps are for whoever runs payroll or the headcount plan, whether or not they own the hiring decision.

1

Reset the ceilings on 1 January, every year

CPP, CPP2, EI and QPIP maximums all change with the calendar year, and a payroll still running last year's ceilings over- or under-remits by the second quarter. Put the new figures in the payroll calendar and check the first January run against the CRA tables.

2

Track province of employment, not province of residence

The Quebec rules follow where the employee reports to work. Remote and hybrid staff who move provinces mid-year change the plan they belong to, and the paperwork with it. Note the province of employment against each record and review it when someone relocates.

3

Show employees the employer share

Most people see the CPP and EI deductions leave their pay and never see the employer's contribution arrive. Put it in dollars on the payslip and in the offer letter. It is part of what you pay them, and invisible pay does no retention work.

4
Where a tool helps

Ask what the contributions bought

For each team, put average tenure next to the CPP and EI you paid last year. Where people leave inside two years, the contribution went to someone else's pension. That is a fit or an engagement problem, and it is where the money is being lost.

The premium is payroll.
The exit is people.

Compono is a talent intelligence platform: an applicant tracking system and an employee engagement platform built on the same people data. Payroll systems remit CPP and EI perfectly and have nothing to say about whether the person will still be here next year.

Compono reads fit before you make the offer, so the seat is filled by someone who suits the team, and reads engagement and culture while people are on the payroll, so drift is visible before it becomes a resignation. Step 4 asks what the contributions bought you. Compono is the people data that answers it.

See how it works
Compono
$34M
saved by VicRoads over two years

Common questions

What is the employer EI premium for 2026?

1.4 times the employee rate. Outside Quebec that is 1.4 times 1.63% on insurable earnings up to $68,900, a maximum of $1,572.30. In Quebec the employee rate is 1.30%, giving a maximum of $1,253.98.

What is QPIP?

The Quebec Parental Insurance Plan. Quebec employers pay 0.602% on earnings up to $103,000, a maximum of $620.06. It is why Quebec's EI rate is lower than the rest of Canada.

Are the maximums per employee or per employer?

Per employer. An employee with two jobs generates two full sets of employer contributions, because each employer starts the exemption and the maximum again.

This page is general information, not legal advice. We check figures annually and update them on a best-efforts basis, but employment rules change and we cannot promise everything here is current or complete. Before you act on it, confirm the detail with your provincial employment standards office or your own adviser. Last reviewed July 2026.

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CPP and EI contributions

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