2011 Payroll Costs Hike

According to an annual study of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, every worker in Canada will pay more taxes, an average increase of 2% in 2011 over 2010. Ontario residents will see the sharpest payroll tax hike (4.3%) followed by British Columbia and Nova Scotia (both at 2.9%). While those three provinces will be particularly hard hit, the study said the working poor, regardless of region, will be seriously affected.

Nationally, the culprit is Employment Insurance (EI). The federal government has created new social programs funded through EI premiums. Most of these programs have little, if anything at all, to do with employment insurance as the words should literally mean.

B.C. has been in the midst of a tax uproar since 2009, when the provincial Liberal government announced it would implement the harmonized sales tax (HST) in July 2010. The fate of the HST, which has forced British Columbians to pay an extra 7% on some goods and services, will be decided in a referendum in 2011.

Before he announced he was stepping down as leader, Premier Gordon Campbell promised a 15% personal income tax cut. The B.C. Liberals scrapped the plan soon after alleging that Campbell's successor needs to leave all options open.

Part of B.C.’s payroll tax increase can be attributed to a hike in medical insurance premiums. Nationally, increases in EI and CPP thresholds mean anyone earning more than $44,200 will pay an additional $76, while employers pay an additional $110 in payroll taxes.

           

           

           

[This page was added on December 30, 2010 and last revised on December 30, 2010.]