CPP and CPP2 contribution calculator
Enter your pensionable earnings. This splits the deduction into the base CPP band and the CPP2 band above the first ceiling, and shows what your employer or your self-employed rate adds beyond it.
Worked example — CPP you pay on $85,000: $4,646. $85,000 of employment income, employee rate: $4,230 base CPP plus $416 CPP2, both ceilings reached at this income.
Price your own CPP and CPP2
Base CPP and CPP2 are two separate deductions with two separate rules: only the base band carries the $3,500 exemption, and CPP2 stops the moment earnings clear the second ceiling. Enter your own pensionable earnings and pick employee or self-employed to see both lines.
$85,000 employee: Both bands charge: base CPP maxes out at the first ceiling and CPP2 covers the $10,400 above it.
Both lines flatten twice: once at $74,600 where base CPP maxes out, and again at $85,000 where CPP2 does too. The dashed line marks your current earnings.
Uses this year's YMPE, YAMPE, the fixed $3,500 basic exemption and the statutory CPP1/CPP2 rates. Does not model the year you turn 65 or younger, when contributions can stop or reduce, or QPP, which runs under different rules in Quebec.
How much CPP will you pay on $85,000 in 2026?
$4,646, split into $4,230 of base CPP and $416 of CPP2, as an employee. Your employer pays an identical $4,646 alongside it, which never appears on your pay stub. On $70,000 of earnings, below the first ceiling, only base CPP applies: $3,957, with CPP2 at exactly $0.
The base CPP rate is 5.95% of pensionable earnings above the $3,500 basic exemption, up to the $74,600 first ceiling. Self-employed pays both shares at 11.90%, exactly double.
What is CPP2, and why is it a second line on your pay stub?
CPP2 is a second, separate contribution on earnings between the $74,600 first ceiling (the YMPE) and the $85,000 second ceiling (the YAMPE), at 4% for an employee or 8% self-employed. It is not a higher rate applied to the whole base: the $3,500 exemption belongs to base CPP only, and CPP2 starts counting from the first dollar above the YMPE with no exemption of its own.
Below $74,600 of earnings, CPP2 is exactly zero: there is nothing in that band to charge yet. Above $85,000, it stops growing, because the band it taxes has a fixed width of $10,400 and every dollar of it is already accounted for.
Base CPP and CPP2 by income, employee and self-employed
Read across for base CPP and CPP2 as an employee, and the self-employed total, which pays both shares at double the rate on each band.
| Earnings | Employee CPP1 | Employee CPP2 | Employee total | Self-employed total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $20,000 | $982 | $0 | $982 | $1,964 |
| $40,000 | $2,172 | $0 | $2,172 | $4,344 |
| $60,000 | $3,362 | $0 | $3,362 | $6,724 |
| $70,000 | $3,957 | $0 | $3,957 | $7,914 |
| $74,600 | $4,230 | $0 | $4,230 | $8,461 |
| $85,000 | $4,230 | $416 | $4,646 | $9,293 |
| $100,000 | $4,230 | $416 | $4,646 | $9,293 |
| $130,000 | $4,230 | $416 | $4,646 | $9,293 |
At $74,600 and above, employee CPP1 holds flat at its maximum. At $85,000 and above, CPP2 does too, so total contribution stops changing entirely past that income.
Employee CPP vs self-employed CPP, same income
On the same $85,000 of pensionable earnings, an employee's own share is $4,646. Their employer pays an identical $4,646 alongside it. A self-employed person earning the same amount pays both: $9,293 in total, exactly $4,646 more than an employee sees deducted from their own pay.
Half of that self-employed total is deductible from income, the employer-equivalent half, and half is a non-refundable federal tax credit, the employee-equivalent half. They are two different tax lines, not one net figure, and worth different amounts depending on the filer's marginal rate.
This does not model the year contributions start or stop (age 18, or between 65 and 70 for someone still working and drawing CPP), the post-retirement benefit those later contributions can buy, or QPP, which runs under different rates and rules in Quebec. Next: see what those contributions are worth later with the CPP timing calculator.
Where these numbers come from
The YMPE and YAMPE are indexed and republished each November for the following year. Each was checked against a second independent source on 2026-08-08. The $3,500 basic exemption and the four CPP1/CPP2 rates are fixed by statute and not indexed.
- CRA - CPP contribution rates, maximums and exemptions YMPE, YAMPE, the basic exemption, and the CPP1 and CPP2 rates and maximums for 2026
- Investment Executive - CRA announces CPP maximum pensionable earnings for 2026 independent confirmation of the 2026 CPP ceilings, rates and contribution maximums
This is general publishing, not tax advice, and it does not know your circumstances. Your own contribution record is on your CRA notice of assessment and in My Account, which is the number that governs.
The next question after this one
CPP timing calculatorCalculatorOnce this year's contribution is settled, the next question is when to start drawing on the record it builds: the age that maximizes the total.Open nextOther questions
- CPP survivor benefit calculatorCalculatorWhat a spouse or survivor could draw from the same contribution record, capped by a rule that is not a simple sum.
- RRSP vs TFSA calculatorCalculatorA self-employed contributor also gets a CPP deduction from income; this prices the other registered-account decision on the same paycheque.
All 130 calculatorsHow JMM sources and checks its numbersWhat stays free, and what early access would add
What Pro adds here
QPP for Quebec residents, the post-retirement benefit those later contributions buy, and the age-18 and age-65-to-70 edges this calculator does not model yet. The launch list sends one email at launch.