Canada set a 4.75% CPP base rate for 2027, but not yet in force

By CalcHubHow these posts are writtenPublished 2026-08-22

Parliament has set the CPP base contribution rate for employees at 4.75% for 2027 and later years, down from 4.95%. The rate is in the Act; the start date is not. Bill C-30 leaves the start date to an order of the Governor in Council, and no such order was found on 22 August 2026. Until it is made, your pay stub keeps the 2026 rate, and the calculator on this site keeps computing it.

Passed for 2027-01-01, not yet in force

What changed

ItemBeforeAfterEffectiveSource
Employee base contribution rate4.95%4.75%2027-01-01Before Justice Laws — Canada Pension Plan, Schedule 1After Parliament of Canada — Bill C-30, s. 43
Combined base rate, employee and employer9.9%9.5%2027-01-01Before Justice Laws — Canada Pension Plan, Schedule 1After Parliament of Canada — Bill C-30, s. 43

Parliament passed the new rate. Section 44(2) of Bill C-30 puts it into force on a day fixed by order of the Governor in Council. No such order was found on 22 August 2026. So 2027 is the first year the rate would apply to, not a confirmed start date.

What it looks like in the calculator

Canada set a 4.75% CPP base rate for 2027, but not yet in force

What the Act actually says

Bill C-30 does two things to Schedule 1 of the Canada Pension Plan. Section 42 closes the existing row at 2026, so it now reads "2003 to 2026". Section 43 adds a new row for "2027 and each subsequent year". Its rates are 4.75 for the employee, 4.75 for the employer and 9.5 combined.

The bill received Royal Assent on 18 June 2026 and sits on the books as S.C. 2026, c. 22.

Passed is not the same as in force

Section 44(2) of the bill sends the start date to an order of the Governor in Council. It does that under section 114(4) of the Canada Pension Plan, and section 44(1) switches off subsection 114(2) for these amendments. So the year label in Schedule 1 says which years the rate covers once it starts. It does not say that the rate starts on 1 January 2027.

What it would take off a pay stub

The base rate falls by 0.20 points, from 4.95% to 4.75%. An employee pays 5.95% on the first tier in 2026. Subtract the 4.95% base and 1.00 point is left, which is the enhancement share. Bill C-30 moves the base row only, so the first tier would drop by the same 0.20 points.

The yearly difference would be 0.20% × (pensionable earnings − $3,500), up to the earnings ceiling.

Two numbers that are still missing

Nobody can put a dollar figure on a 2027 CPP deduction yet. Two ceilings decide where contributions stop, and neither is published for 2027: the Year’s Maximum Pensionable Earnings and the Year’s Additional Maximum Pensionable Earnings. The calculator here runs the 2026 pair, $74,600 and $85,000, until the 2027 figures are out. Schedule 1 sets base rates, and what the additional contribution rates do in 2027 is set elsewhere in the Act.

Who it does not reach

Quebec runs its own plan. Workers there contribute to the Quebec Pension Plan rather than CPP, so Schedule 1 does not follow them. Self-employed workers sit on the other side of the arithmetic. They pay both halves themselves, so the combined rate is the one to watch. That is the row moving from 9.9 to 9.5.

What to watch for

Two things would signal that the change has started. The order in council appears, and payroll drops the CPP line by 0.20 points on the first pay period after that. Until both happen, a stub that deducts CPP at the 2026 rate is correct.

Put your salary through the Canada take-home pay calculator to see what CPP costs you this year. Then take 0.20% of your pensionable earnings above $3,500 off that figure to see what 2027 would look like.

Sources

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