Retirement Income Tax Calculator by Province

Your marginal rate is the tax you'd pay on the next dollar of income — it's the rate of the bracket you're currently in. Your average rate is your total tax divided by your total income. In a progressive system the average is always lower than the marginal. For retirement planning, the marginal rate is what matters when deciding whether to take an extra dollar of income (e.g., a larger RRIF withdrawal); the average rate tells you how much of your overall income goes to tax.

Each province sets its own income tax brackets, rates, and basic personal amount, and a few have additional levies — Ontario has a surtax on higher provincial tax, Quebec has its own separate system, and some provinces have health premiums. Two retirees with identical incomes can owe noticeably different total tax depending on where they live. This calculator shows the federal and provincial portions separately so you can see where the difference comes from.

It’s the slice of income everyone can earn before paying federal or provincial income tax. It works as a non-refundable credit at the lowest tax rate of each level — federal and provincial each have their own BPA. The federal BPA for 2025 is about $16,129; provincial BPAs vary (e.g., $12,747 in Ontario, $22,323 in Alberta). This calculator applies both credits, which makes the estimate noticeably more accurate than calculators that don’t. See CRA: Line 30000 Basic personal amount.

It’s a non-refundable credit on up to $2,000 of eligible pension income — worth about $300 of federal tax savings if you have at least $2,000 of qualifying income. RRIF and LIF withdrawals start to qualify at age 65; employer (defined benefit) pension qualifies at any age. A common strategy is to convert just enough of an RRSP to a RRIF at 65 to draw $2,000/year and claim this credit. This calculator does NOT apply the credit, so treat it as a potential extra benefit on top of your estimate here. See CRA: Line 31400 Pension income amount.

Federal seniors 65 and older can claim the age amount — another non-refundable credit (about $9,028 of credit base for 2025) that’s reduced as net income rises above roughly $44,325 and is fully eliminated around $103,108. Provinces have their own equivalent age credits with different thresholds. This calculator does not apply the age credit, so a 65+ filer’s actual tax may be lower than the estimate here. See CRA: Line 30100 Age amount.

RRIF, LIF, RRSP, CPP, OAS, and pension income are 'fully taxable' — every dollar counts as income at your marginal rate. Eligible dividends from Canadian corporations are 'grossed up' and qualify for the dividend tax credit, so the effective rate is lower. Capital gains have only 50% of the gain included in taxable income (for typical investors), so half the gain is tax-free. This calculator uses fully-taxable income only and doesn't model dividends or capital gains.

This is a directional estimate, not a tax return. It excludes: the age and pension income credits, other provincial credits and surtaxes (except Ontario's, which is included), dividend tax treatment, capital gains inclusion, employment insurance and CPP premiums, the Quebec separate tax system, and any income-tested clawbacks beyond OAS. For an exact figure use tax software or a professional. Use this calculator to compare scenarios — the relative differences are reliable even when the absolute amount needs refinement.

If your net income exceeds the OAS recovery threshold (about $93,454 for the 2025 income year), you pay back 15 cents of OAS for every dollar over it. That's effectively an extra 15% marginal tax band for OAS recipients between the threshold and full recovery. This calculator estimates regular income tax only — for a clawback view, use our OAS Clawback Calculator.