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March 22, 2026 7 min read

Which Provinces Changed Their Tax Rates in 2025?

A province-by-province summary of 2025 income tax rate changes, bracket indexation updates, and notable surtax or credit adjustments across Canada.

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Provincial income tax is a major component of every Canadian’s total tax bill — often rivalling or exceeding federal tax at mid to higher incomes. For 2025, most provinces simply indexed their brackets for inflation. A few made more substantive changes. Here is the full picture.

How Provincial Indexation Works

Most provinces index their tax brackets annually to either:

  • The provincial CPI (consumer price index), or
  • The federal indexation factor (2.7% for 2025)

Indexation prevents “bracket creep” — where inflation alone pushes taxpayers into higher rates. Provinces that do not index their brackets effectively impose a real tax increase every year.


Alberta

Alberta made a genuine structural change for 2025, not just indexation: Budget 2025 introduced a new 8% tax bracket on the first $60,000 of income, effective January 1, 2025 (payroll tables updated July 1, 2025). This is Alberta’s biggest tax change in years, saving individual taxpayers up to $750.

2025 Alberta Tax Brackets:

Income RangeAlberta Rate
$0 – $60,0008%
$60,000 – $151,23410%
$151,234 – $181,48112%
$181,481 – $241,97413%
$241,974 – $362,96114%
Over $362,96115%

Alberta remains the lowest-taxed province for most income levels, partly because it has no provincial sales tax. The $60,000 threshold for the new 8% bracket will be indexed annually starting 2026, alongside the standard indexation of the other brackets.


British Columbia

BC indexes its brackets to BC CPI. The 2025 indexation was approximately 2.8%.

2025 BC Tax Brackets:

Income RangeBC Rate
$0 – $49,2795.06%
$49,279 – $98,5607.70%
$98,560 – $113,15810.50%
$113,158 – $137,40712.29%
$137,407 – $186,30614.70%
$186,306 – $259,82916.80%
Over $259,82920.50%

BC’s top rate of 20.50% (combined with 33% federal) gives BC one of the highest combined marginal rates in Canada on incomes above ~$260,000. No structural rate changes were made for 2025.


Ontario

Ontario indexes its brackets to Ontario CPI. The 2025 indexation was approximately 2.5%.

2025 Ontario Tax Brackets:

Income RangeOntario Rate
$0 – $52,8865.05%
$52,886 – $105,7759.15%
$105,775 – $150,00011.16%
$150,000 – $220,00012.16%
Over $220,00013.16%

Ontario Surtax applies to Ontario tax owing before the Ontario tax reduction:

  • 20% surtax if Ontario tax exceeds $5,710
  • 36% additional surtax if Ontario tax exceeds $7,307

The surtax thresholds are also indexed. Ontario’s surtax is unusual among provinces and can push effective provincial rates noticeably higher for incomes in the $90,000–$200,000 range.


Quebec

Quebec indexes to Quebec CPI. The 2025 indexation was approximately 2.9%.

2025 Quebec Tax Brackets:

Income RangeQuebec Rate
$0 – $53,25514%
$53,255 – $106,49519%
$106,495 – $129,59024%
Over $129,59025.75%

Quebec has the highest provincial rates in the country at upper-middle incomes. However, Quebec residents benefit from the 16.5% federal abatement, which reduces federal tax payable. Effective combined tax is more competitive than the headline rates suggest.


Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan does index its brackets and credit amounts. For 2025 it indexed at 2.7%, matching the national inflation rate, which the province put at $40.5 million in annual tax savings.

2025 Saskatchewan Tax Brackets:

Income RangeSaskatchewan Rate
$0 – $53,46310.50%
$53,463 – $152,75012.50%
Over $152,75014.50%

The rates themselves were unchanged for 2025, but the thresholds moved with indexation, and the Saskatchewan Affordability Act adds $500 a year to the basic personal, spousal, dependent-child and senior supplementary credit amounts in each of 2025 through 2028 on top of indexation. Saskatchewan’s basic personal amount for 2025 is $19,491.


Manitoba

Manitoba partially indexes its brackets. The basic personal amount was increased modestly, but the bracket thresholds themselves are largely static.

2025 Manitoba Tax Brackets:

Income RangeManitoba Rate
$0 – $47,00010.80%
$47,000 – $100,00012.75%
Over $100,00017.40%

Manitoba’s top rate of 17.40% is among the highest for mid to upper incomes. The province has been working on tax relief through increases to the basic personal amount, which was $15,780 for 2025.


Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia made two substantive changes for 2025, and they end the province’s long-standing freeze. From 1 January 2025 Nova Scotia began indexing its brackets, its basic personal amount and certain non-refundable credits to provincial inflation — the 2025 indexation rate is 3.1% — after holding the thresholds unchanged since 2013. The Financial Measures (2025) Act separately raised the basic personal amount to $11,744 for every Nova Scotian, from a base of $8,744.

2025 Nova Scotia Tax Brackets:

Income RangeNova Scotia Rate
$0 – $30,5078.79%
$30,507 – $61,01514.95%
$61,015 – $95,88316.67%
$95,883 – $154,65017.50%
Over $154,65021.00%

Nova Scotia’s top rate of 21% still makes it one of the most expensive provinces for high earners, but 2025 is the first year in over a decade in which its thresholds moved at all.


New Brunswick

New Brunswick indexes its brackets. The 2025 indexation was approximately 2.7%.

2025 New Brunswick Tax Brackets:

Income RangeNew Brunswick Rate
$0 – $51,3069.40%
$51,306 – $102,61414.00%
$102,614 – $190,06016.00%
Over $190,06019.50%

The 14.00% and 16.00% middle rates are not new for 2025 — New Brunswick cut them from 14.82% and 16.52% in 2024 — but they are the rates in force for the 2025 return.


Prince Edward Island

PEI indexes its brackets, and its basic personal amount rose to $14,650 for 2025. Note that PEI replaced its old three-bracket-plus-surtax system with a five-bracket system in 2024; the 10% surtax on provincial tax above $12,500 was abolished at the same time and does not apply for 2024 or 2025.

2025 PEI Rates:

Income RangePEI Rate
$0 – $33,3289.50%
$33,328 – $64,65613.47%
$64,656 – $105,00016.60%
$105,000 – $140,00017.62%
Over $140,00019.00%

Every rate in that table is lower than the corresponding 2024 rate, so 2025 is a genuine cut for PEI as well as an indexation year.


Newfoundland and Labrador

Newfoundland indexes its brackets to the Newfoundland and Labrador CPI.

2025 NL Tax Brackets:

Income RangeNL Rate
$0 – $44,1928.70%
$44,192 – $88,38214.50%
$88,382 – $157,79215.80%
$157,792 – $220,91017.80%
$220,910 – $282,21419.80%
$282,214 – $564,42920.80%
$564,429 – $1,128,85821.30%
Over $1,128,85821.80%

Newfoundland and Labrador runs the most brackets of any province — eight — topping out at 21.80% above $1,128,858.


Territories

Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut also maintain their own tax brackets, generally indexed annually. Combined with the lower cost of federal tax due to abatements and northern credits, territorial residents have unique tax situations. The Northwest Territories and Nunavut both have relatively flat and low provincial/territorial rates.


Key Takeaways

  • Most provinces applied routine inflation indexation for 2025 — the exception is Alberta, which added a genuinely new 8% bracket on the first $60,000 of income
  • Alberta and BC remain the provinces most Canadians compare when considering interprovincial mobility for tax purposes
  • Nova Scotia began indexing its brackets in 2025 after a freeze dating to 2013, which leaves Manitoba as the province whose thresholds are genuinely held still
  • Quebec’s federal abatement means headline provincial rates overstate the actual Quebec disadvantage for most earners
  • Provincial tax on the same $100,000 salary can vary by more than $5,000 depending on province

Sources

Primary sources

Use our calculators to apply these concepts to your own income. Tax information is for general guidance only — consult a CPA for advice specific to your situation.

Tax rates and thresholds sourced from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). Last verified for the 2025 tax year.

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