Key facts at a glance
C$70,000 ON vs A$71,400 AU
24.9% vs 18.7%
Effective deduction rate
C$150,000 ON vs A$153,000 AU
31.6% vs 26.6%
Effective deduction rate
FX rate used
C$1 = A$1.02 (early August 2026)
Point-in-time, early Aug 2026
Here is the answer before the mechanics: at an equivalent converted salary, Australia take-home pay beats Ontario, Canada take-home pay at every level we checked. A C$70,000 Ontario salary nets C$4,378 a month after federal tax, Ontario tax, the Ontario surtax, the Ontario Health Premium, CPP, CPP2, and EI. Converted at roughly C$1 = A$1.02, that is A$71,400, which nets A$4,836 a month in Australia after Income Tax and the Medicare Levy, equal to around C$4,741 a month once converted back. At C$110,000/A$112,200 it is C$6,626 vs an AUD-equivalent C$7,008, and at C$150,000/A$153,000 it is C$8,546 vs C$9,172. The gap grows in dollar terms as income rises.
This matters directly to anyone weighing up a move either way: a tech worker in Toronto eyeing a Sydney or Melbourne role, or the reverse, an Australian professional getting a Canadian offer. But the headline take-home number is only half the picture. CPP and Australia's Super Guarantee behave in genuinely different ways once you factor them in, and getting that distinction wrong is the single most common mistake people make comparing a Canadian offer to an Australian one. And these Canadian figures are scoped to Ontario specifically, other provinces will differ.
Run your own Canada or Australia offer through both calculators.
Open the Canada calculatorWhy the gap exists: two different payslip structures
An Ontario payslip stacks two full progressive tax systems on top of each other. Federal tax runs 14%/20.5%/26%/29%/33% through five brackets, and Ontario's own provincial brackets run 5.05%/9.15%/11.16%/12.16%/13.16% on top of that, each with its own Basic Personal Amount credit. Ontario then layers on a surtax (an extra 20% of Ontario tax once it crosses $5,818, and a further 36% once it crosses $7,307, so the two tiers stack to a 56% marginal surtax rate above that point) and the Ontario Health Premium, an income-tested annual charge that steps up from $0 to a $900 cap as taxable income rises. On top of all of that comes CPP (5.95% up to the $74,600 Year's Maximum Pensionable Earnings, plus CPP2 at 4% up to $85,000) and EI (1.63% up to $68,900), both deducted straight from gross pay.
An Australian payslip is comparatively simpler and federal-only: there is no state or territory income tax anywhere in Australia. Gross pay runs through an $18,200 tax-free threshold, then the ATO's resident brackets at 15%/30%/37%/45%, then a flat 2% Medicare Levy. That is the entire deduction stack, no surtax, no provincial layer, no separate health premium. Fewer moving parts, and at every salary point we checked, a lower total bill, even though Australia's top marginal rate (45%, from $190,000) is actually higher than Ontario's combined federal-plus-provincial top rate.
The FX rate is the other variable that changes everything and gets checked least often. We used approximately C$1 = A$1.02, a snapshot from early August 2026, to convert the CAD gross figures into an AUD equivalent for a like-for-like comparison. CAD/AUD is not fixed, so a real comparison built around an actual job offer should always use a live rate at the time of the decision, not a number published in an article.
Ontario vs Australia take-home, three salary points
Converted at C$1 = A$1.02 (early August 2026). CA net assumes an Ontario resident with CPP, CPP2, and EI deducted. The final column converts AU net pay back to CAD at the same rate, for direct comparison.
| CA gross (ON) | AU equiv gross | CA net/mo | AU net/mo | AU net in CAD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C$70,000 | A$71,400 | C$4,378/mo | A$4,836/mo | ≈C$4,741/mo |
| C$110,000 | A$112,200 | C$6,626/mo | A$7,148/mo | ≈C$7,008/mo |
| C$150,000 | A$153,000 | C$8,546/mo | A$9,355/mo | ≈C$9,172/mo |
CA net figures from the Canada Salary Calculator (2026 federal + Ontario rates, CPP/CPP2/EI). AU net figures from the Australia Salary Calculator (2026-27 ATO rates). Effective deduction rates: 24.9% / 27.7% / 31.6% for Ontario, 18.7% / 23.6% / 26.6% for Australia, at the three salary points above.
CPP vs Super: structurally different retirement systems
This is the part most cross-border comparisons get wrong, and it is exactly why the net-pay numbers above already look the way they do. The Canada Pension Plan is a genuine, mandatory payroll deduction. Both employee and employer contribute: 5.95% each on pensionable earnings up to the $74,600 Year's Maximum Pensionable Earnings, plus a second CPP2 tier at 4% each up to $85,000. Your share comes directly off your gross pay, exactly like income tax does, and it is fully reflected in the Ontario net figures above. In exchange, CPP builds entitlement to a government-administered pension you draw in retirement.
Australia's Superannuation Guarantee works nothing like that. It is a 12% contribution calculated on your Ordinary Time Earnings, paid entirely by the employer, with no compulsory employee contribution at all. It is never withheld from your payslip and never reduces your take-home pay, which is exactly why the Australian net figures above are higher relative to gross pay than the Canadian ones once you strip out the tax-bracket differences. Super lands in a private super fund you (mostly) choose and control, rather than a government pension entitlement.
Put simply: CPP is a real payroll deduction funding a government pension, and it genuinely lowers Canadian take-home pay the way nothing in the Australian system does. Super is an employer-funded add-on to a private account that never touches an Australian payslip at all. Comparing the two as if they were equivalent line items is the single easiest mistake to make when sizing up a Canada-to-Australia (or reverse) offer, and it is worth remembering when a recruiter describes either figure as "on top of" or "inclusive of" your headline salary.
Two traps: the FX rate, and the province assumption
This comparison is a point-in-time snapshot at C$1 = A$1.02. CAD/AUD moves day to day, so re-check a live rate before treating any of these AUD figures as fixed, especially if you are negotiating an offer or planning a currency transfer for a relocation.
The second trap is easy to miss if you are not from Ontario: every Canadian figure in this article is Ontario-specific. Ontario's provincial brackets, its surtax, and its Health Premium do not exist in the same form in Alberta, British Columbia, or Quebec (which also runs its own separate provincial system and its own QPP instead of CPP). If your Canadian offer is outside Ontario, treat these numbers as a directional Ontario benchmark, not your actual Canada-wide take-home figure, and check your specific province's rules before comparing.
Relocation basics worth knowing before you compare offers
Australia has no state or territory income tax, so your ATO tax bill is identical whether the role is in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, or Perth. Canada is the opposite: your provincial tax bill changes meaningfully depending on where you live and work, which is exactly why this article scopes its Canadian figures to Ontario rather than implying a single Canada-wide number. On the visa side, Canada's Express Entry system (including the Federal Skilled Worker Program) is the main pathway for skilled workers, while Australia's equivalent runs through the Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482) for sponsored roles or the points-tested Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189). Check IRCC and the Department of Home Affairs respectively for current eligibility, as occupation lists and processing rules both shift over time.
Cost of living, particularly Toronto housing against Sydney or Melbourne housing, is genuinely a separate and important question, but it is out of scope for this take-home comparison. Treat the net-pay numbers above as the tax and retirement-contribution side of the equation only, and budget separately for the cost side before making a final call.
Compare your own Canada and Australia offers
Run your actual salary through both calculators, and remember that CPP is a real deduction on the Canadian side in a way Australia's super never is.
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Frequently asked questions
Does Canada or Australia tax more?
Canada, at every income level we checked, and the Ontario-specific figures here confirm it. A C$70,000 Ontario salary nets C$4,378 a month after federal tax, Ontario tax, the Ontario surtax, the Ontario Health Premium, CPP, CPP2, and EI (a 24.9% effective deduction rate). The FX-equivalent A$71,400 Australian salary nets A$4,836 a month after Income Tax and the Medicare Levy, an 18.7% effective deduction rate, and converts back to roughly C$4,741 a month. That gap widens in dollar terms as income rises: at C$150,000/A$153,000 it is C$8,546 versus an AUD-equivalent C$9,172, a difference of more than C$7,500 a year in Australia's favour.
Is CPP the same as Australian Super?
No, and this is the single most important structural difference in this whole comparison. CPP (Canada Pension Plan) is a mandatory payroll deduction: both you and your employer contribute (5.95% each up to the $74,600 Year's Maximum Pensionable Earnings, plus a second CPP2 tier at 4% up to $85,000), and your share comes straight out of your paycheque, reducing your take-home pay in a way that already shows up in the net figures above. Australia's Superannuation Guarantee works completely differently: it is a 12% contribution paid entirely by the employer into a private super fund, never deducted from your payslip, and it does not touch your take-home pay calculation at all. CPP funds a government pension you draw later; super builds a private retirement account. Both matter for retirement, but only one of them ever reduces what lands in your bank account today.
Does this comparison vary by Canadian province?
Yes, substantially, and this article is scoped to Ontario only. The CA figures above use Ontario's provincial tax brackets, Ontario's surtax (an additional charge on top of Ontario tax once it crosses certain thresholds), and the Ontario Health Premium, none of which exist in the same form in other provinces. Alberta has no provincial surtax and a flatter provincial rate structure, Quebec runs its own separate provincial tax system entirely (and opts out of CPP in favour of the QPP), and British Columbia's brackets and thresholds differ again. If you are comparing an Australian offer to a Canadian role outside Ontario, treat the CA numbers here as a reasonable Ontario benchmark, not a Canada-wide figure, and check your specific province's rules before finalising a decision.
What exchange rate should I use to compare my own offer?
Use a live rate at the time you are actually comparing offers, not the one in this article. We used approximately C$1 = A$1.02, an early August 2026 snapshot, but CAD/AUD moves, and even a small shift changes how a comparison reads at the margin. Check a live mid-market rate, xe.com or Wise are common choices, close to when you would actually be negotiating an offer or planning a transfer between the two currencies.
Does this comparison include cost of living in Toronto vs Sydney?
No, deliberately. This is a take-home pay comparison only: federal and Ontario income tax, CPP/CPP2, EI, the Ontario surtax and Health Premium on the Canadian side, and Income Tax plus the Medicare Levy on the Australian side. Sydney housing costs in particular can run meaningfully higher than Toronto for a comparable property or rental, which can offset some or all of Australia's higher net pay depending on where exactly you would live in each city. A full cost-of-living comparison deserves its own dedicated piece rather than a caveat buried in a tax article.
Which skilled-worker visa pathway applies for a move in either direction?
Canada's Express Entry system (including the Federal Skilled Worker Program) is the main pathway for skilled workers without a Canadian job offer or family connection, alongside employer-driven options like the Global Talent Stream. Australia's main equivalent is the Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482) for employer-sponsored roles, alongside the points-tested Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189) for those without a sponsor. Eligibility, processing times, and occupation lists differ meaningfully between the two systems and change over time, so check the current rules on the relevant government immigration site (IRCC for Canada, the Department of Home Affairs for Australia) for your specific occupation and circumstances before treating either pathway as a given.
Does a student loan change this comparison for either direction?
It is not included in the figures above, but it is worth accounting for separately if you are carrying one. Canadian federal and provincial student loan repayment is income-tested but not deducted directly from every paycheque the way CPP or EI is; Australia's HECS/HELP repayment, by contrast, is a compulsory marginal repayment added directly to your tax assessment once you cross an income threshold, and functions much more like an extra tax bracket layered on top of the ATO figures used here. If you are relocating to Australia with an existing HECS/HELP-style obligation, or moving to Canada with an outstanding student loan, model that extra deduction on top of the numbers shown here rather than assuming it nets out the same way in both countries.
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