Key facts at a glance
Combined 2026 max
$5,769.52
Base CPP + CPP2 + EI, employee side
CPP2 ceiling (YAMPE)
$85,000
4.00% between $74,600 and $85,000
EI ceiling (MIE)
$68,900
1.63%, maxes out first for most
Here's the short version: once your year-to-date earnings hit the federal caps for CPP, CPP2, and EI, your employer's payroll system stops withholding each one, and your net pay goes up for the rest of the year. Base CPP stops after $4,230.45 has been deducted (at $74,600 of cumulative earnings), CPP2 stops after $416.00 (at $85,000), and EI stops after $1,123.07 (at $68,900 of insurable earnings). Combined, that's $5,769.52 in employee-side deductions that simply disappear from your pay stub once you've paid your share for the year.
None of this is a bonus, a raise, or a payroll mistake. It's the same thing happening to anyone earning above roughly $75,000 in Ontario (or anywhere else in Canada, since CPP, CPP2, and EI are federal, not provincial): you finish contributing for the year before the calendar year finishes, and your take-home pay reflects that for however many pay periods remain.
Find your exact max-out pay period for your own salary and pay frequency.
Open the CPP & EI Max-Out CalculatorHow the caps actually work, deduction by deduction
Base CPP charges 5.95% on earnings between a $3,500 basic exemption and the Year's Maximum Pensionable Earnings (YMPE), $74,600 for 2026. Once your cumulative YTD earnings for the year clear that $74,600 line, you've contributed the full $4,230.45 and base CPP stops being deducted, full stop, until January.
CPP2 is the newer second tier, phased in from 2024 as part of the CPP enhancement, and it only applies to earnings between that $74,600 YMPE and a second, higher ceiling, the Year's Additional Maximum Pensionable Earnings (YAMPE), $85,000 for 2026, at 4.00%. If your salary never reaches $74,600 in a given year, you'll never see a CPP2 line at all. If it does, CPP2 starts accumulating right where base CPP stopped, and maxes out at $416.00 once you've cleared the $85,000 YAMPE.
EI runs on a completely separate mechanic: 1.63% on insurable earnings up to the Maximum Insurable Earnings (MIE), $68,900 for 2026, capping at $1,123.07. Because $68,900 is lower than CPP's $74,600 YMPE, EI is almost always the first of the three to max out for anyone earning comfortably above $75,000, Service Canada administers all three, but they're tracked and capped completely independently of each other.
When each deduction maxes out, by salary tier
Figures below assume biweekly pay (26 pay periods a year), even earnings across every period, one employer for the whole year, and no mid-year hire, bonus spike, or unpaid leave. A bonus paid in a single period, a raise partway through the year, or starting a new job mid-year will all shift these dates, usually earlier for a bonus, later for a mid-year start. Dates are approximate, based on the pay period number converted to a calendar date starting January 1st.
| Annual salary | EI maxes out | Base CPP maxes out | CPP2 maxes out |
|---|---|---|---|
| $90,000 | Period 20 (~Oct 8) | Period 22 (~Nov 5) | Period 25 (~Dec 17) |
| $120,000 | Period 15 (~Jul 30) | Period 17 (~Aug 27) | Period 19 (~Sep 24) |
| $180,000 | Period 10 (~May 21) | Period 11 (~Jun 4) | Period 13 (~Jul 2) |
| $250,000 | Period 8 (~Apr 23) | Period 8 (~Apr 23) | Period 9 (~May 7) |
At $250,000, EI and base CPP max out in the very same pay period, since both cumulative thresholds get crossed within that one biweekly cheque. Run your own exact salary and pay frequency through the CPP & EI Max-Out Calculator for a precise period and take-home bump.
Change jobs mid-year and your withholding resets to zero
This is the part almost nobody warns you about. Each employer's payroll system tracks your CPP, CPP2, and EI year-to-date totals independently, there's no shared system where your new employer can see what your old employer already withheld. If you leave a job in, say, September, having already earned close to or past the caps there, and start a new job the same month, the new employer starts deducting CPP, CPP2, and EI from zero all over again on your very first pay cheque.
The practical result: you can end up with more than the $5,769.52 annual maximum deducted across your two employers combined for the year. This is genuinely common for anyone who switches jobs mid-year in a role paying above roughly $75,000, and it isn't something you can opt out of or ask either payroll department to fix in real time, since each one is only responsible for what it withheld itself.
The good news: it's fully recoverable at tax time
Any CPP, CPP2, or EI you overpaid across two or more employers gets refunded to you automatically as a credit when you file your T1 personal tax return the following spring. The CRA sees both T4 slips, calculates the overpayment for you, and applies it as a credit against what you owe, or adds it to your refund. You don't need to file anything extra or contact Service Canada directly, though it's worth double-checking your Notice of Assessment to confirm the credit actually landed.
And remember, every one of these caps resets on January 1st. Whatever extra take-home you're seeing in November or December, budget it as a temporary bump, not a new normal, because deductions start from zero again on your first pay cheque of the new year.
Know exactly which pay cheque your deductions stop
Enter your salary and pay frequency to see the exact period each of CPP, CPP2, and EI maxes out, and how much your take-home rises for the rest of the year.
Open the CPP & EI Max-Out CalculatorMonthly briefing
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Frequently asked questions
Why did my paycheque suddenly go up partway through the year?
Almost certainly because one or more of CPP, CPP2, or EI just hit its annual maximum and your employer's payroll system stopped withholding it. Each of the three deductions has its own separate ceiling: base CPP caps at $4,230.45 for 2026, CPP2 caps at $416.00, and EI caps at $1,123.07, for a combined $5,769.52. Once your year-to-date earnings push past the underlying threshold for each one, that specific line disappears from your pay stub for the rest of the year, and your net pay jumps by exactly that deduction's per-period amount. No raise happened, no error happened, you simply finished paying for the year.
What is CPP2 and why is it separate from regular CPP?
CPP2 is the second, additional tier of Canada Pension Plan contributions introduced as part of the CPP enhancement that started phasing in from 2019, with this specific second tier arriving in 2024. It only applies to earnings between the Year's Maximum Pensionable Earnings (YMPE, $74,600 for 2026) and a second, higher ceiling called the Year's Additional Maximum Pensionable Earnings (YAMPE, $85,000 for 2026), charged at 4.00%. If your salary is under roughly $75,000 you will never see a CPP2 line at all. Above that, it stacks on top of base CPP's 5.95%, and it maxes out separately, usually a few pay periods after base CPP does, since it only starts accumulating once your YTD earnings clear the YMPE.
Does EI or CPP max out first?
For most salaries above roughly $75,000, EI maxes out first. EI's Maximum Insurable Earnings for 2026 is $68,900, lower than CPP's $74,600 YMPE, so you reach EI's ceiling on fewer cumulative dollars earned. Base CPP maxes out next, and CPP2 (for anyone earning past $85,000) maxes out last, since it only starts building after you've already cleared the YMPE. On a biweekly $120,000 salary, for example, EI stops around period 15, base CPP around period 17, and CPP2 around period 19, roughly a month between each.
What happens if I switch jobs mid-year?
Your CPP, CPP2, and EI withholding restarts from zero with the new employer. Payroll systems track year-to-date contributions per employer, not across employers, and there's no shared federal registry your old and new employer both check before deducting. If you earned close to (or past) the caps at your old job before you left, and your new employer starts withholding fresh from day one, you can end up with more than the annual maximum deducted across both employers combined for the year. This is genuinely common for anyone who changes jobs mid-year in a role paying above roughly $75,000.
If I overpay CPP or EI across two employers, do I get that money back?
Yes, and this is worth knowing before it happens rather than after. Any CPP, CPP2, or EI you overpaid across employers beyond the annual maximum is refunded to you as a credit when you file your T1 personal tax return the following spring; the CRA calculates the overpayment automatically once it sees your total T4 slips from both employers. You don't need to apply separately or chase Service Canada for it, but do check your Notice of Assessment to confirm the credit actually showed up, since it's easy to miss among the other line items.
Is the mid-year take-home increase permanent, or does it reset?
It resets every January 1st. The caps, exemptions, and rates all apply per calendar year, so the moment the new tax year starts, CPP, CPP2, and EI withholding begins again from zero on your very first pay cheque, and your take-home pay drops back down to its normal deducted level. The higher pay you saw in November or December wasn't a raise or a permanent change, it was just the tail end of the year with fewer deductions coming off. Budget accordingly if you've gotten used to those fatter late-year pay cheques.
How is this different for self-employed people?
Self-employed workers pay both the employee and employer portions of CPP (and CPP2), since there's no separate employer to split it with, which roughly doubles the rate: 11.90% instead of 5.95% for base CPP, and 8.00% instead of 4.00% for CPP2. The dollar caps are the same YMPE ($74,600) and YAMPE ($85,000) thresholds, so a self-employed person's maximum CPP contribution for 2026 is $8,460.90 (double the employee figure), plus $832.00 for CPP2 if net self-employment income clears $85,000. Self-employed workers don't pay into EI at all unless they've opted into the special benefits program for the self-employed, and there's no employer payroll system tracking a max-out date since it's all settled through your T1 return instead of pay-period withholding.
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