The Tax Burden
You look at your pay stub. Nearly half is gone before you touch it. Your boss's income comes from capital gains — taxed at half the rate. The company you work for pays 15% federal tax but books profits through a subsidiary in Barbados. The road you drive to work has potholes. This is the system working as designed.
The System
The tax system is not neutral. It is a set of choices about who pays and who doesn't. Workers pay income tax on every dollar. Investors pay tax on half their gains. Corporations shift profits offshore. The result is a system where the people who do the work carry the heaviest load, and the people who own the assets carry the lightest.
Canada's top combined marginal income tax rate reaches 54% in Nova Scotia. Capital gains are taxed at a 50% inclusion rate — meaning the effective rate on investment income is roughly half the rate on wages. The proposed increase to 66.7% was cancelled by PM Carney in March 2025.
75% of TSX 60 companies have at least one subsidiary in a tax haven. Canadian corporations and wealthy individuals hold $682 billion in assets in 15 tax haven jurisdictions — a 165% increase over a decade.
Corporate tax avoidance costs Canada an estimated $15 billion per year. The Conference Board of Canada estimates the total tax gap at $47.8 billion annually. That's more than the entire federal health transfer.
Canada's federal corporate tax rate was 28% in 2000. It's 15% now. The top 1% of families hold 24% of national wealth. The bottom 40% have a median net worth of $64,150. Canada is the only G7 country with no inheritance or estate tax.
Let's hear the other side
...and see if it holds water
The 50% capital gains inclusion rate isn't a loophole — it's deliberate policy designed to encourage investment. Capital...
The Promise
There was a time when corporations paid their share. Corporate taxes funded the social programs that built the middle class. Then the rates were cut, the promises were made, and the money went elsewhere.
In the 1950s-60s, corporate tax rates were raised to fund Medicare, public education, and unemployment insurance. Corporate taxes were ~20% of federal revenue. The social contract was: corporations use public infrastructure, they help pay for it.
From the 1980s onward, corporate rates were cut in the name of 'competitiveness.' Federal rate: 28% (2000) → 21% (2007) → 18% (2010) → 15% (2012). Each cut was promised to create jobs. Corporate profits rose. Wages didn't keep pace.
In 1996, EI premiums built a $57 billion surplus. The government diverted it to general revenue. Workers paid in. The system took it.
The Reality
Workers carry the tax load. The structure ensures it. Income tax hits wages hardest. Payroll taxes are regressive. Municipal infrastructure crumbles while the corporations that use it pay less every decade.
Personal income tax now generates $163.9 billion of $223.6 billion in federal revenue. Corporate income tax contributes $50.4 billion. Workers carry the load. Corporations carry the accounting.
Payroll taxes (CPP, EI) are capped — a worker earning $68,500 pays the same absolute CPP contribution as someone earning $500,000. Above the cap, the effective rate drops to a fraction of a percent. The structure is regressive by design.
Canada's municipal infrastructure deficit is $175 billion (FCM). 40% of roads and bridges are in fair, poor, or very poor condition. Municipalities maintain 60% of Canada's essential infrastructure but receive only 8 cents of every tax dollar. Corporations use this infrastructure daily. They pay a declining share of maintaining it.
What Works
Other countries prove that higher taxes don't destroy prosperity — they build it. And the global minimum tax is a first step toward closing the offshore loopholes.
Denmark's tax-to-GDP ratio is 45.2% — highest in the OECD. Canada's is 33%. Denmark has universal healthcare, free university education, generous unemployment support, and consistently ranks among the happiest countries on Earth. Higher taxes, better lives.
The OECD Pillar Two global minimum tax (15%) came into force in Canada in 2024. It applies to multinationals with revenue over 750 million euros. First returns due June 2026. It's a floor, not a ceiling — but it's a start.
What You Can Do
The tax code is a set of choices. Different choices are possible. But only if people understand the current ones.
Follow the money. Canadians for Tax Fairness (taxfairness.ca) tracks corporate avoidance. The PBO publishes wealth distribution data. Ask your MP why capital gains are taxed at half the rate of wages. Ask why Canada is the only G7 country with no inheritance tax. The tax code is a set of choices. Different choices are possible.