Government Spending & Taxes

— Oct 27, 2022
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Measuring Progressivity in Canada’s Tax System, 2022

Measuring Progressivity in Canada’s Tax System, 2022 finds that the top 20 per cent of income-earning families pay more than half (53 per cent) of total taxes including sales and property taxes. Conversely, the bottom 20 per cent of income-earning families pay 0.8 per cent of total taxes, due partly to the progressivity of Canada’s tax system where the share of taxes paid typically increases as incomes rise.

— Oct 20, 2022
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Population and the Fiscal Outcomes of Subnational Jurisdictions

Population and the Fiscal Outcomes of Subnational Jurisdictions is a new study that finds once a province or state exceeds a certain population size, the government’s role in the economy begins to grow.

— Oct 6, 2022
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Education Spending in Public Schools in Canada, 2022 Edition

Education Spending in Public Schools in Canada, 2022 Edition finds that despite common misperceptions, spending on public schools across Canada increased in seven out of 10 provinces between 2012-13 and 2019-20, before COVID-related spending began.

— Sep 28, 2022
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Comparing Provincial Marginal Tax Rates for Middle-Income Earners Across Canada

Comparing Provincial Marginal Tax Rates for Middle Income Earners Across Canada finds that middle-income workers in Atlantic Canada pay much higher provincial personal income tax burdens than Western Canadians earning similar amounts. In fact, whereas Atlantic Canadian workers who earn the national average income ($52,750 in 2022) face provincial personal income tax burdens ranging from $4,463 in New Brunswick to $5,318 in Nova Scotia, workers in Western Canada earning the same amount pay provincial income tax burdens of between $2,353 in British Columbia and $3,914 in Saskatchewan.

— Sep 21, 2022
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Taxes versus the Necessities of Life: The Canadian Consumer Tax Index 2022 edition

Taxes Versus the Necessities of Life: The Canadian Consumer Tax Index, 2022 Edition is a new study that finds the average Canadian family spent 43 per cent of its income on taxes in 2021 compared to 35.7 per cent on basic necessities—more than housing, food and clothing costs combined. Since 1961, the average Canadian family’s total tax bill has increased nominally by 2,440 per cent, dwarfing increases in annual housing costs (1,751 per cent), clothing (643 per cent) and food (790 per cent).

— Aug 25, 2022
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Comparing per-Person Spending and Revenue in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, 2009–2019

Comparing per-Person Spending and Revenue in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, 2009–2019 is a new study that finds across the 26 municipalities that constitute the GTHA, per person spending (adjusted for inflation) increased by 9.6 per cent between 2009 and 2019, and Toronto remained the highest spending municipality in 2019. Not surprisingly, there is a connection between high spending municipalities and high tax municipalities, as Toronto, the highest spending municipality was also the 3rd highest taxing municipality (total per person revenues adjusted for inflation) in 2019.

— Aug 18, 2022
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Adjusting for the Canada Child Benefit’s Tax-Free Status finds that the federal government has shifted the share of overall spending on child benefits away from lower-income families to middle- and upper-income families—to an even greater degree than previously thought.

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