TaxLoonie

First year in Canada · 2026 tax year · Rates verified October 20, 2026

Newcomer Tax Calculator 2026

Moved to Canada in 2026? Enter your arrival date and pay to see what your first return will look like: your prorated credits, your tax for the year, and whether you’re likely to get a refund.

Tuition, other income, slips

Annual pay $65,000; 179 days worked in 2026.

Example: arrived June 15, job from July 6 at $65,000 a year

You may get a refund of about $755.

Income in Canada, 2026$31,877179 days of work
Income tax for 2026$4,120federal + Ontario
Tax your employer likely deducted$4,769estimate

Because you became a resident on June 15, 2026, your personal amounts are cut to 54.8% of the full-year amount. That adds about $1,338 of tax compared with someone who lived here all year and earned the same $31,877.

Breakdown

Resident from June 15, 2026200 of 365 days
Employment income since starting work$31,876.71
Federal basic personal amount (54.8% of $16,452)$9,014.79
Ontario basic personal amount (54.8% of $12,989)$7,117.26
Federal tax$2,681.41
Ontario tax$1,438.85
Includes Ontario Health Premium$300.00
CPP you owe for the year$1,688.41
EI you owe for the year$519.59
Income tax your employer likely deducted$4,769.49
CPP overpaid, refunded at filing+$106.13
Estimated refund$755.36

Your actual refund depends on the tax shown on your T4 slips. Add them under “Tuition, other income, slips” once you have them.

How your first Canadian tax return works

  • You become a resident for tax purposes on the day you settle in Canada. From then on, you report your income from all countries.
  • Income you earned abroad before that date is not taxed in Canada.
  • You pay provincial tax to the province or territory where you live on December 31.
  • Your basic personal amount and similar credits are reduced to the share of the year you were resident. CPP, EI, the Canada employment amount and tuition are not reduced.
  • Tax brackets are not reduced, so your first-year income is usually taxed at low rates.

Worked example

Priya moves to Ontario on June 15, 2026 and starts a job paying $65,000 a year on July 6, 2026.

  1. Income. She works 179 days of 2026, so she earns about $31,876.71. Income she earned abroad before June 15 is not taxed in Canada.
  2. Personal amounts. She is resident for 200 of 365 days, so her federal basic personal amount is $9,014.79 instead of $16,452, and her Ontario amount is $7,117.26 instead of $12,989. Her CPP, EI and Canada employment amount credits are not reduced.
  3. Tax for the year. Federal tax is $2,681.41 and Ontario tax is $1,438.85, a total of $4,120.26.
  4. What her employer deducted. Payroll assumes her $65,000 salary runs all year, so it deducts about $4,769.49 in income tax over her 179 days. It also spreads the $3,500 CPP exemption across the whole year, so she overpays about $106.13 of CPP.
  5. Result. She can expect a refund of about $755.36 when she files her 2026 return by April 30, 2027.

Your first-year checklist

  1. Get your Social Insurance Number (SIN) from Service Canada. You need it to work and to file.
  2. Apply for benefits now, before your first return. Send Form RC151 for the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit, which replaced the GST/HST credit in July 2026. For 2026–27 it pays up to $679 for a single person, $890 for a couple and $234 per child, every January, April, July and October. If you have children, apply for the Canada child benefit with Form RC66. Most provincial benefits, such as the Ontario Trillium Benefit, come through the same applications. Estimate them with the Groceries and Essentials Benefit calculator and the Ontario Trillium Benefit calculator.
  3. Keep your slips. Your employer issues a T4 by the end of February 2027. Students get a T2202 for tuition.
  4. File your 2026 return by April 30, 2027, including your date of entry and your world income for the part of the year after you arrived. Self-employed people have until June 15, 2027 to file but must pay by April 30.
  5. File every year, even with no income, to keep benefits coming and build RRSP room.

What this calculator includes

It uses the same 2026 engine as our income tax calculators: federal and provincial brackets, prorated personal amounts, CPP or QPP, EI, the federal tuition credit with carry-forward, and each province’s surtaxes, premiums and reductions. When you leave the T4 boxes blank, it estimates what your employer deducted from a salary paid evenly from your start date.

It does not include provincial tuition credits, foreign tax credits for tax paid to another country after you arrived, benefits you receive, or dividends, Ontario’s LIFT credit, low-income tax reductions in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador and P.E.I., age, pension, spouse, dependant, disability, medical, tuition and donation credits, refundable benefits, and alternative minimum tax. Quebec residents also file a separate Quebec return; Quebec does not prorate its basic amount for the resident period.

Frequently asked questions

Do I pay Canadian tax on income I earned before I arrived?

Generally no. You become a resident for tax purposes on the day you settle in Canada, and from then on you report your income from all countries. Income earned abroad before that date is not reported on your Canadian return, except Canadian-source income such as wages for work done in Canada before you became a resident.

Why are my personal amounts reduced in my first year?

The CRA prorates the basic personal amount and similar credits by the number of days you were resident. If you arrived on July 1, 2026, you were resident 184 of 365 days, so you claim about 50.4% of each amount. CPP and EI contributions, the Canada employment amount and tuition are claimed in full.

What is the 90% rule?

If the Canadian-source income you earned before you became a resident was 90% or more of your world income for that part of the year, you can claim full personal amounts instead of prorated ones. This is uncommon for newcomers, who usually earned their income abroad before moving. Tick the box in the calculator to see the effect.

Will I get a tax refund in my first year?

Many newcomers who start a salaried job part-way through the year get a refund. Payroll deducts tax as if your salary runs all year at a higher annual income, and spreads the CPP exemption across the full year. Your actual tax uses only what you earned in Canada. Self-employment income and other income with no tax deducted can turn that into a balance owing.

Do I need to file a return if I had little or no income?

You should. Filing every year, even with no income, keeps benefit payments such as the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit and the Canada child benefit coming, and it starts building RRSP room.

Can I contribute to an RRSP in my first year?

Usually not. RRSP room is based on earned income from the previous year reported in Canada, so most newcomers have no room in their first year. Room starts in 2027 based on what you earn in 2026. A first home savings account (FHSA) can be opened once you are a resident, 18 or older and a first-time home buyer.

Are international students residents for tax purposes?

Many are. The CRA looks at your ties to Canada, such as a home, a spouse or dependants here, and how long you stay. Students who are residents use this calculator; non-residents follow different rules. The federal tuition credit is 14% of eligible tuition, and any part you can’t use is carried forward to future years.

Sources

Rates were last verified on October 20, 2026 and are checked by 57 automated tests, including the CRA’s proration rule for newcomers.

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