Quebec Ranked Most Taxed Province In Canada, 10th Among 32 "Advanced Economies"
Winning 10th place most taxed doesn't feel so good...
A Canadian flag and a Quebec flag fly over Quebec City.
A new financial report from the Université de Sherbrooke has revealed some not-so-fun facts about Quebec's tax situation as compared to that of other economies. The province is the most heavily taxed in Canada, while oil-rich provinces like Newfoundland and Labrador, Alberta and Saskatchewan have a much lower tax burden.
Compared to other "advanced economies" from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Quebec is also the tenth highest-taxed economy, according to the report. The tax burden in Quebec amounted to "39.6% of GDP," according to the report. That means nearly 40% of the province's GDP is coming directly from taxation.
The tax areas primarily responsible for Quebec's high standings are "corporate income taxes, personal income taxes and payroll taxes," the burdens of which are all higher in Quebec than the OECD average.
That said, Quebec was in the bottom fifth of OECD economies in terms of general sales taxes and social security contributions, meaning that most of the tax pressure is being put on corporations and individual incomes.
Compared to the rest of Canada, Quebec receives proportionally more revenue from nearly every tax type except for property taxes. In other words, of the eight sources of revenue measured by the Chaire de recherche en fiscalité et en finances publiques (CFFP), Quebec relied on nearly all of them more than the rest of the country did in 2021.
For comparison, in the tax brackets between $20,000 and $80,000, Ontario taxpayers paid almost 30% less than Quebec taxpayers did.
"If there is room for an income tax cut, it must be targeted to benefit Québec workers most," wrote Luc Godbout, chairholder of the CFFP.