Pan-Canadian Study | Fewer wealthy families in Quebec than elsewhere

A new study by the Fraser Institute reveals that Quebec is the province that taxes families whose members have salaries of $100,000 or more the most.

Isabelle Dube
The Press

At a time when some dispute the relevance of giving $500 to Quebecers who earn $100,000 or less, the Fraser Institute observes that those who exceed this threshold are less numerous than elsewhere in the country.

“We are poor in rich and rich in poor in Quebec, summarized the economist Claude Montmarquette. This is somewhat the finding of our study when we compare the data across the provinces, ”says Yannick Labrie, associate researcher at the Fraser Institute, an independent think tank on Canadian public policy, on the phone.

Of the ten Canadian provinces, in proportion to their population, Alberta has the highest number of taxpayers declaring income of $100,000 or more, followed by Saskatchewan and, in third place, British Columbia.

Quebec ranks seventh, while Prince Edward Island ranks bottom of the list.

Higher tax rates

The study also reveals that couples without children, couples with one child and those with two children have higher tax rates in Quebec than anywhere else in Canada.

The study does not take into account cheaper university tuition, lower daycare costs and electricity rates that are also lower than in many provinces. Services financed by Quebecers’ taxes.

Single people in Quebec earning more than $100,000 have the second highest tax rate nationally after Prince Edward Island. The government of Prince Edward Island has only three tax brackets. From an income of $64,000, everyone is taxed at 16.7%.

Quebecers have a tax bill that could worry Albertans. If the Government of Quebec has set its highest tax rate at 25.75% from an income of $109,000, the highest rate of the Government of Alberta is at 15% and you must earn 315,000 $ to reach it.

The negative effect of these differences is the risk of migration to provinces where the rates seem more advantageous, says the researcher. “One of the ways to retain or attract candidates is to have tax competitiveness between the provinces. I think this is a strong message from the study”, concludes Yannick Labrie.