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2025 · Canada

Where the $#@! did my taxes go?

See exactly where your Canadian tax dollars went in 2025. Enter your income for a personalized federal and provincial spending breakdown.

Data: Budget 2025 / Public Accounts 2024-25

Enter your income to see what you paid

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Estimate only — does not include CPP/EI contributions, surtaxes, or most credits. Use the CRA calculator for a precise figure.

Your 2025 Tax Estimate

Ontario resident

Federal Income Tax

$6,131

10.8% effective

Provincial Income Tax

$2,507

4.4% effective

Total Income Tax

$8,638

on $57,000 gross

Combined Effective Rate

15.2%

federal + provincial

Estimate only. Does not account for CPP/EI contributions (payroll deductions, not income tax), most credits, deductions, or surtaxes. For a precise calculation, use the CRA's certified tax software list. Data: Budget 2025 / Public Accounts 2024-25.

Your Federal Taxes

You sent $6,131 to Ottawa. Here's how the federal government spent its ~$547 billion budget — and your proportional share of each category.

The Canadian federal government spent approximately $547 billion in the 2024–25 fiscal year. Here is how each category breaks down and what it funds:

  • Seniors & Retirement — 15.6% of the federal budget ($85.5B billion): Old Age Security (OAS) and the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) — monthly payments to Canadians 65+. OAS alone is the single largest federal program. Your share: $956.
  • Health Transfers — 10% of the federal budget ($54.7B billion): The Canada Health Transfer: federal cash sent to provinces and territories to help fund universal healthcare. Ottawa sets the rules; provinces deliver the care. Your share: $613.
  • Debt Interest — 10.5% of the federal budget ($57.4B billion): Interest on Canada's ~$1.2 trillion federal net debt. More than the entire defence budget — every dollar here buys nothing new. Your share: $644.
  • Indigenous Services — 7.3% of the federal budget ($40.0B billion): Indigenous Services Canada, Crown-Indigenous Relations (CIRNAC), and legal settlements — funding First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities and advancing reconciliation. Your share: $448.
  • Fiscal Transfers — 7.3% of the federal budget ($40.0B billion): Equalization payments (to have-not provinces) and the Canada Social Transfer (for social programs). Designed to ensure comparable services nationwide regardless of where you live. Your share: $448.
  • Federal Operations — 9% of the federal budget ($49.3B billion): The cost of running 137 federal departments and agencies — salaries, buildings, IT, contracts. Before a single dollar goes to programs. Your share: $552.
  • National Defence — 6.5% of the federal budget ($35.6B billion): Department of National Defence, RCMP, CSIS, and CBSA — military, intelligence, border services, and federal policing. Your share: $398.
  • Children & Families — 5.5% of the federal budget ($30.1B billion): Canada Child Benefit (up to $7,787/yr per young child), the National Child Care system, and related family support programs. Your share: $337.
  • Employment Insurance — 5.5% of the federal budget ($30.0B billion): EI benefits for unemployed Canadians, plus maternity/parental leave benefits and sick leave. Funded by premiums but administered federally. Your share: $337.
  • Housing & Infrastructure — 4% of the federal budget ($21.9B billion): Federal housing programs (National Housing Strategy), infrastructure transfers to municipalities, and the Canada Infrastructure Bank. Your share: $245.
  • International Aid — 1.4% of the federal budget ($7.7B billion): Official development assistance (foreign aid), Global Affairs Canada operations, UN contributions, and multilateral organization memberships. Your share: $86.
  • Transportation & Trade — 1.3% of the federal budget ($7.1B billion): Transport Canada, federally-regulated ports, airports, and rail. Also includes trade promotion through the Export Development Canada. Your share: $80.
  • Justice & Corrections — 1.2% of the federal budget ($6.6B billion): Department of Justice, federal courts, Correctional Service Canada (federal prisons), and the Parole Board. Your share: $74.
  • Immigration & Refugees — 1.1% of the federal budget ($6.0B billion): Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC): processing applications, settlement services for newcomers, and refugee programs. Your share: $67.
  • Science & Research — 1% of the federal budget ($5.5B billion): NSERC, SSHRC, CIHR (the three research councils), National Research Council, and ISED innovation programs. Funding the science behind Canadian breakthroughs. Your share: $61.
  • Veterans Affairs — 1% of the federal budget ($5.5B billion): Benefits, healthcare, mental health support, and memorials for Canada's veterans and their families. Your share: $61.
  • Environment & Climate — 0.8% of the federal budget ($4.4B billion): Environment and Climate Change Canada, Parks Canada, clean energy subsidies, and federal climate action programs. Your share: $49.
  • Economic Development — 0.8% of the federal budget ($4.4B billion): Regional development agencies (FedDev, FedNor, ACOA, PrairiesCan, etc.), BDC, and EDC — supporting businesses across Canada. Your share: $49.
  • Agriculture & Food — 0.7% of the federal budget ($3.8B billion): Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) farm support programs, crop insurance, and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Your share: $43.
  • Other Programs — 10.5% of the federal budget ($57.5B billion): Remaining federal statutory payments, Crown corporation subsidies, and smaller departmental programs not captured above. Your share: $644.

Your Ontario Taxes

You paid $2,507 in Ontario provincial income tax. Here's where your province spent its budget.

Ontario provincial income tax spending breakdown for the 2024–25 fiscal year:

  • Healthcare — 39.2% of the Ontario budget ($91.1B): Hospitals, OHIP, long-term care, and home care. Ontario's healthcare system is the largest in the country. Your share: $983.
  • Education (K–12) — 17.6% of the Ontario budget ($41.0B): School boards, teacher salaries, and school operations across Ontario. Your share: $441.
  • Social Services — 8.8% of the Ontario budget ($20.4B): Ontario Works, ODSP (disability support), children's aid, and related income-support programs. Your share: $221.
  • Debt Service — 7% of the Ontario budget ($16.2B): Interest on Ontario's ~$420B provincial debt — the largest sub-national debt in the world. Your share: $175.
  • Transportation & Infrastructure — 8.5% of the Ontario budget ($19.8B): Highway construction and maintenance, GO Transit, subway expansion, and provincial infrastructure. Your share: $213.
  • Post-Secondary Education — 5.5% of the Ontario budget ($12.8B): Grants and transfers to Ontario universities and colleges. Your share: $138.
  • Justice & Public Safety — 4.8% of the Ontario budget ($11.1B): Ontario Provincial Police, courts, provincial correctional facilities, and legal aid. Your share: $120.
  • Economic Development & Housing — 4.2% of the Ontario budget ($9.8B): Business support programs, housing construction incentives, and economic development initiatives. Your share: $105.
  • Environment — 1.4% of the Ontario budget ($3.3B): Environment Ontario, conservation authorities, and climate programs. Your share: $35.
  • Government & Other — 3% of the Ontario budget ($7.0B): Legislature, executive government, and general administration. Your share: $75.

OAS & High-Income Seniors

~$11B/yr

flows to seniors already earning above the median Canadian income

That's ~16% of the entire $69B OAS budget — going to people who out-earn the average working Canadian.

Your share

$127

of your $6,131 federal tax

How does this happen?

OAS is paid to every Canadian 65+ — no income test. The clawback doesn't kick in until $90,997, so seniors earning anywhere between the median income ($57,000) and that threshold collect the full $8,618/yr, untouched. Even above $90,997, OAS isn't fully clawed back until $148,065.

$57,000 – $90,997

~$9–13B/yr

~1M–1.5M seniors · full OAS · no clawback

$90,997 – $148,065

~$1–2B/yr

~200k–300k seniors · partial OAS after clawback

GIS (~$16B/yr) is means-tested for low-income seniors and is excluded from this analysis. Tier estimates based on StatsCan T1 income distribution data (65+); treat as order-of-magnitude.

Meanwhile, young Canadians are locked out.

The average home costs over $700,000. Youth unemployment is above 12%. The entire federal housing budget is $21.9B — roughly twice what flows to seniors already out-earning the average Canadian, but serving a population many times larger.

Should OAS be income-tested below $90k — or is universal eligibility worth the cost?

Did You Know?

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Canada pays more in interest on its national debt than it spends on national defence — $57B in debt charges vs. ~$36B for the military in 2024-25.

Source: Public Accounts of Canada 2024-25

Sources & Methodology

Tax calculations use the 2025 CRA federal and provincial income tax brackets, applying only the Basic Personal Amount non-refundable credit. This is a simplified estimate. It does not account for: CPP/EI contributions (these are payroll deductions, not income taxes), most other non-refundable credits (disability, medical, tuition, etc.), Ontario surtax, Quebec abatement, or any deductions (RRSP, childcare, etc.).

Spending data is drawn from the Budget 2025 / Public Accounts 2024-25. Federal percentages are based on approximately $547B in total federal expenditures for 2024-25. Provincial percentages are approximations derived from each province's 2025 budget documents and Statistics Canada CCOFOG data (Table 10-10-0005-01).

Dollar amounts shown for each spending category are your proportional share — i.e., (your tax paid) × (category % of total spending). This is a simplified illustration; in reality, government spending is not funded solely by income tax.

Data freshness: Last updated April 2025. We update this site once a year after the federal budget is released.