What Is Year's Maximum Pensionable Earnings (YMPE)?

The Canadian government sets the year's maximum pensionable earnings (YMPE) figure. The YMPE determines the maximum amount on which to base contributions to the Canada or Quebec Pension Plan (C/QPP). The YMPE specifies the earnings amount that can be used in calculating pension contributions for each year.

Understanding Year's Maximum Pensionable Earnings (YMPE)

The Canada Pension Plan (CPP) determines the maximum earnings amount for which contributions to the Canada Pension Plan can be made. According to the Government of Canada, the maximum pensionable earnings under the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) for 2022 is $64,900—up from $61,600 in 2021. Contributors who earn more than $64,900 in 2022 cannot make additional contributions to the CPP.

Year's Maximum Pensionable Earnings and CPP Contributions

The Canada Pension Plan is similar to the Social Security program in the United States. It provides workers with a series of monthly payments in retirement. The size of those payments depends on an individual's earnings during their working years.

On June 20, 2016, Canada's ministers of finance agreed to augment the CPP. The deal increased how much working Canadians would receive from the CPP—from one-quarter of the employees' eligible earnings to one-third, with a boost to the earnings limit. Changes will be phased in gradually over seven years—from 2019 to 2025—so that the impact is measured and piecemeal.

• The income replacement level will be raised to one-third of employees' income.
• The upper earnings limit is set at $82,700 for 2025.
• There will be a gradual seven-year phase-in, starting on Jan. 1, 2019; this will consist of a five-year contribution rate phase-in below the yearly maximum pensionable earnings followed by a two-year phase-in of the upper earnings limit.
• The Working Income Tax Benefit will increase to help low-income earners.
• The enhanced part of employee CPP contributions will be tax-deductible.

The higher contribution rate on earnings below the YMPE ($64,900 in 2022) will be phased-in over the first five years. In 2023, the CPP contribution rate, as estimated by the Department of Finance Canada, will be one percentage point higher for both employers and employees on earnings up to the YMPE.

In 2024, a separate contribution rate (expected to be 4% each for employers and employees) will be implemented for earnings above the YMPE at that time.