Why Canada’s Tax System Keeps You Poor

Why Canada’s Tax System Keeps You Poor

⸻

This isn’t about tax rates.

It’s about how the Canadian tax system is built.

Canadians are told, “Taxes didn’t go up.”
But year after year, life gets harder.
Groceries cost more.
Rent costs more.
And somehow, your pay never catches up.

That’s not an accident.

Canada doesn’t need to raise tax rates to take more from you.
The system is designed to do it automatically.

Here’s how.

When inflation rises, everything costs more.
Your employer gives you a small raise just so you can survive.
But that raise pushes you into a higher tax bracket — even though you’re not actually better off.

You pay more tax for the same life.

That’s called bracket creep.
And it’s one of the biggest hidden tax hikes in the country.

Then there are payroll taxes.

Before you ever see your paycheque, money is already gone —
CPP, EI, and employer payroll costs that keep wages low.

These hit working Canadians first and hardest.
There’s no planning around them.
No escaping them.

You’re also told families get help through tax credits.
But most of those credits disappear as soon as income rises —
right when life gets more expensive.

They exist on paper.
Not in your bank account.

Here’s the real imbalance.

If you work for your money, you’re taxed immediately.
If your money works for you, it’s taxed later — and often less.

Labour is squeezed.
Wealth is protected.

And inflation makes it worse.

When prices rise, government revenue rises too —
without changing a single law,
without voting on a single tax increase.

You get poorer.
Government gets richer.

That’s why politicians hope you never look at the mechanics.

Because once you do, you realize this isn’t left versus right.
It’s math.

And the math is rigged.

This is the Canadian Citizens Journal.

#Canada #CanadianEconomy #CostOfLiving #Inflation #MiddleClass #WorkingCanadians #Paycheque #Taxes #PersonalFinance #Affordability #CanadaPolitics #CCJ