CPA Indexation for 2026 Personal Amounts

Alan Gordon

The Consumer Price Index numbers for September have been released and that number is used to calculate the indexation rate for personal amounts and tax brackets.  Although the federal government has yet to announce the new tax figures, we’ve done the math to estimate the numbers.  It’s important information for year end tax planning purposes, a subject we will also cover in depth on November 5 at the live virtual CE Summit.  Read on to learn more.

What is CPI?  The Consumer Price Index (CPI) was designed to measure changes in prices from a consumer perspective in Canada over time. This is divided into 8 major categories:

• Food; Shelter;
• Household operations, furnishings and equipment;
• Clothing and footwear;
• Transportation;
• Health and personal care;
• Recreation, education and reading, and
• Alcoholic beverages, tobacco products and recreational cannabis.

Why is this important? The CPI is used to calculate an index ratio for each calendar year to increase the base amount of the Federal Tax Brackets as well as many Government Benefits in order to account for inflation. While not a perfect calculation, the intent is to maintain the value of income and payments over time.

Indexation of Tax Brackets 2026. Indexation of tax brackets and personal amounts for 2026 is determined by the average CPI numbers for the twelve months ending September 2025. This is then divided against the previous 12 month period to determine the indexation amount.

Per our calculations, the federal indexation value is 1.019884%, which will be rounded to 1.02%. In provinces where provincial amounts are indexed, the factor depends on province-specific CPI numbers.

As mentioned, the federal government has yet to announce the new tax figures officially.  But, here’s an estimate of what the federal income brackets and income-tax rates will be for 2026.

* For taxpayers in the 29% tax bracket, the supplement to the BPA is reduced by amount of income within this bracket

Indexation of Personal Amounts 2026.  Most personal amounts are indexed by the same factor. Below is our estimate of these amounts for 2026: