But those Nova Scotia taxes!
Fact and fiction
One of the things that you hear a lot here is that taxes are too high, and what we receive is too low. It’s a universal complaint I guess, but it’s also seldom based in fact.
I’ll ignore the federal part of our taxes, because we all pay the same for that, and just focus on provincial. If you look at provincial tax rates you’ll see that wow, the differences from one place to another are staggering. Fidelity has a great summary here.
So I’m going to boil this down. Highest, lowest, and Nova Scotia tax rates.
If you made $35,000 last year the ranges were:
High: 15% Quebec
Low: 5.06% and 5.05% B.C. and Ontario
Nova Scotia: 14.95%
If you made $65,000 last year the ranges were:
High: 20% Quebec
Low: 7.7% B.C.
Nova Scotia: 16.67%
If you made $95,000 last year the ranges were:
High: 24% Quebec
Low: 9.15% Ontario
Nova Scotia: 17.5%
It’s actually fascinating to compare the tax regimes of other provinces. Some are very simple, and some have multiple levels depending on income. The one thing that they share is the “progressive” nature of the system. As Fidelity put it “Canada uses a progressive tax system, meaning individuals pay higher rates of tax the higher their income gets. “
And it seems fairly obvious that although Alberta lacks a provincial sales tax, they pay more income tax to balance that off.
The other thing that is critical to note is what each of these places offers in terms of services to the people who live there.
Healthcare per capita (2021):
High: $7.293 Newfoundland and Labrador
Low: $5,027 New Brunswick
Nova Scotia: $6,279
Education per capita (2020-2021):
High: $16,000 Quebec
Low: $10,500 Alberta
Nova Scotia: $12,000
I’m actually surprised by these numbers. Nova Scotia is somehow in the top third in terms of taxation, and in spending, yet it feels like a very poor province. Is that because of poor management? Is it because a larger part of the system has been sold off to the private sector, and consequently costs more and delivers less?