A sample pay stub, decoded
Meet a fictional Ontario employee earning $65,000 a year, paid every two weeks. Here is one paycheque, with each line explained below. The numbers use the same 2026 payroll figures as our calculator, so they match what the tool estimates.
| Line | This pay | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $2,500.00 | $65,000 divided by 26 pays |
| Federal income tax | $277.60 | 2026 federal brackets, minus the basic personal amount |
| Provincial income tax (ON) | $118.54 | 2026 Ontario brackets, minus the provincial basic amount |
| Ontario Health Premium | $23.08 | $600 a year, split across 26 pays |
| CPP contribution | $140.74 | 5.95% of pensionable earnings |
| EI premium | $40.75 | 1.63% of insurable earnings |
| Net pay | $1,899.29 | What lands in the bank account |
Total deductions this pay: $600.71. Over the full year that is $15,618.50 off, leaving $49,381.50 of take-home pay.
Gross pay and the pay period
The top of the stub shows the pay period dates and your gross for that period. If you are salaried, it is your annual salary divided by the number of pay periods. Hourly workers will see hours multiplied by their rate, plus any overtime. Check that the dates and the math match your expectations before reading any further.
The two tax lines
Federal and provincial income tax usually appear as separate lines. They are withholding, which is your employer's best estimate of what you will owe for the year, based on the TD1 form you filled out when you were hired. If you claimed extra credits on that form, for tuition or a disability amount, for example, your withholding will be lower than the plain-bracket math suggests. The 2026 tax brackets guide shows exactly how those lines are calculated.
The CPP and EI lines
These are flat percentages with yearly ceilings, which makes them the most predictable lines on the stub. In 2026, CPP is 5.95% of earnings between $3,500 and $74,600 (plus the 4% second tier above that), and EI is 1.63% of earnings up to $68,900. Watch these lines in the fall: when your year-to-date contributions reach the maximums of $4,646.45 and $1,123.07, the lines drop to zero and your net pay jumps. Our CPP and EI guide has the full 2026 figures.
The Ontario Health Premium line
Only Ontario shows this line. It is a separate $0 to $900 yearly charge based on taxable income. At $65,000 it works out to $600 a year, or $23.08 per biweekly pay. If you work anywhere else in Canada, you simply will not see it.
Net pay: the number that hits your bank
Net pay is gross minus every deduction line. It should match your bank deposit to the cent. If it does not, the stub usually holds the answer: a missed pre-tax deduction, a bonus withheld at a higher rate, or a benefits premium you forgot you signed up for.
Year-to-date columns: your running totals
Most stubs show a year-to-date column beside each line. These running totals are genuinely useful. They tell you at a glance how close you are to the CPP and EI maximums, how much tax has been withheld so far, and whether your gross is on pace with your salary. When something looks wrong, the year-to-date column usually reveals when it started.
Five things to check every payday
- Your name, employee number, and pay period dates are correct.
- Gross pay matches your salary, or your hours times your rate.
- Year-to-date CPP and EI are climbing toward, but not past, their maximums.
- Tax withholding looks roughly right for your income; a big surprise deserves a question to payroll.
- Net pay matches the deposit in your bank account.
When your stub disagrees with the calculator
Small differences are normal. The calculator estimates from a steady annual salary, while your payroll software handles the exact timing of each pay, your TD1 claims, taxable benefits, and any pre-tax deductions you set up. If the gap is large and persistent, your TD1 or your benefits setup is the first place to look, and your payroll department can explain any single line.
Decoding common stub abbreviations
Pay stubs love abbreviations. YTD means year-to-date, the running total since January. CPP2 is the second CPP tier on earnings above $74,600. OHP or a similar code is the Ontario Health Premium. Gross, taxable gross, and insurable earnings can differ on the same stub: taxable gross includes taxable benefits, while insurable earnings are what EI is calculated on. If a code defeats you, your employer's payroll guide or a quick question to payroll will decode it faster than guessing.
What to do if something looks wrong
Start with the year-to-date column to see when the oddity began. A single strange pay usually traces to a bonus, a retroactive adjustment, or a benefits change that pay period. A persistent discrepancy in the tax lines often traces to your TD1 form: if your situation changed, you got married, had a child, or started tuition, for example, filing an updated TD1 adjusts your withholding going forward. Payroll departments deal with these questions constantly, so asking is normal and expected. Bring the specific pay period and the line that looks off.
Check your own pay
Run your salary through the take-home pay calculator and compare it against your next stub. For the theory behind each line, read what gets deducted from your paycheck.