Wage Garnishment Calculator Canada: Check Legal Limits by Province

Calculate the maximum legal garnishment in your province. If you’re being garnished more than the law allows, you have options to stop it—sometimes within 24-48 hours by filing a consumer proposal or challenging the garnishment order in court.

How to Use This Calculator

Enter your gross monthly income (before taxes), select your province, and indicate the number of dependents you support. The calculator shows your protected income (the minimum you must keep), maximum legal garnishment, and estimated take-home pay after garnishment. Compare your actual garnishment to the legal maximum—if it exceeds provincial limits, you can challenge it.

The calculator uses net income for most provinces (income after taxes and CPP/EI deductions) and applies provincial exemption rules including minimum dollar thresholds for dependents. For CRA garnishment, the calculator shows both private creditor limits (20-50% by province) and CRA special limits (up to 50% for employees, 100% for self-employed).

Who Should Use This Tool

Use this calculator if creditors are garnishing your wages and you want to verify they’re not taking more than legally allowed. If you received a garnishment notice from your employer or a court order, the calculator shows what to expect. If you’re considering consumer proposal or bankruptcy to stop garnishment, compare garnishment amounts to proposal payments.

Use it if the CRA is garnishing your wages for tax debt—CRA has special powers beyond provincial limits. If you’re self-employed facing garnishment, understand how 100% of accounts receivable can be seized by CRA. If garnishment makes your income unlivable, the calculator helps document excessive garnishment for court challenges.

Wage Garnishment Limits by Province

Canadian provinces protect different percentages of wages from garnishment, with Ontario offering the strongest protection (80% exempt, only 20% garnishable) and Alberta the weakest (50% exempt, 50% garnishable, with 100% of income above $2,400/month garnishable).

Key differences: Ontario and New Brunswick protect 80% of wages, making them the most debtor-friendly provinces. Saskatchewan has the highest minimum exemption at $1,500 monthly. Alberta allows 100% garnishment of net income exceeding $2,400/month, making it the most creditor-friendly. Most provinces use 70% protection as the standard.

Court discretion: Judges in Ontario can adjust exemptions based on financial hardship under Wages Act Section 4. In provinces without fixed minimums (NB, PEI, NL), courts consider Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy surplus income standards and individual circumstances.

CRA Garnishment vs Private Creditor Garnishment

The Canada Revenue Agency has extraordinary collection powers that regular creditors don’t have, including the ability to garnish wages without obtaining a court judgment first.

CRA Special Powers

CRA can garnish without court order using a Requirement to Pay (RTP) under Section 224 of the Income Tax Act. CRA can take up to 50% of employee net pay and up to 100% of self-employed income from accounts receivable and invoices. CRA can also freeze bank accounts, seize assets, and offset tax refunds automatically without notice.

CRA garnishment applies to income tax debt, GST/HST arrears, CPP and EI source deductions, and penalties and interest. CRA typically garnishes 30-40% in practice for employees even though the legal maximum is 50%. For self-employed individuals, CRA redirects payments from clients directly to the tax debt.

Private Creditor Garnishment Process

Private creditors must sue first and obtain a court judgment before garnishing wages. The lawsuit process takes 3-6 months from filing to judgment. After obtaining judgment, the creditor applies for a garnishment order from the court, which the employer must obey.

Provincial limits apply: Ontario creditors can take maximum 20%, Alberta 50%, most other provinces 30%. Creditors cannot exceed these percentages without special court approval. Child and spousal support have different rules—in Ontario, up to 50% can be garnished for family support obligations even though consumer debt is limited to 20%.

When CRA and Private Creditors Compete

If both CRA and a private creditor have garnishment orders, CRA takes priority in most cases. If total garnishment exceeds provincial limits, courts may allocate percentages between creditors or prioritize certain debts. In practice, filing a consumer proposal stops both CRA and private creditor garnishment immediately through the stay of proceedings.

How to Stop Wage Garnishment

You can stop wage garnishment through four main methods: filing a consumer proposal for immediate legal protection and debt reduction, filing bankruptcy for complete debt elimination, challenging excessive garnishment in court if it exceeds provincial limits, or negotiating a voluntary payment arrangement with creditors.

File a Consumer Proposal (Fastest, Most Effective)

A consumer proposal stops garnishment the day you file through a legal stay of proceedings under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. Your employer receives notice within 5-7 days to stop wage deductions. Proposals reduce debt by 60-80% with fixed monthly payments often lower than garnishment amounts.

You keep all assets including home, car, and RRSPs, unlike bankruptcy. Proposals have a 97-99% creditor acceptance rate when properly structured by a Licensed Insolvency Trustee. The R7 credit rating lasts 3 years after completion (6-8 years total), less severe than bankruptcy’s R9 rating.

Best for: $10,000-$250,000 unsecured debt, steady income to make payments for 3-5 years, want to protect assets, facing CRA or multiple creditor garnishments.

File Bankruptcy (Nuclear Option)

Bankruptcy provides an immediate stay of proceedings stopping all garnishment. You discharge 100% of unsecured debt with conditions. Bankruptcy requires surrendering non-exempt assets like home equity above provincial exemptions and non-exempt investments.

Surplus income payments are required if income exceeds federal thresholds—you pay 50% of income above the threshold for 9-21 months. R9 credit rating remains for 6-7 years after discharge, more severe than consumer proposal. Tax refunds are seized by the trustee and distributed to creditors.

Best for: No income or unstable income unable to support proposal payments, debt exceeds $250,000 (consumer proposal limit), no significant assets to protect, need fastest discharge (9-21 months vs 3-5 years for proposals).

Challenge Garnishment in Court

If garnishment exceeds provincial limits, file a motion with the court that issued the garnishment order. Provide evidence of financial hardship: detailed budget showing essential expenses, proof of dependents, other debt obligations, and documentation that garnishment leaves you unable to afford basic necessities.

In Ontario, Section 4 of the Wages Act allows judges to increase exemptions above the standard 80% based on individual circumstances. Judges consider nature of the debt (consumer vs family support), debtor’s financial situation, and creditor’s conduct. Court challenges take 2-4 weeks for hearing dates and decisions.

Best for: Garnishment clearly exceeds provincial maximums, have documentation of extreme hardship, dealing with single creditor willing to negotiate, short-term solution while arranging consumer proposal.

Negotiate Payment Arrangement

Contact the creditor or CRA collections department directly to propose a voluntary payment plan. Offer monthly payments lower than garnishment that fit your budget. Provide income and expense documentation to support your offer.

CRA accepts payment arrangements of up to 10 years for individuals, though interest continues accruing at 6-8% annually. Private creditors may accept 50-70% lump sum settlements for debts in collections. Success rate: 40-60% for CRA arrangements, 60-70% for private creditor settlements.

Best for: Single creditor or CRA only, have lump sum savings available for settlement, can afford voluntary payments acceptable to creditor, want to avoid formal insolvency filing.

Use the Wage Garnishment Calculator now to check if your garnishment exceeds legal limits and explore options to reduce or eliminate it.

Stop garnishment immediately with a Consumer Proposal—97-99% creditor acceptance, reduce debt 60-80%, keep all assets. If you have CRA tax debt, use the CRA Debt Calculator to estimate payment arrangements and proposal options. Learn provincial debt collection rules: Ontario, Alberta, or BC. Read the complete guide: How to Stop Wage Garnishment in Canada.