Quebec nurses' salary (FIQ scale): what's left after tax

A registered nurse in Quebec's public health network earns between 27 and 50 dollars an hour, depending on echelon and workplace. Here is what that gross turns into net, after income tax, QPP, EI and QPIP are withheld on a 2026 paycheque.

What Quebec nurses actually earn

According to the Job Bank wage report for registered nurses (Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey, 2023-2024 reference period), an RN in Quebec earns between $27 and $50 an hour, with a median of $40. The FIQ, which represents most nurses in the public health network, negotiates their salary scale in a collective agreement with the government, published by the Comité patronal de négociation du secteur de la santé (CPNSSS). Licensed practical nurses (LPNs) have their own scale: between $24.21 and $33 an hour, with a median of $30.

The exact rate depends on the echelon (seniority), the establishment and shift premiums. Whatever the exact rate, the tax mechanics that follow are the same for everyone in Quebec.

$72,800 a year: what actually reaches the paycheque

An RN at the median $40-an-hour rate, over roughly 1,820 hours a year (35 hours a week for 52 weeks), has a gross of about $72,800 a year. Here is how that pay breaks down after federal tax, Quebec tax, QPP, EI and QPIP are withheld in 2026:

That leaves roughly $52,800 net a year, or about $4,400 a month. Tax and contributions take about $20,000, or 27.5% of gross. That percentage is the average rate: what the paycheque loses "in total" over the year. It says nothing about what would remain of the next dollar.

Why the next echelon pays less than it looks

Income tax in Quebec is progressive: each income bracket has its own rate. What matters for an extra echelon is not the average rate but the marginal rate — the one that applies to the next dollar earned.

At around $72,800, the RN is in the federal 20.5% bracket ($58,523 to $117,045 under the federal tax brackets for 2026) and in the Quebec 19% bracket ($54,345 to $108,680). Once the Quebec abatement on federal tax (16.5%) is factored in, the combined marginal rate comes out around 36%.

On top of that, three contributions react differently to a raise:

• QPP. The base contribution runs up to $74,600 (the maximum pensionable earnings), then a second contribution of 4% hits the slice between $74,600 and $85,000 — ceilings that are common to CPP and QPP in 2026. A nurse going from $72,800 to $74,600 still contributes at the base rate; above, the rate becomes 4%, but income tax stays marginal.
• EI. EI is withheld at a rate of 1.30% in Quebec in 2026, up to earnings of $68,900. At $72,800, the maximum contribution is already reached: an extra echelon adds nothing to EI.
• QPIP. The Quebec Parental Insurance Plan takes a rate of 0.43% up to $103,000. A raise stays subject to this small contribution as long as it doesn't cross the ceiling.

Put another way, on each dollar of a raise, income tax takes about 36 cents; QPIP takes a pinch; EI takes nothing past $68,900; and QPP depends on precisely which bracket the echelon lands in.

Licensed practical nurses: same math, lower pay

LPNs in Quebec earn between $24.21 and $33 an hour (median $30), still per the Labour Force Survey. At the median, $30 over 1,820 hours gives a gross of about $54,600 a year — below both the federal and Quebec second-bracket thresholds.

At that income level, the same rules apply with a different effect: the marginal bracket is lower (14% federal, 14% provincial), and EI is still fully withheld since income sits below the $68,900 ceiling. The relative weight of contributions is a little heavier, but the marginal rate bites less than at a higher echelon of the RN scale.

In practice

• A median-rate RN keeps roughly three dollars in four: $52,800 net on a $72,800 gross in 2026.
• An echelon inside the $74,600–$85,000 slice still carries the 4% extra QPP contribution, on top of marginal income tax.
• For your exact echelon, premiums and actual hours, run the numbers with Salarium. See also why the marginal rate makes a raise disappointing and the real effect of a raise on take-home pay.