VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 13, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Canadians will celebrate Tax Freedom Day, when they start working for themselves, not government.

Tax Freedom Day measures the total yearly tax burden imposed on Canadian families by federal, provincial and municipal governments.

“If Canadians paid all their taxes up front, they would work the first 164 days of this year before bringing any money home to their families,” said Finn Poschmann, resident scholar at the Fraser Institute.

In 2019, the average Canadian family (with two or more people) will pay $52,675 in total taxes. That’s 44.7 per cent of its annual income ($117,731) going to income taxes, payroll taxes (including the Canada Pension Plan), health taxes, sales taxes (like the GST), property taxes, fuel taxes, carbon taxes, “sin” taxes and more.

Represented as days on the calendar, the total tax burden comprises more than five months of income—from January 1 to June 13.

“Tax Freedom Day helps put the total tax burden in perspective, and helps Canadians understand just how much of their money they pay in taxes every year,” Poschmann said.

Calculate your personal Tax Freedom Day using the Fraser Institute’s online calculator at www.fraserinstitute.org.

Tax Freedom Day for each province varies according to the extent of the provincially levied tax burden.

2019 provincial Tax Freedom Days (earliest to latest)

Alberta	May 27
Saskatchewan	June 2
Manitoba	June 3
Prince Edward Island	June 10
British Columbia	June 10
Ontario	June 11
New Brunswick	June 15
Nova Scotia	June 17
Quebec	June 28
Newfoundland & Labrador	July 2
CANADA	June 14

MEDIA CONTACT:
Finn Poschmann, Resident Scholar, Fraser Institute

To arrange media interviews or for more information, please contact:
Bryn Weese, Associate Director, Communications, Fraser Institute
(604) 688-0221 ext. 589
bryn.weese@fraserinstitute.org

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The Fraser Institute is an independent Canadian public policy research and educational organization with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal and ties to a global network of think-tanks in 87 countries. Its mission is to improve the quality of life for Canadians, their families and future generations by studying, measuring and broadly communicating the effects of government policies, entrepreneurship and choice on their well-being. To protect the Institute’s independence, it does not accept grants from governments or contracts for research. Visit www.fraserinstitute.org