Canadians can mark Saturday, June 6, on their calendar as "Tax Freedom Day," which arrived three days earlier this year than it did in 2008, according to the Fraser Institute.

The conservative think-tank said its calculations show the average Canadian family had to work more than five months in 2009 to pay the total tax bill levied on it by various governments.

"The total tax bill paid by Canadians is much more than income tax. The reality is the total tax bill assessed by all levels of government requires almost 43 per cent of an average family’s annual income," the institute said.

The money going to government includes income taxes; property taxes; sales taxes; profit taxes; import duties; licence fees; natural resource fees; fuel taxes; taxes for health, social security and unemployment; taxes on the consumption of alcohol and tobacco; and a host of other levies.

The think-tank also calculated Tax Freedom Day provincially, but not for the territories, as follows:

  • Alberta – May 16
  • New Brunswick – May 31
  • Ontario – June 1
  • Prince Edward Island – June 3
  • Manitoba – June 7
  • British Columbia – June 8
  • Nova Scotia – June 11
  • Quebec – June 12
  • Newfoundland and Labrador – June 16
  • Saskatchewan – June 20

While the federal government recently provided some minor tax relief, most notably increasing the basic personal exemption for income tax as well as various new or expanded tax credits, and some provinces cut taxes in 2009, the institute says these actions are not the primary reason for this year's earlier Tax Freedom Day.

Niels Veldhuis, the Fraser Institute's director of fiscal studies, said the day's earlier arrival is mostly due to the progressive nature of Canada's tax system.

"Under our progressive tax system, families pay more proportionately in taxes as they earn more income," Veldhuis affirmed. Because the average Canadian family will earn about $2,200 less this year, it will pay proportionately less to governments, he said.

At least one other think-tank has found the opposite — that the richest Canadian families pay the least tax, when a variety of government levies are calculated. A Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives study found that the top one per cent of Canadian families — those earning at least $266,000 — paid 30.5 per cent of their income in various taxes and government fees in 2005, while the poorest 10 per cent (families earning less than $13,523) paid 30.7 per cent of their income for the same levies.