In 2017, the average Canadian family earned The 2,112% increase in the tax bill has also an income of $85,883 and paid total taxes greatly outpaced the increase in the Consumer equaling $37,058 (43.1%). [...] That said, the Fra- In dollars As % ser Institute annually calculates the most com- ($) of total prehensive and easily understood indicator of taxes the overall tax bill of the average Canadian fam- ily: Tax Freedom Day (see Palacios and Lammam, Taxes 2018). [...] This publication draws from those calcu- Income taxes 11,439 30.9% lations and examines what has happened to the Payroll & health taxes 7,145 19.3% tax bill of the average Canadian family over the Sales taxes 5,400 14.6% past 56 years.1 To do this, we have constructed Property taxes 4,136 11.2% an index of the tax bill of the average Canadian Profit tax 4,390 11.8% family, the Canadian Consumer Ta [...] While this adjustment has the Unfortunately, the federal and provincial gov- effect of reducing the steepness of the index’s ernments have reverted to deficits to finance path over time, the inflation-adjusted Consum- their expenditures in recent years.5 Of course, er Tax Index nevertheless increased by 166.4% over the period (see table 3). [...] The total tax bill of the average family would be Meanwhile, the tax bill of the average family higher than it actually is if, instead of financing grew by 2,112%.