🇨🇦 COUNTRY A Canada VS 🇪🇸 COUNTRY B Spain

Spain has become one of the most popular European destinations for Canadian expats — from digital nomads in Barcelona to snowbirds on the Costa del Sol and Valencia. Canada's combined federal and provincial income tax rates are among the highest in the OECD: Ontario residents at C$100,000 pay about C$20,000 of federal and Ontario income tax (an effective rate of about 20%, and 31.5% on the next dollar); the combined marginal rate is 43.41% between roughly C$118,200 and C$151,000 and reaches 53.53% only above roughly C$259,600. British Columbia also reaches about 53.5% combined at the top. Spain's IRPF is progressive at 19–47%, with regional variations — Madrid is notably lower than Catalonia. Spain's Beckham Law (Régimen Especial de Impatriados) offers a flat 24% rate for qualifying new residents working under foreign employment contracts for 6 years, and Spain's Digital Nomad Visa (Nómada Digital) — launched 2023 — targets remote workers with foreign income at about €2,849/month minimum (200% of Spain's minimum wage), also eligible for a beneficial tax treatment. On the figures compared here (Spain figures are IRPF only for a Madrid-resident single employee, social security excluded), Spain’s standard IRPF is higher than Canadian federal-plus-Ontario income tax at every income from C$60,000 to C$200,000 (using this page’s C$/€ pairing), and Beckham Law’s 24% flat rate only beats Canada’s effective rate above roughly C$130,000 — so the case for Spain rests mainly on cost of living and, for higher earners, Beckham Law, not on a lower standard tax rate. The Canada-Spain DTA coordinates tax positions for residents working across both countries. Spain's cost of living is also 30–50% below Toronto and Vancouver in most cities. Post-Brexit context does not apply to Canadians (Canada was never in the EU), but the Non-Lucrative Visa rules apply to Canadians similarly to Australians and British nationals — non-EU citizens need a long-stay visa for residence beyond 90 days.