Shopify CEO Tobias Ltke calls income-based voting a ‘good system’ — but doing the math shows a much starker reality for Canadians

Those who pay no income tax? They get no votes.

And they’re not the only ones without a vote. In an earlier post, Lütke proposed that retirees living off pensions should lose their vote, since they’re dependents — just like minors.

“Let people with a stake in the future decide,” he wrote.

It didn’t take long for Lütke’s posts to go viral.

The thread on X attracted hundreds of replies, ranging from endorsements and additions (like extra votes for frontline soldiers), to warnings that it would lead to a “communist revolution.”

The story was even picked up by Fortune, which called the idea “discredited,” pointing out that it’s been tried many times throughout history, unsuccessfully.

If the system was implemented, it would change the entire fabric of voting in Canada. Here’s a look at how it might look for Canadians today, and how votes would be split across income.

A modest proposal change

Before looking closer at the numbers, it may help to tweak the proposed system a bit.

In Canada, personal income taxes follow a progressive rate, where the rate at which an income is taxed increases as the income gets bigger — meaning that the higher an income is, the higher the percentage of it that gets taxed.

How that percentage is calculated depends on which bracket an income falls into. At a federal level, there are five income brackets (provincial rates vary):

• 14% for $0 to $58,523
• 20.5% for $58,523.01 to $117,045
• 26% for $117,045.01 to $181,440
• 29% for $181,440.01 to $258,482
• 33% for $258,482.01 or more

For the sake of argument, using these brackets rather than $100K intervals to calculate the number of votes per person makes sense. This is not only because those paying higher rates could argue they earn a bigger say in how the money is spent, but also because the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) uses these brackets when reporting individual tax statistics.

Those statistics tell quite a tale.

A tale of two statistics

Under this tweaked system, which income bracket would the average Canadian fall into — or in other words, how many votes would they get?

Looking at the latest data from Statistics Canada, the average income is a little over $71K a year, putting the “average” Canadian into the second income bracket and earning them two votes. On the surface, that doesn’t seem too unbalanced.

But that is the mean income, not the median. The median income, which divides the population into equal halves, is much closer to $60K, putting the “median” Canadian nearer the lowest bracket.

In fact, that median income falls in line with the latest individual tax statistics published by the CRA, which show that over 20 million Canadians — or nearly two-thirds (64%) — fell inside the first income bracket in 2024, with a little more than a quarter (26.5%) in the second bracket. That left just 9.5% of Canadians to fill up the remaining three brackets, including a bare 1.5% in the highest.

Or, in other words, a little over 9 out of 10 Canadians would earn one or two votes, according to this system, for a total of about 16.7 million votes. The remaining 10% or so? They would account for around 10.7 million votes alone.

Hard times

Whether or not you think it’s a good idea to award votes this way, the individual tax statistics from the CRA reveal a stark reality: Not only would most Canadians lose some of their voting power, but many could also be falling behind their peers financially.

To those Canadians, Lütke and others may give another two-word response: earn more.

After all, the point of this system is, in Lütke’s words, to “reward productive people with leverage.” But how do Canadians actually achieve this — is it simply a matter of finding a higher-paying job?

That may be easier said than done. The job market is highly competitive in Canada, where the unemployment rate has remained stubbornly above 6% since 2024. And while it declined in June, many of the gains were among youths and students taking on part-time work for the summer.

For professionals trying to level up, the job market is arguably more competitive — and it could become worse. According to a survey by Robert Half, 44% of professionals said they planned to look for new roles in the next six months, generating increased competition among applicants. At the same time, 51% said that AI has further intensified competition over job opportunities.

When it comes to these individuals, the solution may not be finding a higher-paying job, but maximizing what they earn now.

Bank like a pro

There are many ways of maximizing your income, but one of the simplest is by cutting costs. Of course, there are also many ways of doing so, and you’ll want to think strategically about the ones that apply to your unique situation.

For example, institutions like National Bank offer specialized banking packages for professionals in fields like healthcare, engineering, IT, finance, law, teaching, public service, administration, architecture, agriculture and more. If you think your job isn’t a profession, you might very well be missing out.

According to National Bank, eligible Canadian professionals can unlock up to $1,313 in annual savings, with higher savings available for select professions like healthcare and IT. Plus, certain individuals can get even more savings when they combine specific banking products and services.

Find out more by making an appointment and exploring your options.

Not sure if you qualify? Take a closer look here.

Find your investment edge

Another way to maximize your income might be to minimize what economists call “transaction costs” on your investments. Transaction costs are what they sound like — extra expenses, like commissions or fees, charged on top of the purchase price.

That’s why it’s often a good idea to shop around to find trusted brokerages that offer minimal trade commissions and account fees. Over the course of a lifetime, these fees can really add up. For these investors, online platforms like CIBC Investor’s Edge can give them the security of one of Canada’s biggest banks without having to pay exorbitant costs.

With their trading platform, it actually pays to trade more. Active traders making over 150 trades a quarter can get a discounted commission rate of $4.95 per trade. Plus, CIBC doesn’t charge account or maintenance fees if the combined market balance of all accounts is greater than $10,000.