Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says the increase in insurance premiums next year will add up to $31 for the average Canadian worker.

Contribution rates to the Canadian Pension Plan for both employees and employers will rise to 5.95 percent by 2023 from 4.95 percent in 2018.

With new leader Pierre Poilievre at the helm, the Conservatives have made the cost of living their focus as they cut some looming increases in Employment Insurance and the Canadian Pension Plan premiums.

In the House of Commons on Wednesday, Poilievre accused the government of making the bad economic situation worse for Canadians with new charges, saying "It plans to raise premiums for both pensions and employment insurance, and the payroll tax, at a time when we are facing the highest inflation levels in 40 years," then called on the government to cancel all hikes. As it stands, EI and CPP premiums will rise on January 1, 2023, reducing Canadians' paychecks.

Also, in April next year, the carbon tax will rise for Liberals too, adding $15 per ton to a total of $65 per ton in provinces where the federal program applies. These increases are scheduled to continue until the tax reaches $130 per ton in 2030.

Increases to the pension plan are part of the government's broader plan to increase benefits for retirees, as the maximum benefit a retired Canadian can currently receive from the CPP is about $15,000, but under an agreement reached with provincial governments, including some Conservative premiers, contributions and benefits will be about $20,000 annually within a few years.

To fund these increased benefits, contributions also rise from 5.7 percent of earnings this year to 5.95 percent starting January 1, and for a person with maximum pension earnings, the contribution will rise by about $300 next year.

Trevor Tombe, an economist at the University of Calgary, also said that even if the Liberals wanted to delay the upcoming CPC increases, they cannot do so without regional agreement.

The federal government cannot unilaterally change that even if they wanted to, as it is a joint federal-regional program requiring agreement across governments," he said in an email.

Of the three increases that the Conservatives are calling to freeze, the carbon tax is the one Liberals have direct control over. The government can choose to reduce or delay this tax, but the Liberals’ comprehensive plan to reduce carbon emissions and achieve the Paris target in Canada relies on increasing the carbon tax.

When Poilievre and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland clashed over this issue during question period on Wednesday, Freeland rushed to point out that even with the upcoming increase, emotional intelligence rates were higher when the Conservatives were in power and specifically when Poilievre was minister of the department.

Employment insurance premiums are based on a set amount per $100 of employee earnings with a maximum of $61,500. The increase scheduled to reach Canadians in January will raise the figure to $1.63, up from $1.58 as it currently is, but still lower than it was at any time during the entire last Conservative term in office. Employers also pay into the system at 1.4 times the rate paid by employees, meaning they will pay $2.28 per $100 next year.

But one number does not tell the whole story, as the amount of income covered under the program has also increased, as when Poilievre was minister, the program cost a maximum of $930.60 per worker, but next year it will cost a maximum of $1,002.45. The maximum employer contribution will be $1,403.43.

The Liberals have frozen rates over the past two years and also reduced the number of hours needed to qualify for work. The government also does not receive annual rate recommendations based on economists' estimates and actuarial experts, as legislation requires the government to aim to return the total EI account to balance over seven years.