Canadian Payroll Guide
Complete compliance guide for Canadian employers — CPP, EI, income tax, ROEs, and T4s.
Running payroll in Canada means juggling CPP, EI, federal/provincial tax, ROEs, T4s, and workers' compensation. This guide walks through the complete annual compliance cycle.
Registering as an Employer
Before issuing your first paycheque, register for a CRA payroll account (RP suffix on your BN). You'll also need a WorkSafeBC (or provincial equivalent) account.
If you're incorporating, the BN is created with your federal incorporation; the RP subaccount is added separately.
Source Deductions: What to Withhold
- Federal income tax — use the TD1 form and CRA payroll tables.
- Provincial income tax — varies by province.
- CPP contributions — 5.95% (2024) on earnings between $3,500 and $68,500, plus 4% CPP2 on amounts between $68,500 and $73,200.
- EI premiums — 1.64% (2024) on earnings up to $63,200.
Remittance Frequency
CRA categorizes employers based on average monthly withholding (AMWA). New employers typically remit monthly — due the 15th of the following month.
Larger employers may be required to remit twice-monthly or weekly. Failure to remit on time triggers 3–10% penalties.
T4 Slips and Year-End Reporting
- T4 slips must be filed with CRA and distributed to employees by the last day of February.
- T4 Summary reconciles all amounts withheld and remitted for the year.
- RL-1 slips for Quebec employees.
Records of Employment (ROE)
Issue an ROE whenever an employee has an interruption of earnings (termination, leave, etc.) within 5 days. Most modern payroll software submits ROEs electronically.
Our clients offload payroll completely — we handle registrations, remittances, T4s, ROEs, and WorkSafeBC reporting.
Key Takeaways
- 1Register for CRA payroll account + WorkSafeBC before first payroll.
- 2Remit CPP, EI, and income tax by the 15th (or earlier for larger employers).
- 3File T4 and RL-1 slips by the last day of February.
- 4Issue ROEs within 5 days of earnings interruption.
Need help applying this to your situation?
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