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Hiring a nanny, a helper for a shop or a first employee makes you an employer in Canada. From the first pay run you hold back CPP, EI and income tax, add your employer share and send it to the CRA. Later you issue T4 slips and a Record of Employment. This page points you to the guide or calculator for each step. It is an independent information site, so it prepares and files nothing for you.
A small example. Maya in Winnipeg hires a part-time helper for her bakery. Before the first shift she needs to know whether the helper is an employee, what the minimum wage is, and how the first pay run works. The sections below take those questions in turn, and most hiring problems start with one of them.
Am I really an employer, and how do I set up payroll?
You are an employer once someone works for you under your direction and on your schedule, and that includes a nanny in your home. With an employee on the books, you register a payroll account with the CRA and follow its pay-and-remit routine. The CRA’s payroll section is the official starting point. If you’re unsure whether a worker is an employee or a contractor, settle that before the first payday, since it decides everything that follows.
- Nanny Payroll in Canada: What You Pay, Owe and Hold Back
The household version, with a worked biweekly example.
- Nanny Payroll Calculator for Every Province in Canada
Enter the hourly rate and hours to see the true cost to the family.
- Contractor or employee: the CRA rules
The tests the CRA applies when it looks at a working relationship.
- Employees vs Contractors in Canada: Tax Differences
Read this first if you are not sure which one you are hiring.
- Setting Up Payroll for a Small Canadian Business
From the payroll account number to your first pay run.
What comes off each cheque, and when do I send it in?
On every pay run in Canada you work out CPP, EI and income tax, hold them back, add your employer share of CPP and EI, and send the total to the CRA by its due date. The CRA’s page on payroll deductions and contributions covers each one. The pages below explain the rules, and the calculators do the arithmetic. Get the habit right early: hold the deductions back every pay run, never treat them as spending money, and write down what you owe as you go. Money held back isn’t yours, and the CRA treats it that way.
- CRA Payroll: What Employers Deduct and When to Pay
The three duties and the remittance deadlines.
- Employer Payroll Deductions in Canada: What You Owe
What the employer side adds on top of the wage.
- How to Account for CPP and EI Contributions
How to record both halves of the contributions.
- Payroll Deductions Calculator for All Provinces
Gross pay in, deductions out.
- Payroll Remittance Calculator for Employers
Estimate what you owe the CRA for a pay period.
How much must I pay, and what about time off?
Minimum wage, overtime and holiday pay are set province by province, so check the rules for the province where the work is done, not where your head office sits. The table shows where to start, and the list goes deeper.
- Ontario Minimum Wage and Every Province Compared
Check the floor before you set a rate.
- Overtime Pay Calculator for Your Province
Overtime for your province, hour by hour.
- Vacation Pay Calculator: Weeks Off and Pay by Province
Weeks of vacation and the pay that goes with them.
- How to Calculate and Account for Vacation Pay
Why you should set money aside every month.
- Public Holiday Pay Calculator for Canada
What a stat holiday adds to a paycheque.
- Stat holiday work pay calculator
What an employee earns for working on the holiday itself.
- Overtime and Stat Holiday Pay in Canadian Payroll
How to record both in your books.
| If you need to… | Start here |
|---|---|
| Set a pay rate | Minimum wage by province |
| Price out overtime | Overtime pay calculator |
| Budget for time off | Vacation pay calculator |
| Pay for a stat holiday | Holiday pay calculator |
What else should I price in before I make an offer?
The wage is only part of what a hire costs in Canada. Benefits, a pension match, cut hours and a contractor rate that has to stand in for a salary all change the real number, for you and for the person you are hiring.
- Job offer comparison calculator
Line two offers up on what lands in the bank, beyond the headline salary.
- Employer pension match calculator
See what a match adds to total pay.
- Contractor rate to salary calculator
Turn a contract rate into an equivalent employee salary.
- Taxable employee benefits in Canada
Which perks count as income for the employee.
- Reduced hours pay calculator
What pay looks like when hours are cut.
- Severance pay calculator
For the day a working relationship ends.
Which slips and records do I owe at the end of the year?
After the year ends you issue a T4 slip to each employee, and when someone leaves you issue a Record of Employment. Keep your records tidy all along, because the CRA can ask to see them. A simple folder, paper or digital, with each pay run, each remittance and each slip saves a lot of scrambling later.
- T4 Slip Explained: Boxes, Checks and Fixes
What each box means before you file.
- T4 and ROE Reporting Rules for Canadian Employers
Both deadlines in one place.
- Payroll Record Keeping Rules for Canadian Employers
What to keep, and how to keep it.
- Bookkeeping Basics for Canadian Small Businesses
A simple routine for the books behind the payroll.
- Can You Do Your Own Bookkeeping in Canada?
When doing it yourself is fine.
Where do I start if I have never run payroll?
Begin with the first list to settle who the worker is, then work down in order and use the table as a quick reference. If a rule in your situation looks different from what’s written here, a payroll professional or the CRA itself can confirm it for your case.
Frequently asked questions
Is a nanny an employee in Canada?
Almost always, if the nanny works in your home on your schedule. That makes you an employer with payroll duties: you register a payroll account, hold back deductions and issue a T4. The nanny payroll article walks through it.
What do I have to send the CRA when I pay an employee?
You hold back CPP, EI and income tax from each cheque, add your employer share of CPP and EI, and remit the total by the due date. How often you remit depends on your payroll, so check the CRA payroll pages.
How much vacation pay does an employee get?
It is at least 4% of gross wages at first, rising to 6% after a set number of years that varies by province. Use the vacation pay calculator for the province where the employee works.
When are T4 slips and ROEs due?
T4 slips are due on or before the last day of February after the year. A Record of Employment has its own, much shorter deadline when someone stops working. The reporting rules article lists both.
How do I know if someone is an employee or a contractor?
It depends on the whole working relationship: who controls the hours and the way the work is done, whose tools are used and whether the worker can hire help. The CRA's tests are explained in the contractor or employee article.
Is the minimum wage the same in every province?
No. Each province and territory sets its own minimum wage, and the one that applies is where the work is done. Check the minimum wage comparison before you set a pay rate.