Legislative roundup: Changes in payroll laws and regulations from across Canada

Yukon minimum wage increased May 1 • B.C. minimum wage increased May 1 • Modified B.C. HST document available on CRA website • Quebec minimum wage increased May 1 • Nova Scotia HST to be cut in 2014 and 2015 • WCB now allows online payments

Yukon

Yukon minimum wage increased May 1

The general minimum wage rate in the Yukon increased from $9.27 per hour to $10.30 on May 1. On April 1, 2012, the minimum wage rate in the province increased from $9 per hour to $9.27. The rate will continue to be indexed by any increases to the annual Whitehorse Consumer Price Index, according to the territory’s government. The Yukon Employment Standards Board will hold a public review in the fall seeking feedback on the $10.30 minimum wage rate and will make a recommendation should further changes to the rate be deemed necessary, the government said.

British Columbia

B.C. minimum wage increased May 1 

The general minimum wage rate increased from $9.50 per hour to $10.25 in British Columbia on May 1. The rate for liquor servers rose from $8.75 per hour to $9 on the same date. Also effective May 1, 2012, the following minimum wage changes apply: the minimum rate for live-in home support workers rose from $95 per day to $102.50, the minimum rate for live-in camp leaders rose from $76 a day to $82, the minimum rate for resident caretakers with nine to 60 suites increased from $570 a month, plus $22.85 per suite, to $615 a month, plus $24.65 per suite and the minimum rate for resident caretakers with more than 60 suites rose from $1,941.56 per month to $2,094.84.

Modified B.C. HST document available on CRA website

A modified version of a document on the elimination of the HST in British Columbia has been posted on the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) website. Notice 270: Elimination of the HST in British Columbia in 2013 – Questions and Answers, has information for public service bodies that has been added at the end of the notice. The notice can be accessed online at: www.cra-arc.gc.ca. The Excise Tax Act imposes the goods and services tax/Harmonized Sales Tax (GST/HST) on most goods and services consumed in Canada. GST/HST applies in the participating provinces of Ontario, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador at the rate of 13 per cent, in Nova Scotia at the rate of 15 per cent, in B.C. at the rate of 12 per cent and elsewhere in Canada at the rate of five per cent. It is proposed that, effective April 1, 2013, the 12 per cent HST for British Columbia, comprising of a five per cent federal part and a seven per cent provincial part, would no longer apply in B.C., the CRA said. The document has been provided to assist employers in understanding how the transition from the 12 per cent HST to the five per cent GST would apply to transactions that straddle that date, according to the CRA. This publication provides questions and answers that reflect the proposed transitional rules as announced Feb. 17, 2012, in the Department of Finance Announces Transitional Rules for the Elimination of the Harmonized Sales Tax in British Columbia. Any commentary in this publication should not be taken as a statement by the CRA that these proposed rules will be enacted in their current form, the CRA said.

Quebec

Quebec minimum wage increased May 1

Quebec’s general minimum wage rate rose from $9.65 per hour to $9.90 on May 1. Other minimum wage rates also increased on May 1. Employees who receive tips saw their minimum wage go from $8.35 to $8.55 Employees in specified sectors of the clothing industry saw an increase from $9.65  to $9.90. Raspberry pickers who previously made $2.84 per kilogram will now make $2.91 per kilogram and strawberry pickers who made $0.75 per kilogram before the change saw their rate increase to $0.77 per kilogram. Quebec also introduced new measures for board and lodging. The maximum deductions are now: $2 per meal, up to $26 a week; $25 a week for a room only, $30 a week for a room and meals if the room can accommodate five or more employees and $45 a week for a room and meals where the room sleeps no more than four employees. In the future, the amounts will be indexed based on increases in the minimum wage rate without exceeding the consumer price index. In addition, the deduction requirements now apply not only to situations where the employer provides the accommodation, but also to situations where the employer sees to it that accommodation is provided.

Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia HST to be cut in 2014 and 2015

The government of Nova Scotia will reduce the provincial portion of the HST by one per cent in 2014 and one per cent in 2015. The change will bring the rate to 13 per cent in 2015. The HST rate in the province increased on July 1, 2010, when Nova Scotia upped the provincial portion of the HST from eight per cent to 10 per cent, causing the HST to go from 13 per cent to 15 per cent.

Prince Edward Island

WCB now allows online payments

Employers in Prince Edward Island may now pay their Workers Compensation Board assessments electronically through the board’s online services. The service allows employers to pay their workers’ compensation assessments online. For more information visit:www.wcb.pe.ca/Employers/EServices.

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