Changes in payroll laws and regulations from across Canada
Federal budget bill passes
Legislation implementing some of the payroll-related measures proposed in this year’s budget has passed.
On June 23, Bill C-59, the Economic Action Plan 2015 Act, No. 1, received royal assent. It contains a number of payroll-related changes including regulatory amendments that will create a quarterly remitter category for new employers next year. To qualify, an employer’s average monthly withholding amount must be less than $1,000 and the employer must have a perfect compliance record with the Canada Revenue Agency over the previous 12 months.
The bill also amends the Employment Insurance Act to extend the period in which eligible individuals may receive EI compassionate care benefits from six weeks to 26 weeks, beginning Jan. 3, 2016.
In addition, it amends Part III of the Canada Labour Code to increase the maximum amount of compassionate care leave federally regulated workers can take from eight weeks to 28 weeks and to extend the period within which employees must take the leave from 26 to 52 weeks. The changes take effect Jan. 3, 2016.
ESDC starts new EI project
Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) has launched a new Working While on Claim pilot project to test for effective ways to encourage Employment Insurance (EI) claimants to work more while receiving EI benefits.
Pilot Project No. 19 essentially extends the parameters of Pilot Project No. 18 for another year. That pilot ended on Aug. 1, but ESDC said it needed more time to assess its effectiveness, so it created Pilot Project No. 19 to run from Aug. 2, 2015, to Aug. 6, 2016.
ALBERTA
Minimum wage going up Oct. 1
The province’s general minimum wage rate will rise from $10.20 an hour to $11.20 on Oct. 1, Premier Rachel Notley recently announced. The government would also raise the rate for liquor servers from $9.20 an hour to $10.70. The increase is part of a two-step plan to eliminate a separate liquor server rate as of Oct. 1, 2016.
Notley has previously said the government plans to increase the general minimum wage rate to $15 an hour by 2018. It has been consulting with industry associations that represent employers that typically pay minimum wage, as well as labour and public interest advocacy organizations, about establishing a new way to set minimum wage rates.
Prior to these increases, the province used to adjust minimum wage rates on Sept. 1 every year, based on changes to Alberta’s consumer price index and average weekly earnings. The new government has called the formula "inadequate".
Other minimum wage rates will also increase on Oct. 1. The minimum wage rate for certain salespersons specified in provincial regulations will rise from $406 per week to $446. The minimum rate for domestic employees who live in their employer’s residence will increase from $1,937 per month to $2,127.
Personal income tax changes coming for Oct. 1
Employers in Alberta will have to adjust their payroll systems to incorporate income tax source deduction changes for Oct. 1, as the province moves from a flat-rate income tax system to a graduated rate structure based on taxable income.
Amendments to the province’s Personal Income Tax Act, replace the flat rate structure with five tax brackets and rates, beginning in 2015. The new rates and brackets are:
Currently, a single income tax rate of 10 per cent applies to all taxable income.
The CRA is expected to publish updated payroll deductions formulas and tables to incorporate the changes.
BRITISH COLUMBIA
Minimum wage going up
Effective Sept. 15, the general minimum wage rate in the province will rise to $10.45 an hour from $10.25.
The rate for employees who serve liquor will increase to $9.20 an hour from $9. Other rates, including piecework rates for farm workers, will also go up in mid-Sept.
Beginning Sept. 15, 2016, the province will index minimum wage rates using increases in the consumer price index (CPI) for B.C. for the previous year (rounded to the nearest nickel). In years where the CPI change is negative, the minimum wage would not change. The government will announce rate changes in March each year to give businesses time to adjust.
MANITOBA
Minimum wage rates going up
The province’s general minimum wage rate will rise from $10.70 per hour to $11 on Oct. 1, the Department of Labour and Immigration recently announced.
The minimum wage rate for security guards who hold a license issued under The Private Investigators and Security Guards Act will rise from $10.95 an hour to $11.75 on Oct. 1.
QUEBEC
Government could lower 2016 QPIP premium ratesThe Quebec government is proposing to lower the premium rates for the Quebec Parental Insurance Plan (QPIP) next year.
As of Jan. 1, 2016, the employee QPIP premium rate would decrease from 0.559 per cent to 0.548 per cent and the employer rate would drop from 0.782 per cent to 0.767 per cent, the government announced in draft regulations published in the June 23 Quebec Gazette Part 2.
Tax changes proposed
The province’s Finance Ministry recently announced a number of payroll-related tax changes it plans to make to further harmonize Quebec tax law with federal tax rules.
The ministry said it would incorporate a recent federal change that allows new employers to make quarterly remittances of source deductions. The federal government announced the measure in this year’s budget.
The federal change allows new employers with monthly withholdings of less than $1,000 and a perfect compliance record to send in Canada Pension Plan contributions, employment insurance premiums and income tax source deductions to the CRA quarterly, starting in 2016.
With the Quebec Finance Ministry’s harmonization announcement, it is expected new employers in Quebec with monthly withholdings of less than $1,000 would be allowed to remit Quebec Pension Plan contributions, Quebec Parental Insurance Plan premiums and provincial income tax deductions quarterly if they had a perfect compliance record with Revenu Québec.
The province also plans to incorporate into Quebec tax law an increase in the annual contribution limit for tax-free savings accounts (TFSAs) from $5,500 to $10,000, beginning in 2015.
New act will consolidate labour bodies
Quebec’s National Assembly recently passed legislation that will consolidate a number of labour-related government bodies into a new organization, beginning next year.
The Commission des normes, de l’équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail will replace the Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CSST), the Commission des normes du travail (CNT) and the Commission de l’équité salariale.
SASKATCHEWAN
Minimum wage going up
The minimum wage rate in the province will rise from $10.20 per hour to $10.50 on Oct. 1.
The province reviews the minimum wage rate every year using an indexation formula based on an equal weighting of the change in the province’s consumer price index and average hourly wage for the previous year.
Before changes are made, the provincial cabinet must approve them and announce them by Jun. 30 each year.
