Changes in payroll laws and regulations from across Canada
Manitoba
Annual health and tax levy report due March 31
Employers who are required to pay the provincial Health and Post Secondary Education Tax Levy must file a Health and Education Tax Levy Annual Report with the provincial finance department by March 31.
The department uses the form to reconcile an employer’s annual payroll with the tax levy the employer paid for the year to determine if the employer paid more than was required or did not pay enough.
Along with the form and a cheque for any amount owing, employers must submit a copy of T4 and T4A summaries for the preceding tax year, as well as a summary of their contributions to an employee profit-sharing plan or an employee trust if they have one.
In addition, employers who are part of an associated corporation or corporate partnership must designate one corporation to file a Schedule for Associated Corporations/Corporate Partnerships.
New Brunswick
Minimum wage will rise to $11 April 1
The New Brunswick government will raise the province’s minimum wage rate from $10.65 an hour to $11.00 on April 1.
The government has been studying proposals for indexing the minimum wage rate and is expected to make legislative and/or regulatory changes this year to allow for it.
Newfoundland and Labrador
Minimum wage to jump 25 cents
The Newfoundland and Labrador government will raise the province’s minimum wage rate from $10.50 an hour to $10.75 on April 1.
Gerry Byrne, the minister of Advanced Education, Skills and Labour, said the government will raise the rate again on Oct. 1 to $11.00. He added that the rate hikes will bring the Newfoundland and Labrador minimum wage rate in line with the rates in other Atlantic provinces.
In February, the provincial government held consultations on how to index future minimum wage changes. A background paper on the consultations set out a number of options for indexation, including using the consumer price index, average weekly earnings, low income cut off, and market basket measures to set the minimum wage rate.
Nova Scotia
Minimum wage to hit $10.85
Minimum wage rates in Nova Scotia are going up on April 1. The province adjusts its minimum wage rates every year based on the previous year’s national consumer price index.
The rate for experienced workers (those with at least three months’ experience) will increase from $10.70 an hour to $10.85.
The rate for inexperienced workers (those with less than three months’ experience) will rise from $10.20 to $10.35.
Ontario
Annual EHT report due by March 15
Employers who are required to pay the Employer Health Tax (EHT) must file their Annual Return with Ontario’s finance ministry no later than March 15.
The ministry uses the form to calculate the employer’s total EHT owing for the previous year.
For employers who remit the tax in monthly instalments, the ministry uses the form to compare the instalments already paid for the year with the total tax due to determine if there is a refund owing or a balance due.
Employers who are members of an associated group must also submit an Associated Employers Exemption Allocation form. Only one employer in the group is required to complete and submit it.
Reconciliation form due by March 31
Employers who pay monthly premiums to Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) for workers’ compensation coverage must file an annual Reconciliation Form with the WSIB by the end of the month.
The WSIB uses the form to compare the employer’s actual earnings for the previous year with the amounts the employer reported monthly throughout the year.
Quebec
Minimum wage rates rising in May
The Quebec government will raise minimum wage rates over the next four years, beginning with a rate hike on May 1, Labour Minister Dominique Vien recently announced.
The government will increase the general minimum wage rate from $10.75 an hour to $11.25.
The rate will also apply for employees in certain sectors of the clothing industry.
Vien also said the government plans to raise the general minimum wage rate to $11.75 in 2018, $12.10 in 2019 and $12.45 in 2020.
She said the rate for employees who receive tips will increase from $9.20 an hour to $9.45 on May 1. The rate will rise to $9.65 in 2018, $9.80 in 2019 and $9.95 in 2020.
The minimum wage rates for workers who pick berries will also go up on May 1.
The rate for raspberry pickers will increase from $3.18 per kilogram to $3.33, while the rate for workers who pick strawberries will rise from 85 cents a kilogram to 89 cents.
Vien did not specify future wage hikes for berry pickers.
Saskatchewan
Regulatory amendments clarify leave rules
The province’s labour ministry has amended regulations under The Saskatchewan Employment Act so that they provide more information on how to determine if employees have fully used their leave for compassionate care or for a critically ill child.
The revised regulations, which took effect Dec. 15, specify that employees who return to work from time to time while on one of these leaves have not ended their leave just because they are at work if, in between each time they return to work, they take at least one week off to provide care or support to the gravely ill family member or critically ill child and the total amount of time off does not exceed the maximum allowed (28 weeks for compassionate care leave and 37 weeks for leave for a critically ill child).
When determining if an employee has taken the maximum amount of leave, employers must count only periods when an employee is on leave and exclude those when the employee periodically returned to work.
When determining whether an employee on leave is still providing care or support, the regulations now stipulate that this means directly providing care, participating in providing care, providing psychological or emotional support, or arranging for another person to provide the care.
