Canada: Pay and benefits

Updating author: Sharaf Sultan, Sultan Lawyers
Original author: Miller Thomson

See the legal services provided by the author of International > Canada, including any discounts/offers for subscribers.

Summary

• Generally, remuneration is set by individual agreements between employers and employees or, in unionised workplaces, by collective agreements. (See General)
• There may be rules on asking applicants about their pay history. (See Pay transparency)
• In general, employers are required to establish a pay period (the interval at which wages are paid) and a pay day for the payment of wages. (See Payment of wages)
• Employers are generally prohibited from unilaterally making deductions from wages earned and owed to an employee, though with some limited exceptions. (See Deductions)
• Paying employees differently on the basis of a prohibited ground is a form of discrimination and prohibited by human rights legislation. (See Equal pay)
• Each province and territory sets its own statutory minimum wage. There is no national minimum wage. Employees covered by federal jurisdiction must be paid the prevailing minimum wage of the province or territory in which the work is performed. (See Minimum wages)
• Public retirement provision is made up of a universal pension provided by the Old Age Security programme and an earnings-related pension provided by the Canada Pension Plan or, in Quebec, by the Quebec Pension Plan. (See Pensions and benefits)
• Employers are obliged to deduct income taxes due from employees' pay and pass them on to the tax authorities. (See Income tax and social security)
• Employees may be entitled to receive sick pay from their employer under federal or provincial/territorial legislation. (See Sick pay)
• Employers are not legally required to provide employees with health and dental benefits or any other type of insured benefit, such as life insurance or long-term disability insurance. (See Benefits in kind)