Payroll Checklist for Ontario Employers: Deductions, Remittances, T4s and ROEs

Payroll is one of the areas where small mistakes cost the most. As an employer you hold your employees’ deductions in trust for the government, and directors can be personally liable for amounts that are not remitted. Use this checklist to make sure nothing falls through the cracks.

Before your first pay run

• Open a payroll program account with the CRA (an RP account added to your Business Number).
• Collect each employee’s Social Insurance Number and completed federal and Ontario TD1 forms.
• Check whether you must register with the WSIB. Most Ontario employers in covered industries must register within 10 days of hiring their first worker.
• Decide on a pay frequency and set up direct deposit.

Every pay period

• Calculate gross pay, including overtime, vacation pay and public holiday pay where applicable.
• Deduct Canada Pension Plan (CPP and, above the first earnings ceiling, the second additional CPP contribution), Employment Insurance (EI) premiums and income tax.
• Calculate your employer share of CPP and EI.
• Give employees a pay statement showing earnings and deductions.

Every month

Regular remitters must send source deductions — the employee deductions plus the employer share — to the CRA by the 15th of the month after the month employees were paid. Larger employers may be required to remit more frequently. Late remittances attract penalties even when payroll was calculated correctly.

Ontario employment standards to remember

• Vacation pay of at least 4% of wages (6% once an employee has five or more years of service).
• Public holiday pay for Ontario’s nine public holidays, for eligible employees.
• Accurate records of hours worked and wages paid.

Employer Health Tax (EHT)

Ontario’s Employer Health Tax applies to remuneration paid to employees who work in Ontario. Eligible private-sector employers have an annual exemption on the first $1 million of total Ontario payroll; employers above the exemption must register, pay and file an annual return.

When someone leaves

Issue a Record of Employment (ROE) whenever an employee has an interruption of earnings — for example a layoff, resignation, leave or termination. ROEs filed electronically are generally due within five calendar days after the end of the pay period in which the interruption occurs.

At year-end

• Reconcile payroll records to remittances.
• Prepare and file T4 slips and the T4 Summary by the last day of February, and give employees their copies.
• File EHT and WSIB reconciliations where required.

Prefer to hand it off?

Our payroll services cover direct deposit, CRA remittances, T4s, ROEs, vacation and statutory pay, WSIB and EHT — in English or French. Book a free consultation.

General information only. Payroll rules and thresholds change; confirm current requirements with the CRA, Service Canada, WSIB and the Ontario Ministry of Finance.