Guide to employing in Canada

Canada
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Capital City
Ottawa
Currency
Canadian dollar (CAD)
Population Size
39,566,248
Language Spoken
English
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Overview

Geographically expanding your business brings both risks and opportunities. XPANDIUM can help your business simplify this journey with our Employer of Record services in Canada. By leveraging XPANDIUM’s expertise and resources, you can seamlessly recruit, employ and manage employees in Canada without establishing a legal entity.

When you partner with XPANDIUM as your Employer of Record in Canada, you will get tailored solutions to help you handle all aspects of onboarding, payroll management and tax obligations. Our in-depth knowledge of Canadian labour regulations offers a compliant approach to workforce management – leaving you to focus on the crucial part – maximising your business’s full potential.

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Salary Calculator

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Xpandium - Hire your employees in Canada

The Canadian labour market operates within a complex framework in the Canadian constitution. This framework comprises labour laws applicable to all natives, citizens and foreign workers. Key aspects covered by these laws include compensation for work performed, workplace safety regulations, and the prohibition of employers holding or seizing passports or work permits from employees.

This intricate legal environment can be challenging to navigate when hiring employees in Canada. Each province or territory in Canada is responsible for its labour regulations, while the federal government handles pension benefits and unemployment benefits. Industries such as airlines, telecommunications and international shipping also fall under the federal government's jurisdiction.

Ensuring labour practices are correctly implemented requires a thorough understanding of these labour regulations, and implementing it correctly can be a costly and time-intensive task. Non-compliance with the labour code can be costly and lead to fines for the offending company.

XPANDIUM’s EOR services can help you efficiently manage and hire employees in Canada. XPADIUM’s experience in Canadian labour practices offers your business seamless guidance and support when you hire workers in Canada.

When you partner with XPANDIUM, we will ensure your company complies and stays current with any changes in Canadian labour laws and regulations.

Guide to employing in Canada with XPANDIUM - Hire globally with the Employer of Record platform

The following information is a basic guideline for employing staff in Canada and the salary calculator can easily help you to understand the basic costs.

Employment Contract

Employment relationships may be agreed on for

  • fixed term employment (temporary) or
  • indefinite duration (open-ended, permanent).

Probation period

Probation period is optional and cannot exceed 4 months.In case of fixed-term contracts, the probation period can not be more than 50% of the term of the contract.

Working hours

Full time employment is considered 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week in Canada. Less hours will mean part-time work.

Hours worked above 8 hours per day / 40 per week or on public holidays are considered overtime. Employer and Employee must agree on working overtime.

Overtime hours cannot exceed a total of 8 hours within a 7 days’ period and must be compensated during payroll for overtime as per local law.Parties may agree that the overtime hours over a 4-months’ time-frame schedule be an average 12 hours for every 7 calendar days.

Minimum wage

The current minimum wage is 584 EUR for full-time employment or 3.84 EUR for hourly work in Canada.

13th month salary

Not required.

Benefit package

In Canada, there are no obligatory fringe-benefits that an Employer must offer, however a custom benefit plan may be set up for your team (see more details at the Benefit section).

Payroll Cycle

Salaries are payrolled and paid on a monthly basis.

Health insurance in Canada

The Canadian health insurance system is a solidarity-based social insurance system. This means it provides healthcare for everyone, including persons insured by employment agreement. Canada is covered by health care and treatment is equally available in all regions. Employees can order a European Health Insurance Card or its replacement certificate in the State Portal.

Employer taxes

33.8% total employment cost in Canada.

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Public Holidays

Knowledge about Canadian public holidays is essential to employers operating within the country. You must consult federal and provincial sources to identify and include the correct public holidays in your payroll.

As your Canada employer of record, XPANDIUM will ensure you stay up to date with the relevant public holidays in each province:

  • Alberta: There are nine public holidays. When public holidays fall on a weekend, giving time off is customary instead of the previous or the next working day.
  • British Columbia: There are ten public holidays in British Columbia. When public holidays fall on a weekend, giving time off is customary instead of the previous working day or the next.
  • Nova Scotia: There are six public holidays in Nova Scotia. Some days, such as Easter Monday, Victoria Day, and Natal Day, are commonly recognised as holidays but are not paid as general holidays under the Nova Scotia Labour Standards Code or retail closing days.
  • Ontario: There are nine public holidays in Ontario. When public holidays fall on a weekend, giving time off is customary instead of the previous working day or the next.
  • Quebec: There are eight national holidays in Quebec. If a holiday falls on a weekend, the holiday is observed on the Friday before the weekend or the following Monday.

NAME

DATE

INFO

New Years Day

January 1

Independence Day

February 24

Good Friday

April 2

Friday before Easter Sunday

Easter Monday

April 4

Varies yearly

Labor / Spring Day

May 1

Pentecost

May 23

Victory Day

June 23

Jaanipäev

June 24

Canada Day

August 20

Canada Restoration of Independence

Christmas Eve

December 24

Christmas Day

December 25

2nd Day of Christmas

December 26

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Popular benefits in Canada

You may offer custom benefits for your Canadian employees. As an Employer, you may benefit from offering an attractive compensation package. This means that in addition to salary, employees may receive one or more non-salary compensation.

laptop icon

 Phone and internet allowance for remote workers

car icon

Car allowance

Supplementary medical insurance  icon

Supplementary medical insurance (private/dental/vision)

Supplementary medical insurance  icon

Supplementary Life or other special insurance

pool iocn

Additional paid holidays

save time icon

Flexible work schedule

money icon

Voluntary pension fund scheme

Benefit planning process includes

When you hire employees in Canada, XPANDIUM can assist you in designing and implementing attractive benefits strategies to attract talent.

Our benefit design process will include the following:

  • Helping you determine the annual benefit amount you want to offer employees – this amount can be divided into 12 instalments and integrated into the regular payroll.
  • Determining which benefit items to offer employees and designing unique benefits packages.
  • Internal policies should be created to outline the benefits plan, formally communicated to relevant employees and integrated with the monthly payroll.
  • Ensuring employees have accurately completed benefit statements – specifying preferred benefits and respective amounts. These statements must be completed, signed and provided to the Canadian Employer of Record for processing.

With XPANDIUM, navigating employee benefits and customising offerings becomes an effortless part of your hiring strategy in Canada.

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Types of Leaves

Paid leave

Employees are entitled to 28 days.

Public holidays

There are 12 public holidays in Canada.

Sick leave

An employee is entitled to 182 sick-leave days yearly while enrolled in the national social security system.

Payment is 70% of the employee’s average salary, which is paid by the Employer from the 4th day of sickness but from the 9th day the payment is taken over by the State.

Pregnancy and maternity leave

Expecting women can have a total of 20 weeks / 140 days.

Maternity leave may include and start 70 days prior to giving birth. State health insurance covers maternity leave with 100% payment.

Parents receive a one-time 320 EUR allowance for child birth and in case of triplets the payment is 1,000 EUR per child.

Paternity / paternal leave

The father is entitled to 10 working days off for paternity leave which can be granted within 2 months of the expected child’s birth date. After the birth, fathers are entitled to 2 months of paternity leave with the payment of 100% average salary payment, however it is capped at 3 times of the minimum wage amount.

Other / Child Adoption leave

Employees are entitled to a special leave if adopting a child under the age of 10.

Other / Child care leave

Any parent may take paid leaves for taking care of a child.

Leave varies based on the age of child:

  • 3 days - up to 2 children under the age of 14
  • 6 days - 3+ children under the age of 14

Payment for days taken is calculated based on the minimum wage.

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Employment termination

Employers have the below options to terminate an employment contract in Canada:

Termination under probation period

Termination by the Employer is immediately effective with a special 15 days’ written notice to the Employee.

Resignation by Employee

Employees may freely terminate their employment contract with a written notice of minimum 14 days to 1-month notice.

Termination by Employer with notice

An employment agreement may be terminated by the Employer by notice with below period of notices.

If employment period is

  • up to 1 year period: 15 calendar days
  • from 1 to 5 years of employment: 30 calendar days
  • from 5 to 10 years of employment: 60 calendar days
  • 10+ years of employment: 90 calendar days

Termination of fixed term contract

If termination is due to Employer’s redundancy, the employee is entitled to the salary that they would have received from the date of termination to the expiry date of the contract.

Termination by mutual consent

The termination by mutual consent allows the Employer and Employee to agree freely in a written agreement with each other on the conditions of termination.

Expiry of employment contract

When the employment contract expires then such employment is automatically terminated.

Severance pay

Employee is entitled to severance pay if the Employer terminates the contract due to redundancy. The severance pay is the average salary calculated based on the latest 6 months salary.

Employees are entitled to receive higher amounts of severance pay depending on the length of employment with the Employer:

  • From 5-10 years of employment: +1 month salary
  • over 10 years of employment: +1 month salary
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How EOR works in Canada

Expanding your business across borders requires strategic planning and implementation. Choosing XPANDIUM as your EOR in Canada can give your business a significant advantage in cost-effective labour expansion. Our versatile EOR solution simplifies workforce recruitment and relieves you from the complexities of understanding labour laws – that’s our job.

Navigating Canada’s workforce landscape can be challenging. With XPANDIUM’s EOR services in Canada, you get a partner who handles onboarding and manages payroll, benefits and taxation by compliantly hiring employees and managing HR on your behalf. Your role is to communicate your needs, and XPANDIUM’ EOR solution will customise a strategy tailored to your business requirements.

Take the complexity out of hiring employees in Canada, and contact XPANDIUM for a tailored employer-of-record solution.

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Payment in Canada

Thanks to its IT advancements and pool of highly skilled professionals, Hungary has become an excellent choice for global expansion. However, managing employee payroll in Hungary can posXPANDIUM is your trusted partner in managing employee payroll in Canada. Handling payroll without the help of a payroll company in Canada can pose significant challenges. XPANDIUM simplify the complexities of payroll management by facilitating wage calculations, taxation, deductions and benefits administration and setting up payroll for new employees.e a significant challenge amidst this landscape.

By choosing XPANDIUM as your payroll service provider in Canada, we will provide a solution that seamlessly navigates the intricacies of payroll management. Our payroll services include the following:

  • Pre-Payroll Processes – XPANDIUM will collect and verify all your employee’s data and develop the proper procedures to ensure future payroll success.
  • Payroll Calculation – The data collected during the pre-payroll phase will be seamlessly integrated with your payroll system to ensure precise salary calculations.
  • Post-Payroll – XPANDIUM will facilitate salary payments, payroll accounting, and payroll reporting and ensure compliance with local payroll regulations.

Say goodbye to processing times and the challenges of managing employees through separate systems. Our approach ensures compliance, convenience and clarity.

XPANDIUM simplifies the process of handling payroll, giving you the tools to efficiently and accurately manage employee compensation, regardless of whether it is in Canada or anywhere else in the world.

Discover the benefits of payroll management with XPANDIUM as your partner in Canada.