Tax

A Guide to Payroll Contributions in Canada

Running payroll in Canada will mean making various contributions in payroll by both employer and employee, and those may be quite different than in your home country. In addition, the rates of contribution can change frequently, and can even vary between Canadian provinces.

Here is a summary of the two primary payroll contributions, and how they are calculated.  But if you are running payroll for the first time in Canada it can be useful to rely on local experts for guidance and to keep you up to date on rate changes each year.

Canada Pension Plan (CPP) Contributions

CPP contributions are mandatory in payroll to add to employee retirement funds, but there are maximum contribution limits.

How much do the employer and employee have to contribute?

The rate of contribution has increased the past few years to a current 5.25% for both employee and employer contributions, for a total of 10.5% of salary.

What is the maximum contribution?

The maximum combined annual contribution is CAD 2898 in 2020.

QPP in Quebec

Quebec has a separate pension plan, where the maximum contribution is higher at CAD 3146, and rates are higher as well...read more

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