Plain-English guides to running payroll in Canada, written by the team that answers PayCub support emails. Where a rule comes from the CRA or a provincial employment standards office, we link to the official source.
Who decides what
Most payroll questions fall into one of three layers. Keeping them apart makes the rules much easier to follow.
What is the employee owed?
Your province or territory sets vacation pay, holiday pay, overtime and notice.
How is it taxed and reported?
The CRA sets income tax, CPP, EI, remittances and T4s.
What does PayCub handle?
The CRA calculations every run, plus defaults and reminders for employment standards.
Read more: Employment standards vs CRA rules
Getting started
New to PayCub, or new to running payroll in Canada? Start here.
How PayCub works
From company setup to your first pay run: what to enter, what carries forward, and what PayCub does for you.
ReadImporting companies and employees
Switching from another system or a spreadsheet? We import your companies and employees for free from an XLS or CSV file.
ReadBackdating and locked pay stubs
How far back you can create stubs, and why older stubs lock once newer runs exist.
ReadMultiple companies and billing
Running several companies from one login, how active employees are billed, and cancelling.
ReadSwitching to PayCub mid-year
Enter Prior YTD on each employee's first stub so CPP, EI and T4s stay correct, and when to add each stub instead.
ReadPayroll compliance
The rules that change by province and by year. Each one links to the official government source.
Vacation pay by province
Minimum vacation pay and time off for every province, territory and federal employer.
ReadTD1 and tax credits
When TD1 amounts are entered, how they carry forward, and when to update them.
ReadEmployment standards vs CRA rules
What your province decides, what the CRA decides, and which decisions PayCub makes for you.
ReadProvince of employment
How the CRA decides which province's tax tables apply, and why it can differ from where the employee lives.
ReadIndian Act exempt income
Section 87 tax-exempt employment income: who qualifies, what to deduct, T4 code 71, and the per-stub exempt percentage in PayCub.
ReadHolidays, overtime and sick days by province
2026 statutory holidays, holiday pay, overtime and paid sick days for every province, territory and federal employer.
ReadPayroll calculations
How the numbers on a pay stub are worked out.
CPP, CPP2 and EI maximums
Why deductions stop partway through the year, and why run order matters.
ReadPiecework: acres, loads and other units
Pay by the acre, load, bale or piece with custom quantity labels instead of hours.
ReadBonuses, piecework and vacation pay
Earnings beyond a regular hourly or salary wage, and how each appears on the stub.
ReadYear-end and reporting
Remitting what you withheld and reporting it to the CRA.
Remittances and due dates
What you owe the CRA each period, the remitter types, and when payment is due.
ReadT4 slips, Summary and XML
T4 slips from your pay history, the T4 Summary, filing electronically with a T4 XML file, and the February deadline.
ReadJournal export for accounting
Send each payroll to your accounting software as a balanced journal entry: QuickBooks Desktop, Xero, or CSV.
ReadRecord of Employment (ROE)
When you need to issue an ROE, the 5-day deadlines, the key blocks, and PayCub's ROE report (beta).
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