CRA Requirements for U.S. Employers: Registration and Filing Checklist

A U.S. company does not need a Canadian corporation to employ people in Canada, but if it pays them directly it becomes a Canadian employer in the CRA's eyes, with the same registration, remittance and reporting duties as a local business. In Quebec, provincial deductions go to Revenu Québec rather than the CRA. For how deductions are calculated, see our Canadian payroll guide.

Registration requirements

What to set up before the first payday.

Business Number (BN)

Every employer needs a CRA Business Number (BN), the 9-digit identifier for all of its CRA program accounts. Non-resident employers can register without incorporating in Canada.

Payroll account

You must register for a payroll program account (RP account) to remit payroll deductions. This account is used for:

• Income tax deductions
• CPP contributions
• EI premiums
• Quebec: QPP, QPIP and Quebec income tax are remitted to Revenu Québec

GST/HST registration

GST/HST registration depends on your taxable sales in Canada (more than $30,000 over four consecutive quarters), not on hiring. It is separate from your payroll account.

Provincial registrations

Register with the workers' compensation board in each province where people work (for example WSIB in Ontario, WorkSafeBC, or CNESST in Quebec). Quebec employers also open a Revenu Québec account, and some provinces add an employer health tax once payroll passes a threshold.

With an employer of record, none of these accounts are opened in your name: the EOR registers, remits and files as the employer.

What you will withhold

Rates change every January, so use the official CRA tables. How each amount is calculated is covered in our payroll guide.

Income tax

Federal and provincial income tax, based on each employee's TD1 forms and province of employment. Source: CRA payroll.

CPP or QPP

Pension contributions matched by the employer up to annual maximums, plus CPP2/QPP2 on higher earnings. Source: current CPP rates.

EI or QPIP

Employment insurance premiums; the employer pays 1.4 times the employee amount. Quebec employees pay a reduced EI rate plus QPIP. Source: current EI rates.

Remittance requirements

Remittance frequency

The CRA determines your remittance frequency based on your average monthly withholding amount:

• Regular (monthly): average monthly withholding under $25,000
• Quarterly: small employers under $3,000 with a clean compliance history; the CRA tells you if you qualify
• Accelerated: $25,000 or more, remitted two to four times a month

Remittance deadlines

• Monthly: 15th of the following month
• Quarterly: 15th of the month following the quarter end
• Accelerated: twice monthly, or within 3 working days of each pay period at the highest volumes

Penalties for late remittances

• 3% if 1–3 days late, 5% if 4–5 days, 7% if 6–7 days, and 10% if more than 7 days late or not remitted
• Interest, compounded daily, on overdue amounts
• 20% for a second failure in the same year made knowingly or through gross negligence

Annual reporting requirements

T4 information return

File the T4 Summary and give employees their T4 slips by the last day of February. Quebec employers also issue RL-1 slips by the same date. The T4 reports:

• Total earnings for the year
• Income tax deducted
• CPP contributions
• EI premiums
• Other deductions and taxable benefits

Record of Employment (ROE)

When an employee stops working, issue an ROE to Service Canada, electronically within five calendar days after the end of the pay period in which their last day falls.

Record keeping

Keep payroll records for six years after the end of the year they relate to, including:

• Payroll registers
• Employee information
• Deduction calculations
• Remittance records
• T4 slips and summaries