Helpful terminology and definitions

Any amount withheld from an employee’s pay.

Electronic Funds Transfer are also known as direct deposit.

An employee’s total pay before deductions and taxes have been subtracted.

Net pay is the amount after taxes and deductions have been subtracted from an individual’s gross pay.

A pay period end date is the cutoff for the timeframe the employees are being paid.

A statement of earnings the employers provides to their employees. It is also referred to as a pay slip.

The date the employees’ direct deposits (EFT) are received, and their cheques are cashable.

A fixed regular payment issued to an employee.

Each provincial workers’ compensation board sets a maximum assessable earnings amount per employee. This includes gross earnings, before deductions, paid to all workers, including salaries and wages, commissions, bonuses, and any other form of payment that is deemed assessable.

Dollar values attributed to something the employer has either provided to an employee or paid for on an employee’s behalf. They may or may not be considered taxable income

Unique number assigned to businesses by Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).

Canada Pension Plan (CPP) is a national insurance program that provides income for Canadians when they retire or if they become disabled. The Québec Pension Plan (QPP) fulfills the same role in the province of Québec.

Employers are required by law to deduct CPP/QPP contributions from their employees' pay and to provide a matching contribution:

Working Canadians between the ages of 18 and 65 must contribute to the CPP unless they receive a disability pension from the plan or are exempt for another reason. If an employee over 65 years of age files a CPT30 form with CRA and provides the employer with a copy, CPP contributions can stop before the employee turns 70. If a CPT30 form is not filed, CPP contributions are to continue until age 70.

Canadians working in Québec over age 18 must contribute to the QPP unless they receive a disability pension from the plan or are exempt for another reason. There is no upper age limit after which QPP contributions can stop for an employee.

CPP/QPP contributions are directly related to annual pensionable earnings. The basic exemption, maximum contribution limit, and benefits are adjusted annually to accommodate changes in the average cost of living

CRA oversees tax legislation; benefits and it ensures corporate and individual compliance.

Premiums paid to Québec Workers Compensation (CNESST).

Employment Insurance Employment Insurance (EI) provides temporary income support for unemployed Canadians who cannot work for reasons of sickness, childbirth, or parenting; or who are providing care or support to a family member who is gravely ill with a significant risk of death.

EI also provides temporary financial assistance for unemployed Canadians while they look for work or upgrade their skills.

Employers must deduct EI premiums from each dollar of their employees’ insurable earnings up to the yearly maximum. Most earnings in Canada are insurable. There is no age limit for deducting EI premiums.

Employers are also required to contribute at a rate 1.4 times the EI premium withheld for each employee unless the employee is eligible for a reduced rate.

They are provincial/territorial laws that set the minimum requirements for employers and employees.

Maximum annual earnings on which an employer’s workers' compensation premiums are calculated. The maximum assessable earnings amount is determined annually by each jurisdiction. Dayforce can only remit for Nova Scotia, Québec (CSST)

QPIP is a Québec insurance program that provides maternity, paternity, adoption, or parental leave benefits funded through employee and employer contributions.

Contributions related to labour standards (CNESST) Québec employers are required to pay a contribution related to labour standards equal to a prescribed rate of the total remuneration subject to the contribution that they paid to their employees for the year.

The number of regular scheduled pay periods in a year.

Total amount of earnings that are subject to Canada Pension Plan or Québec Pension Plan contributions.

A pension that has been set up by an employer and registered by the CRA to provide pension benefits for its employees upon retirement.

A financial account that allows individuals and their employers to save for their retirement.

Remittances are the combination of the source deduction amounts withheld from employees’ pay and the employer portions, which are then sent to the Canada Revenue Agency and/or Revenu Québec.

How often remittances are required to be sent to the Canada Revenue Agency and/or Revenu Québec. The government agencies determine the remittance frequency.

Pay or other compensation provided in exchange for services or employment.

Revenu Québec is the department of the government of the Province of Québec that collects income tax for those reporting to Québec.

Unique number assigned to individuals in Canada

Government deductions required by law, which are withheld from the employee's gross earnings.

Income subject to tax deductions. In Canada, individuals are subject to federal and provincial or territorial tax. Residents of Québec will calculate their provincial tax owing with Revenu Québec.

Workers' compensation is a provincial/territorial government insurance plan designed to provide compensation for loss of wages and other benefits to employees in the event of a work-related accident or illness.

A T4 or RL-1 that is corrected after the tax forms are filed with Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and Revenu Québec

Government form that allows employees aged 65 to 69 to opt out of CPP contributions.

PD7A - Statement of Account for Current Source Deductions. This statement is sent by CRA to businesses who have remitted Canada Pension Plan (CPP) contributions, Employment Insurance (EI) premiums, and income tax deductions to CRA. The customer will use this statement to reconcile remittances received by CRA to the values displaying on their payroll reports.

Note: Dayforce does not have access to these statements.

E-PD7A - An electronic service that allows employers to receive and view their Statement of Account for Current Source Deductions online through the CRA site.

An ROE is a document that employers must issue when there is an interruption in an employee’s earnings.

Form that must be submitted to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and Revenu Québec (RQ) each financial year for individuals or corporations earning an income in Canada, for example T4 or Releve 1.

Generic term used for T4, T4A, NR4, RL 1 and RL 2 slips.

This statement shows amounts paid or credited to a non-resident recipient during the year, and the tax withheld.

This provincial slip must be filed by any employer or payer that paid any of the following to a Québec employee:

• Salaries

• Wages

• Gratuities

• Tips

• Fees

• Scholarships

• Commissions or other amounts

This provincial slip must be filed by any employer or payer that paid retirement or annuity income to a Québec employee.

This federal slip must be filed by any employer or payer that paid:

• Salaries

• Wages

• Gratuities

• Tips

• Fees

• Scholarships

• Commissions or other amounts

This federal slip must be filed by any employer or payer that paid any of the following to an employee.

• Pension

• Retirement

• Annuity

• Other Income

Form used to determine the amount of tax to be deducted from an individual's employment income or other income. There are federal and provincial/territorial forms.

Employee Status option in Powerpay. Active, able to be paid

Amount of vacation pay that an employee has earned according to a company’s policy or the jurisdiction’s employment standards but has not yet been paid. It is also referred to as an accrual.

A payroll run that is not part of the regular series of payroll runs defined in the calendar.

The information on garnishments of wages, maintenance and support orders in this section is intended to be a guide. Consult legal counsel if an order is served against an employee.

In most jurisdictions, exemption amounts can be prorated if employees are remunerated more frequently than once a month. Also, in some cases, judges have the authority to vary exemption amounts specified under a garnishment or maintenance order.

A method of data entry that allows Powerpay users to update year to date employee information without creating payment. Manuals allow Dayforce to allocate the earnings to the applicable pay period ensuring a correct EI history as well as remitting the applicable statutory deductions to the government agencies.

Employee Status option in Powerpay. On leave employees will remain in Powerpay indefinitely.

A pay period end date is the cutoff for the timeframe the employees are being paid.

A payroll run that initiates payroll processing. The number of regular runs scheduled is based on the company’s payroll frequency.

A method of entry in Powerpay used to correct a previous payment. Reversals allow Dayforce to allocate the earnings to the applicable pay period ensuring a correct EI history as well as correct the applicable statutory deductions to the government agencies.

A run that produces ROE forms for employees between regular payroll runs. ROE runs DO NOT produce payments.

Second Payment is another payment type that produces a second cheque or direct deposit for an employee.

The date the payroll must be submitted to Dayforce to ensure on time employee payments.

Employee Status option in Powerpay. Terminated employees will be removed from Powerpay on the first payroll run of the year.

Refers to the electronic file that Dayforce sends to CRA (Canada Revenue Agency) & Revenu Québec. This file contains a copy of each employee’s tax forms (T4, T4A, NR4, RL-1, RL-2), and the company’s T4 Summary. It does not include the RL-1 and RL-2 Summary.

The matrix is part of the Year End Balancing reports. It lists all earning, deduction and benefit codes set up for the account and details the source deduction calculations and tax form reporting.

Value of the benefits an employee earned in a tax year under their employer's Registered Pension Plan, Deferred Profit-Sharing Plan, and possibly, unregistered retirement plans or arrangements. Clients do not usually receive these amounts from their providers until January for the previous year. This is not the same as a CPP/QPP deficiency adjustment.

A deficiency report produced by the Canada Revenue Agency when the total Canada Pension Plan contributions and/or Employment Insurance premiums reported on the T4 information slips do not equal the amount calculated on reported pensionable and insurable earnings.

Reports that detail the information on the Dayforce masterfile up to and including the first payroll run with a November payment date.

Benefit in the form of an option given by a company to an employee to buy stock in the company at a discount or at a stated fixed price. These figures usually go into box 38, and sometimes 39 on the T4.

Generic term used for T4, T4A, NR4, RL 1 and RL 2 slips. See Payroll Forms for more information.

Canada's taxation year includes all payments made to employees from January 1 to December 31.

An adjustment that is made to the Year-to-date totals and does not impact the current pay. There are a variety of entry methods.

A processing run that allows our customers to make Year End Adjustments in the New Year for the previous year without impacting the current years payroll run.

Reports that detail the information on the Dayforce masterfile up to and including the final payroll run of the year.

Page in Powerpay Help that provides our customers with a check list and step by step instructions as to how they can prepare for a successful Year End.

A Dayforce function or code that indicates to the payroll system that it is the last payroll run of the year. If the last pay of the year was not processed, the year-end signal will attach to the first pay of the new year.

paid by all employers who have employees who report for work or are paid from a BC permanent establishment. The EHT is calculated on all BC remuneration (income).

Tax paid by employers based on the company's total annual Manitoba remuneration (income) in excess of an exempt amount.

A tax paid by employers based on the company's total Newfoundland and Labrador payrolls more than a set exempt amount.

Tax on employee remuneration imposed by the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

paid by all employers who have employees who report for work or are paid from an Ontario permanent establishment. The EHT is calculated on the total Ontario employment income reported in Box 14 of an Ontario T4 (some exceptions may apply).

AB Prairies

BC British Columbia

MB Prairies

NB Atlantic

NL Atlantic

NT Territories

NU Territories

NS Atlantic

ON Ontario

PEI Atlantic

QC Québec

SK Prairies