Employment standards 

To ensure that employees are treated fairly, the federal and provincial governments have established employment standards regarding:

• Minimum wage
• Annual vacations and other types of leave
• Public (statutory) holidays
• Hours of work, including standard hours, overtime and emergency requirements

Certain industries fall under federal regulations, while others must comply with provincial or territorial employment standards. If your employees are unionized, there may be additional standards set out in their collective agreement that go above and beyond what is required by law.

General information on employment standards

These documents provide general information on all aspects of labour standards.

• Provincial and Territorial Ministries of Labour

  If your business is not federally regulated, you must comply with labour standards specified by your provincial or territorial government.

• Federal labour standards (federally regulated employers)

  If you are a federally regulated employer, find out what your obligations are regarding wages, leave, hours of work, statutory holidays, termination and benefits.

• Employment standards publications

  Order pamphlets that summarize the labour standards defined in the Canada Labour Code. You can also view the summaries online.

Sector-specific employment standards

• Federal construction contracts

  Learn about the labour conditions that you must meet in order to win construction contracts with the federal government.

Wages and payroll

As an employer, you are required to pay your employees at least the minimum wage established for your province or territory. For most occupations, there is one hourly minimum wage that applies. However, there are some exceptions for young workers and people in specific occupations. When paying your employees, you will also need to take off taxes and other deductions and remit them to the government.

To find out more about wages and payroll requirements, browse these resources:

• Payroll

  Find out how to deduct Canada Pension Plan contributions, Employment Insurance (EI) premiums and income tax from your employees pay, and report them to the CRA.

• Employer responsibilities — The payroll steps

  As an employer, you must follow a number of steps for managing your employees' payroll. Understand your obligations.

• Benefits and allowances

  If you provide your employees with any taxable benefits, you need to add their value to the employees' income to determine the amount subject to source deductions.

• Current and forthcoming minimum hourly wage rates for experienced adult workers in Canada

  Find out what the current minimum wage is in each province and territory, and get information on any planned increases.

• Current and forthcoming minimum hourly wage rates for young workers and specific occupations

  Find the wage rates for certain groups of people to whom the general minimum wage does not apply.

• Wages, Pay and Deductions (Federally Regulated Employers)

  If your business is federally regulated, find out about the requirements you must comply with regarding minimum wage, vacation pay, and more.

Hours of work and overtime

There are provincial and territorial standards that set out the number of hours an employee can be required to work per day and per week. The standards on hours of work also set out rules for meals and break periods. These standards apply to most employees and most situations. However, there are some exceptions and specific rules for overtime, emergencies and certain professions or job functions.

• Hours of work (federally regulated employers)

  Learn about the requirements for hours of work and overtime that apply to federally regulated employers.

Public holidays

In most cases, you will need to pay your employees for public holidays. The list of public holidays and the specific rules regarding public holidays are set out in provincial and territorial labour standards.

• Statutory holidays (federally regulated employers)

  Find out about the standards for general holidays and what your obligations are as a federally regulated business.

Vacation and other types of personal leave

As an employer, you will also have to follow provincial and territorial labour standards relating to personal leave. The types of leave and exact terms used to describe them vary across the country, but generally include: vacation leave, sick leave, bereavement leave and leave to take care of sick family members.

• Leave (federally regulated employers)

  Learn about the leave options that federally regulated employers must make available to their employees.

• Military Leave Policy Guide

  Find out how to develop a military leave policy to support the training of reservists or Canadian Rangers in your employment.

• Employment Insurance benefits for self-employed people

  Are you self-employed? If you wish to access maternity, parental, sickness or compassionate care benefits through the employment insurance program, you need to start paying into the plan a year in advance.

Maternity and parental leave

All provinces and territories in Canada give parents the right to take leave from work when they become parents. The exact amount of leave and type of leave that employees are entitled to may vary slightly by province or territory, but is generally:

• 15 weeks of pregnancy/maternity leave (must be taken by the mother), plus 35 weeks of parental leave (can be used by either the mother or father, or split between both) for birth parents
• 37 weeks of parental leave for adoptive parents

In addition to being able to take time off, your employees may be eligible for benefits through the Employment Insurance Program (for all provinces/territories except Quebec) or the Quebec Parental Insurance Program.

EI or QPIP benefits only cover a portion of your employee's usual salary when on leave. As an employer, you can choose to add to those benefits. While this is not required, offering additional maternity or parental leave benefits, like other types of benefits offered by employers, can help you recruit and retain top talent.

You need to issue your employee a Record of Employment at the beginning of the leave period.

• Maternity-related reassignment and leave, maternity leave and parental leave

  Access information for federally regulated businesses on maternity-related job modifications, and maternity and parental leave.

• Supplement to Employment Insurance (EI) maternity, parental and compassionate care benefits

  Find out about the requirements for establishing a program to top up your employees' maternity and parental benefits.

• Record of Employment on the Web (ROE Web)

  Use this secure application to create, submit and print Records of Employment (ROEs) via the Internet in preparation for the interruption of employee earnings.

• ROE Web Benefits

  Watch this Service Canada video to find out the benefits to your business when you file Records of Employment for your employees online.

• Employment Insurance benefits for self-employed people

  Are you self-employed? If you wish to access maternity, parental, sickness or compassionate care benefits through the employment insurance program, you need to start paying into the plan a year in advance.

Federally regulated industries

If your business is in a federally regulated industry, you need to comply with federal employment standards. The industry sectors that are regulated federally are:

• Banks
• Marine shipping, ferry and port services
• Air transportation, including airports, aerodromes and airlines
• Railway and road transportation that involves crossing provincial or international borders
• Canals, pipelines, tunnels and bridges (crossing provincial borders)
• Telephone, telegraph and cable systems
• Radio and television broadcasting
• Gain elevators, feed and seed mills
• Uranium mining and processing
• Businesses dealing with the protection of fisheries as a natural resource
• Many First Nation activities
• Most federal crown corporations
• Private businesses necessary to the operation of a federal act