international employment law firm alliance L&E Global
Canada | Filion Wakely Thorup Angeletti
11. Employee Benefits
Employment Law Overview Canada
Cross-Border Remote Work FAQs Canada
Employees vs Independent Contractors Canada
Starting a business in Canada
'
Canada

11. Employee Benefits

Social Security

There are a number of “social safety nets” in Canada. The most significant is the federal Employment Insurance system, which provides benefits in the event of a loss or interruption of employment. Canada’s public health care system also greatly decreases the cost to employers of providing private medical insurance to employees, in comparison to countries without such systems. Participation in a government-run workers compensation program in each province is either mandatory or optional, depending on the type of work the employer is engaged in.

Healthcare and Insurances

Citizens and landed immigrants have significant health care coverage, unemployment insurance coverage and pensions for retirement, generally covered by public funds and payroll taxes. Many employers provide additional benefits, dental care, disability coverage and pension contributions.

Most basic health care services are covered by provincial health insurance. However, prescription drugs are not paid for by the provincial health insurance plan. Many employers offer some form of insurance plan that employees are permitted to participate in. The employer may bear some or all of the cost of insurance premiums for employees.

Employment Insurance (“EI”) is available for Canadians who have lost their job and specialised EI may be available to employees who are unable to attend work for another prescribed reason, such as compassionate care leave. Some form of long-term disability insurance is also available in every province. Employers are required by law to deduct and remit EI premiums from their employees’ income and are also required to make contributions on behalf of their employees.

EI provides income replacement benefits for employees who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own. Therefore, EI is generally not available to employees who have been terminated for just cause.

The current weekly benefit amount for a claimant is 55% of the average weekly earnings from the previous calendar year to a maximum weekly benefit of $573.00.

Required Leave

Holidays and Annual Leave

Employment standards legislation provides employees with a statutory entitlement to vacation and vacation pay for each year worked. In all provinces, employees are entitled to at least two weeks of vacation per year; in Saskatchewan, employees are entitled to three weeks per year.  In many provinces this entitlement will increase with an employee’s length of service.

Employees are also entitled to between 6 to 10 paid statutory holidays per year. If an employee is required to work a holiday, the employee is entitled to premium pay (typically time-and-one-half) as well as to holiday pay for that day.

Maternity and Paternity Leave

Maternity leave and parental leave are addressed under employment standards legislation in each province. EI is available for employees who are pregnant, have recently given birth, are adopting a child, or are caring for a newborn. Because EI benefits provide only a portion of an employee’s regular wages, many employers offer “top up” benefits to employees for some portion of their leave.

Sickness Leave

Many jurisdictions also provide a variety leaves based on illness, disability, or the illness or disability of a family member. Employers are generally not required to pay employees for these leaves of absence, though employees may be entitled to EI benefits for some period of their leave. Many employers provide workplace sickness and disability insurance to employees in order to complement benefits payable under a federal or provincial statutory scheme; however, employers are not legally required to provide such additional benefits.

Specialised EI coverage is also available for employees who are unable to attend work because of illness because they have taken a compassionate care leave to care for a family member who is gravely ill with a significant risk of death, or a leave to care for a critically ill child, though employers are not required to pay employees during these types of leave, however many employers do provide additional benefits to employees.

Disability Leave

Each province provides some form of support for persons with disabilities who are in financial need, but this will only be available to persons who have significant long-term impairments that restrict their ability to work, care for themselves, or take part in community life.

Any Other Required or Typically Provided Leave(s)

Each province in Canada operates a provincial workers’ compensation system which is, in effect, an insurance system. There is no federal workers’ compensation system and therefore, if eligible for coverage, employees in the federal jurisdiction are covered by the provincial workers’ compensation system that exists in the province in which they are employed, and participation is compulsory for employers. The system creates a trade-off, whereby employees injured on the job receive coverage, and in return, lose the right to sue their employers with respect to the injury.   The premiums paid by employers generally depend on the types of activities carried on in the workplace. In some provinces, premiums are also affected by claims history.

Pensions: Mandatory and Typically Provided

Almost all individuals who work in Canada contribute to the Canada Pension Plan (CPP), which is a defined benefit plan. Employers are required by law to deduct and remit CPP contribution from employees’ income. Employers are also required to make contributions to CPP on behalf of their employees. Employees may apply for and receive a full CPP retirement pension at age 65. Alternatively, employees may receive a reduced pension at 60, or as late as 70 with an increase. Many employers and employees participate in workplace pension plans or group RRSP arrangements in order to supplement employees’ CPP entitlements.

Any Other Required or Typically Provided Benefits

Different employers offer different benefit packages depending on their industry and what kind of employees they are hoping to attract or retain. Some common benefits include private pension programs, as well as supplemented health benefits (which cover costs of items or care that are not covered by Canada’s universal healthcare system such as prescription drugs or vision ware).

 

 

Any questions

Ask our member firm Filion Wakely Thorup Angeletti in Canada