QPP (Quebec), in plain English.

CPP does not apply in Quebec. That single fact derails more multi-province payroll setups than any other Canadian compliance error. A company brings on its first Quebec employee, assumes the federal pension system is running underneath, and spends an entire year contributing to the wrong plan. The Quebec Pension Plan is a parallel architecture with its own administrator, its own contribution rates, and its own remittance destination.

QPP is not CPP.

Revenu Quebec administers QPP. Not the Canada Revenue Agency. That distinction is not a technicality. It determines where the money goes, which agency oversees compliance, and which auditor calls when the numbers are wrong. Federal CPP contributions flow to the CRA. QPP contributions flow to Revenu Quebec. Two separate agencies, two separate accounts, and no automatic transfer between them if a deposit lands in the wrong place.

The 2026 contribution rate is 6.30 percent on the employee side. The employer matches it, also at 6.30 percent. Both rates apply to the employee's pensionable earnings, the portion of gross pay between the basic exemption and the year's maximum pensionable earnings. QPP also carries a second additional tier that applies a separate rate to earnings between the first maximum and a second, higher ceiling. That second tier is newer. Payroll systems that did not update their rules quietly miss it.

How the math runs.

The base calculation starts with gross pay. Subtract the prorated basic exemption for the pay period. What remains, up to the year's maximum pensionable earnings, is the base for the 6.30 percent. Employee contributes 6.30 percent. Employer matches 6.30 percent. That is the first-tier QPP contribution for the period.

Employees whose earnings exceed the first maximum enter the second additional tier. A separate calculation applies to the next band of pensionable earnings. Two tiers, two line items, one remittance to Revenu Quebec. Employers who run payroll across provinces handle QPP for Quebec employees and CPP for everyone else, with the correct rules applied at the employee record level, not a blanket company-wide toggle.

Audit errors we see repeatedly.

• CPP applied to Quebec employees. The most common error. A payroll system configured for Ontario or British Columbia defaults to CPP. Quebec employees ride the wrong plan for months, sometimes a full year, before anyone catches the discrepancy between a T4 and an RL-1.
• Remittance sent to the CRA instead of Revenu Quebec. Even when the QPP deduction is calculated correctly, the payment goes to the wrong agency. Revenu Quebec does not receive CRA deposits. The employer accrues arrears at Revenu Quebec while the CRA holds a credit the employer must pursue separately.
• Missing the second additional tier entirely. The QPP additional tier is recent legislation. Systems that were not updated skip it silently. Higher earners are under-deducted every pay period, and the employer covers the shortfall at year end.

How Workzoom runs QPP.

Workzoom has run Canadian payroll since 2001. Twenty-five years, family-owned. County of Renfrew, an Ontario municipality, and Silvera for Seniors both run full payroll cycles on the platform. That track record matters for QPP specifically, because the calculation covers two tiers and the remittance goes to a different agency than the one most Canadian payroll setups encounter first.

One database connects HR, time, and payroll. There is no export step between a hire record and the first pay run. Workzoom calculates QPP contributions on every pay run, both the base tier and the additional tier where applicable, and generates the remittance documentation for the employer to submit and remit to Revenu Quebec.