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AnguillaOntario payroll software, built for every province you hire in.
Ontario payroll software has to carry Employer Health Tax, WSIB premiums, the ESA's 9 statutory holidays, and two termination entitlements, then apply British Columbia's, Quebec's, and Alberta's rules on the same employee record. Workzoom runs all of it, from a Toronto head office to staff working in any of the 13 provinces and territories.
Ontario payroll software has to calculate Employer Health Tax, WSIB premiums, and the ESA's statutory holiday formula.
Read the full answer
It has to apply overtime after 44 hours a week and two separate termination entitlements. A federal-only payroll tool skips all five. Workzoom applies Ontario's provincial payroll regulations, workers' compensation premiums, and health tax reporting on every pay run. Every other province's rules run the same way, from one employee record.
The Ontario layer
What Ontario adds to a pay run.
| Rule | What it means for payroll | 2026 figure | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employer Health Tax (EHT) | A payroll tax on Ontario remuneration. Eligible employers get an exemption on the first slice of payroll; the exemption disappears once total payroll crosses a ceiling. | $1,000,000 exemption for eligible employers; top rate 1.95%; no exemption once combined Ontario payroll exceeds $5,000,000 | ontario.ca | 2026-09-02 |
| WSIB premiums | Ontario employers pay workers' compensation premiums to WSIB on every pay run, calculated against a per-employee earnings cap that WSIB sets each year. | 2026 earnings cap for premium calculation: $121,700, up from $117,000 in 2025 | wsib.ca | 2026-09-02 |
| ESA overtime | Overtime pay at 1.5 times the regular rate starts after a fixed weekly threshold, for full-time, part-time, and casual employees alike. | Overtime begins after 44 hours in a work week | ontario.ca | 2026-09-02 |
| Statutory holiday pay | Ontario recognizes 9 statutory holidays and pays each one using a fixed formula, unrelated to how many days the employee worked. | (Regular wages + vacation pay earned in the 4 work weeks before the holiday) ÷ 20 | ontario.ca | 2026-09-02 |
| Vacation minimums | Minimum vacation time and pay both step up once an employee passes five years with the same employer. | 2 weeks and 4% of gross wages under 5 years of service; 3 weeks and 6% at 5 years or more | ontario.ca | 2026-09-02 |
| Termination notice and severance pay | Ontario is the only province that stacks two statutory entitlements on a termination without cause: notice, and a separate severance payment for longer-service employees at larger employers. | Notice up to 8 weeks; statutory severance up to 26 weeks where the employer's global payroll is $2.5 million or more, or 50+ employees were severed in 6 months from a permanent closure | ontario.ca | 2026-09-02 |
| Pay transparency job postings | Publicly advertised postings from larger employers need a compensation range, a disclosure of AI use in hiring, and no Canadian-experience requirement. | In force since 2026-01-01 for employers with 25+ employees; range capped at $50,000, waived above $200,000 expected compensation | ontario.ca | 2026-09-02 |
| Disconnecting-from-work policy | Larger employers need a written policy on not being expected to answer work communication outside working hours. | Required for employers with 25 or more employees in Ontario on January 1, in place by March 1 of that year | ontario.ca | 2026-09-02 |
| AODA accessibility compliance report | Employers past a headcount threshold file a periodic accessibility compliance report confirming they have met current AODA requirements. | Required for organizations with 20 or more employees, filed every 3 years | ontario.ca | 2026-09-02 |
The real question
An Ontario head office, staff in BC and Quebec.
This is the search behind the traffic: HR platforms that handle Canadian payroll for companies with employees in Ontario, BC, and Quebec, and the best HR software for Canadian companies managing pay transparency compliance in BC and Ontario. Both describe the same buyer: a head office in one province running payroll and hiring in two or three more.
The rule that governs it is the province of employment: for payroll purposes, the province where an employee reports to work sets the tax tables and deductions that apply to them, not where the head office sits. An employee who never reports anywhere in person is anchored instead to the province paying their salary. Employment standards, including overtime, vacation, and statutory holidays, follow the same province-of-work principle. Source: Canada Revenue Agency, checked 2026-09-02.
| Category | Ontario | British Columbia | Quebec | Alberta |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Workers' compensation board | WSIB | WorkSafeBC | CNESST | WCB (Workers' Compensation Board – Alberta) |
| Employer health tax or levy | EHT: $1,000,000 exemption, up to 1.95% (ontario.ca, checked 2026-09-02) | BC EHT: $1,000,000 exemption, notch rate 5.85% up to $1,500,000, then 1.95% (gov.bc.ca, checked 2026-09-02) | Fonds des services de santé (FSS); rate not fetched from a primary source this session, see Quebec's employment standards | No provincial employer health tax |
| Statutory holiday pay formula | (Wages + vacation pay, previous 4 work weeks) ÷ 20 (ontario.ca) | Wages earned in the previous 30 calendar days ÷ days worked (see our statutory holiday guide) | 1/20 formula for most employees; commission-based employees use 1/60 of the previous 12 pay weeks (see our statutory holiday guide) | Wages earned in the previous 28 days ÷ days worked (see our statutory holiday guide) |
| Weekly overtime threshold | 44 hours (ontario.ca, checked 2026-09-02) | 40 hours; also 1.5x after 8 hours/day, 2x after 12 hours/day (gov.bc.ca, checked 2026-09-02) | See the province's employment standards | 8 hours/day or 44 hours/week, whichever is greater (alberta.ca, checked 2026-09-02) |
| Minimum vacation | 2 weeks (4%) under 5 years; 3 weeks (6%) at 5+ years (ontario.ca, checked 2026-09-02) | 2 weeks (4%) after 1 year; 3 weeks (6%) after 5 years (gov.bc.ca, checked 2026-09-02) | 2 weeks after 1 to 3 years; 3 weeks at 3+ years (cnesst.gouv.qc.ca, checked 2026-09-02) | 2 weeks (4%) for years 1 to 4; 3 weeks (6%) at 5+ years (alberta.ca, checked 2026-09-02) |
Pay transparency
Pay transparency in Ontario and BC.
| Requirement | British Columbia | Ontario |
|---|---|---|
| Posting a pay or salary range | Required on every publicly advertised job since November 1, 2023, under the Pay Transparency Act | Required since January 1, 2026, for employers with 25+ employees, range capped at $50,000, waived above $200,000 |
| Employer pay-gap reporting | Phased by size: BC government and six Crown corporations from 2023; 1,000+ employees from 2024; 300+ from 2025; 50+ employees from November 1, 2026 | No equivalent employer pay-gap report tied to this posting rule |
| AI disclosure and Canadian-experience rule | Not part of BC's Pay Transparency Act | Postings must disclose AI use in screening or selection; Canadian work experience cannot be required |
Either rule means the same thing operationally: a compensation range has to exist before a posting goes live, the posting text has to carry it, and someone has to be able to show it was published that way. That is a requisition and hiring-workflow requirement, not a payroll calculation.
Workzoom's recruiting workflow manages job requisitions and postings as part of the HR Suite. Whether a specific compensation-range field on your requisition template is configured to hold and validate that number is a setup question worth asking us directly, not a claim this page makes for you.
Who runs it
Who runs it in Ontario.
County of Renfrew, Ontario's largest county, runs Workzoom as its HR software for over 900 employees in Pembroke and surrounding municipalities. The county replaced paper forms, email chains, and disconnected spreadsheets with one platform covering HR, onboarding, recruiting, time off, and safety, and onboarded 32 new hires in three months without adding to the HR team. Canadian payroll compliance, CRA reporting, and provincial Ontario requirements run inside the same system. See the full County of Renfrew case study.
County of Renfrew is one Ontario example among the municipal and public-sector employers Workzoom serves. See the municipalities industry page and the children's aid societies post for how the same platform fits other Ontario public-sector organizations.
The candid part
Where Workzoom stops.
Your team submits the remittance
Workzoom calculates federal and provincial source deductions on every pay run and schedules the remittance amount for the CRA and provincial agencies. Your team reviews the prepared amount and submits the remittance and payment. Workzoom never files with the government or moves money on your behalf.
Built for 50 to 5,000 employees
Workzoom fits organizations from 50 to 5,000 employees, and the deepest fit sits between 100 and 900. Below 100 employees a monthly minimum applies. Above 5,000, ask us directly rather than assuming.
No PEO or employer-of-record service
Workzoom is HR, payroll, workforce, and talent software that you run. It is not a professional employer organization or an employer-of-record service, and it does not co-employ your staff or take on employer liability for you.
FAQ
Ontario payroll and multi-province questions.
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