Services
Payroll Services in Ottawa for Small Businesses
Hiring your first employee, or starting to pay yourself a salary from your corporation, means following the CRA’s payroll rules every pay period. BBA Tax provides the payroll services Ottawa small businesses need, from opening your payroll account to calculating CPP, EI and income tax on every pay, issuing pay stubs, remitting deductions and filing T4 slips. You approve each pay run, and we keep the calculations, deadlines and records in order.
How We Handle Your Payroll
You need a payroll (RP) account before your first remittance is due, usually the 15th of the month after your first payday. Since July 14, 2026, registering online requires a CRA account. We help you register and collect each hire’s TD1, plus a TD1ON if they claim more than the basic personal amount.
For 2026, we deduct CPP at 5.95% on earnings between $3,500 and $74,600, CPP2 at 4% from $74,600 to $85,000, EI at 1.63% on insurable earnings up to $68,900, and income tax from the CRA’s tables. As the employer, you match CPP and CPP2 and pay 1.4 times the employee’s EI.
Regular remitters send deductions by the 15th of the month after payday, and small employers with a perfect compliance record may qualify to remit quarterly. We track your schedule, file 2026 T4 slips and the T4 Summary by Monday, March 1, 2027, and issue Records of Employment when an employee’s earnings are interrupted.
When you pay yourself a salary, your corporation treats you like any employee: income tax withheld, CPP from both sides and a T4 at year-end. If you control more than 40% of the voting shares, that employment is not insurable, so no EI premiums are deducted. We set this up from your first pay.
The CRA can charge 10% of deductions you failed to make, and 3% to 10% on late remittances. Missed CPP can be recovered from an employee’s later pay, but not once it is more than 12 months old. We correct the records, amend T4 slips and respond to PIER reports.
One Process, Every Pay Period
Payroll runs on a calendar of small deadlines: payday, the remittance due date, Records of Employment within days of a layoff, and T4 slips each winter. We build that calendar around your pay frequency, whether you pay weekly, biweekly, semi-monthly or monthly. Before each pay run, you see gross pay, every deduction and net pay, and nothing is released until you approve it.
We run payroll in QuickBooks, so pay stubs, journal entries and remittance amounts come from the same records as your books. Ontario’s Employment Standards Act requires a wage statement on or before each payday, with details such as the pay period, wage rate, gross wages, each deduction and its purpose, and net pay. It can be emailed if the employee is able to print it.
Complete Payroll Services for Ottawa Businesses
From the first TD1 to the last T4, we cover the full payroll year: setting up your RP account, regular pay runs and pay stubs, vacation and public holiday pay, CPP, EI and tax remittances, Records of Employment, WSIB filings, Ontario Employer Health Tax, and T4, T4A and T5 slips. If we also keep your books or prepare your corporate return, payroll costs, remittances and the T4 Summary are reconciled with each other before anything is filed.
Why Payroll Mistakes Get Expensive
As an employer, you collect CPP, EI and income tax on the government’s behalf. If CPP or EI isn’t deducted, you are responsible for the employee’s share as well as your own, even when you can’t recover it from the employee, and overdue amounts carry interest (7% from October to December 2026). These four areas need the most care.
CPP2 and Annual Maximums
Employees earning more than $74,600 in 2026 pay a second contribution, CPP2, at 4% on earnings up to $85,000, and you match it. Deductions stop when an employee reaches the yearly maximums: $4,230.45 for CPP, $416 for CPP2 and $1,123.07 for EI. CPP applies only to employees aged 18 to 69 who are not considered disabled under the CPP or QPP.
Your Remittance Schedule
How often you remit is generally based on your average monthly withholding from two calendar years earlier. Regular remitters pay by the 15th of the following month. Accelerated remitters, withholding $25,000 or more a month, pay twice a month or more. When a due date falls on a weekend or holiday, a payment the CRA receives on the next business day is on time.
Ontario Employer Health Tax
Employer Health Tax applies to total Ontario payroll, including salaries, bonuses and taxable benefits. Eligible private-sector employers are exempt on the first $1 million, associated employers share one exemption, and employers with payroll over $5 million get none. Past your exemption, you register, pay at rates up to 1.95% and file an annual return by March 15; payroll over $1.2 million means monthly instalments.
Ontario Pay Rules
Payroll also has to meet Ontario’s Employment Standards Act. Vacation pay is at least 4% of gross wages, rising to 6% once an employee has five years of employment. Ontario has nine public holidays, and public holiday pay is the regular wages and vacation pay from the four work weeks before the holiday’s week, divided by 20.
Year-End Payroll Filing for Small Employers
The 2026 payroll year closes with slips and summaries. T4 slips and the T4 Summary are due Monday, March 1, 2027, because February 28 falls on a Sunday, and employees must receive their slips by the same day. Filing more than five slips means filing electronically. We help with:
Reconciling T4 amounts to remittances and payroll records
Filing T4, T4A and T5 slips with their summaries
The EHT annual return when payroll exceeds your exemption
Why Ottawa Employers Choose BBA Tax
Payroll at BBA Tax runs under Karim Bitar, our Lead Accountant and an ELITE Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor, with a team that includes bookkeepers. Because your payroll lives inside QuickBooks, pay runs, remittances and books stay in one file, and your questions go to people who already know your numbers rather than to a call centre.
Meet us at our Westboro office at 203-307C Richmond Road, or work with us remotely from anywhere in Canada. If you are about to hire, or you are not sure your current payroll is set up correctly, book a free intro call and we will go through your situation and what needs fixing.
What We Handle for Employers
From your first hire to year-end slips, these tasks come off your desk when we run your payroll.
Payroll (RP) account setup
Pay runs and pay stubs
CPP, EI and tax remittances
T4, T4A and T5 slips
ROEs, WSIB filings and EHT returns
Payroll FAQ
When are payroll remittances due in Canada?
For a regular remitter, source deductions are due by the 15th of the month after the month employees were paid. That covers employers whose average monthly withholding two years earlier was under $25,000. Small employers with a perfect compliance record, averaging under $3,000 a month, may qualify for quarterly due dates of April 15, July 15, October 15 and January 15. Accelerated remitters pay twice a month or more. Due dates on a weekend or holiday move to the next business day.
What are the CPP and EI rates for 2026?
Outside Quebec, employees and employers each pay 5.95% CPP in 2026 on earnings between $3,500 and $74,600, up to $4,230.45 each. CPP2 adds 4% each on earnings from $74,600 to $85,000, up to $416. Employees pay EI at 1.63% of insurable earnings up to $68,900, a maximum of $1,123.07, and employers pay 1.4 times the employee premium, up to $1,572.30.
When are T4 slips due for 2026?
T4 slips and the T4 Summary for 2026 are due Monday, March 1, 2027. The usual deadline is the last day of February, but February 28, 2027 is a Sunday, so the next business day applies. Employees must receive their copies by the same date. Late filing penalties start at $100, and not giving an employee their slip can cost $25 a day per slip, up to $2,500.
Do business owners pay EI on their own salary?
Not if you control more than 40% of your corporation’s voting shares. That employment is not insurable, so the corporation deducts no EI premiums and pays no employer EI. CPP still applies to the salary, with both the employee and employer contributions. Dividends work differently: no CPP is paid on them, but they don’t create RRSP room either.
Payroll Guides for Employers
Success Stories
I'm an ELITE Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor
Business owners regularly face issues with bookkeeping & this is where a ProAdvisor can help! Using my skills & experience, I can help you organize your books & even bring you back up to date if required. Let’s build up your books in order to provide you with the most up to date, reliable and accurate information about your company!
