Hire in Canada
Country Overview
Employment Contracts
Working Hours
Employee Leave
Employee Termination
Global Mobility
Employee Benefits
Canada PEO & Employer of Record Services
Global PEO Services (GPS), a Safeguard Global company, helps companies hire employees in Canada without establishing a legal entity. All human resources, benefits, payroll, and tax needs for the employees are managed by our Canada PEO, while the new hires and headquarter teams focus on your business goals. Using a Canadian PEO is the fastest and most efficient way to develop a workforce in Canada.
When hiring employees in Canada, establishing a subsidiary or branch office is not always the best route, as it’s often a lengthy and expensive process. Hiring via a Professional Employer Organization (PEO), or Employer of Record (EOR), is a faster and often more effective option – especially when starting up in a new country.
We hire the employees on your behalf, legally contracting them through our subsidiary in accordance with Canadian labor laws. As a result, the burden of compliance is on us and the employees can begin work for your company in a matter of days. PEOs/EORs provide you with a streamlined option for hiring employees, testing markets, and responding to growing business needs in Canada. With our Canada PEO services, you get control without taking on legal entity liabilities, contractor risks, or sacrificing on talent or speed to market.
Canada - Country Overview
Canada is the second-largest nation in the world by landmass and is barely populated. The country has the world’s longest coastline and shares it with the United States of America. It boasts a multicultural society that welcomes foreigners and exports a vast amount of intellectual and natural resources. Canada is a Commonwealth state that obtained self-governance in 1931 and full legislative authority in 1982.
Capital City
Ottawa
Currency
Canadian Dollar (C$)
Principal Language
English, French
Government
Federal Parliamentary Democracy under a Constitutional Monarchy
Employment Contracts in Canada
All Canadian-based employers must have contracts with their employees that are either written or verbal and both are equally binding and enforceable.
There is no precise definition in the Labor Code of Canada of what constitutes a written agreement.
Some of the details typically mentioned in a Canadian written contract include:
- Job title and pay (including overtime rates)
- Sickness and work-related injury entitlements
- Pension schemes or social security
- Disciplinary rules and grievances
- and more
The different types of employment relationships are:
- Permanent Employment – Under the permanent employment designation, the Canadian Labor Code specifies four major categories. There are four types of jobs:
- Full-time
- Part-time
- Casual
- Managerial/professional
Despite the fact that all of these are covered by the Labor Code, there is no statutory distinction between them.
- Fixed-Term Contracts – Per the Labor Force Survey of Canada, contract jobs are positions that are defined by the employer before hiring and are supposed to end on a certain date or once a specific task or project is completed.
- Temporary Employment– The Labor Code of Canada does not distinguish between permanent and temporary employees. Under the law, all employees are protected.
Probationary Period
In Canada, a probationary period is set at the provincial level and typically ranges from 1 to 12 months.
Working Hours in Canada
Employees are required to work 8 hours per day, or 40 hours per week.
The maximum permissible limit for the weekly schedule is 48 hours. Employees in certain professions are exempt from the 48-hour work schedule in a week. The restrictions on the work hours also do not apply to management-level employees and some high-priority jobs without regular work schedules. Employees also may have to work on a modified schedule that may compress the total weekly hours into fewer days.
Holidays in Canada
Employees in Canada are entitled to the following leave:
Annual leave in Canada – Per the Canadian Labor Law, employees are entitled to:
- 2 weeks of annual leave – on completion of 1 year of employment
- 3 weeks of annual leave – on completion of 5 years of employment
- 4 weeks of annual leave – on completion of 10 years of employment
The annual leave varies from province to province.
Maternity leave in Canada – Per the Labor Code of Canada, female employees are entitled to a paid maternity leave of up to 17 weeks.
Sick leave in Canada – Employees get paid sick leave of 27 weeks if they have worked for the same employer for a minimum of three consecutive months.
Parental leave in Canada – Federally regulated employees are entitled to up to 63 weeks of leave to care for their newborn or adopted child. Parental leave may be taken by either the father or the mother up to a combined total of 63 weeks. Parental leave may only be taken during the 78 weeks beginning:
- In the case of a newborn child of the employee, on the day the child is born or comes into the actual care of the employee
- In the case of an adoption, on the day the child comes into the actual care of the employee.
If the child is hospitalized, the parental leave period can be extended up to a total of 104 weeks.
Public Holidays
The following are the statutory national holidays in Canada:
- New Year’s Day
- Good Friday
- Easter Monday
- Victoria Day
- Canada Day
- Labor Day
- National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
- Thanksgiving Day
- Remembrance Day
- Christmas Day
- Boxing Day
Employee Termination in Canada
Employers must, generally, either provide the employee two weeks’ written notice or pay the employee two weeks’ regular earnings instead of notice when they decide to terminate a position.
Global Mobility in Canada
There are typically two categories of visas in Canada:
- Temporary visas – Temporary visas allow the applicant to reside in Canada for a set period, generally up to six months, for tourism, visiting family, learning, or working (can be single-entry or multiple-entry).
- Permanent visas – Permanent visas allow the holder to live and work in Canada indefinitely, to become a Canadian citizen.
Most employment requires foreign nationals to get a work permit. There are usually two types of work permits in Canada:
- Employer-specific work permit– An employer-specific work permit allows a person to work in Canada for a certain employer. The nature of work to be done, the employer, the location of work, and the period of the permission must all be included.
- Open-work permit– With a few exclusions, an open work permit allows anyone to work for any employer in Canada.
Employee Benefits in Canada
The two kinds of retirement benefit systems for employees in Canada are:
- Contribution-based – Canada Pension Plan (or the Québec Pension Plan, if the employee lives in Québec) (CPP/QPP)
- Government-sponsored – Old Age Security Plan (OAS)
Social insurance, often known as social welfare, is a government-mandated insurance program that provides financial help to the elderly, the disabled and the injured, and the unemployed.
Some examples of social insurance programs in Canada are:
- Dependents’/Survivors Benefit – The Canada Pension Plan (CPP) pays survivor benefits to authorized survivors or the estate of a departed contributor who has made sufficient contributions to the scheme. Beneficiaries include legal spouses, common-law partners, and legally separated spouses.
- Life and Disability Insurance/Benefit – To qualify for a disability benefit under the Canada Pension Plan, a disability should be both “serious” and “chronic,” and it must prevent the employee from working at any job regularly.
- Unemployment Insurance – The Employment Insurance (EI) scheme requires temporary financial assistance to unemployed workers while they search for employment in Canada or develop their skills.
Updated: October 01, 2024