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Hiring Canadian Nationals...... Help?
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Hiring Canadian Nationals...... Help?
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Hi there,
We are a US based technology company that is interested in possibly hiring an employee in the Calgary area in Canada and I was wondering if anyone could gudie me in the right direction as
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Forums » Topic Forums » General Forum » Hiring Canadian Nationals...... Help?
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Hiring Canadian Nationals...... Help?
posted at 5/23/2005 10:25 AM EDT
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Posts: 11
First: 12/20/2004 Last: 11/28/2005 |
Hi there,
We are a US based technology company that is interested in possibly hiring an employee in the Calgary area in Canada and I was wondering if anyone could gudie me in the right direction as far as what employment laws we would have to follow, if we decided to hire a Canadian national. For example, are we required to provide private healthcare, what are the tax rules, how do we payroll this individual? Any help, would greatly be appreciated! Thanks much! Melissa |
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Hiring Canadian Nationals...... Help?
posted at 5/24/2005 1:56 AM EDT
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Posts: 1771
First: 10/24/2002 Last: 9/14/2011 |
I am in Canada.
Before I go into labour law stuff I need to know what kind of technology company yours is. Telecommunications? Software development? Consulting? This is very important because Canadian employment laws are EITHER provincial (a province is like a state) OR federal, not a combination of both like in the US. Whether a company is covered by provincial OR federal employment law depends completely on what the company does. One thing you need to know upfront whether your company is federally- or provincially-regulated: at-will employment is an illegal concept in Canada, and at-will clauses in employment contracts are absolutely not enforceable, even if the employer pays the employee a large amount of $ to agree to the at-will clause. Employers who want to get rid of employees for any reasons other than gross misconduct (theft, violence etc.) must either implement a progressive discipline process, or pay the employee off at amounts mandated by the government and common law. Tell me the job title and salary of this Canadian employee you're hiring and I'll give you an idea of how much it would cost to let him go if it ever comes to that. Regarding health care, we have government health insurance here in Canada. Employers in every province except Ontario (and Calgary's in Alberta, not Ontario) are not required to pay for any of it - and many don't. However, if you want to pay for this guy it will be very cheap - google "Alberta Health" and go to their website to find out how to pay and how much it costs. More important to Canadian employees is dental and prescription insurance. This is amazingly cheap for Americans - hook up with the Calgary Board of Trade and they can stick this employee onto one of their plans (for a fee of course, but you'll be surprised how small that fee is). Your bank should know how to payroll the employee. Lots of American companies have a few Canadians on their payrolls and so the banks do this sort of thing all the time. For info on Canadian tax laws google "Canada Reveue Agency" and visit that website. |
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Hiring Canadian Nationals...... Help?
posted at 5/24/2005 2:29 AM EDT
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Posts: 11
First: 12/20/2004 Last: 11/28/2005 |
Hi hrbth.... you provided me with some a good baseline.
Answers to your questions: Type of company - we are an application service provider - not a software or consulting company. We provide an online secure service to financial and life sciences communities that enable them to manage their workflow. I will look into athe website you suggested... thanks so much! |
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Hiring Canadian Nationals...... Help?
posted at 5/24/2005 3:52 AM EDT
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Posts: 1771
First: 10/24/2002 Last: 9/14/2011 |
I believe you're provincially-regulated. Google "Employment Standards Alberta" for the provincial employment laws. Basically, you're required to provide two weeks' paid vacation per year (and "use-it-or-lose-it" is illegal in Canada, Canadian employers are required to ensure their employees take at least two weeks' paid time off per year), OT pay kicks in at 1.5 times regular rates after 8 hours in a day or 40 in a week, and there are eight or nine legally mandated paid days off throughout the year called "statutory" or "general" holidays (these are specific days each year, check the website for the list).
If after you've read all this stuff you have more questions (which I expect you will, much of this can be quite puzzling for an American), feel free to ask me. |
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Hiring Canadian Nationals...... Help?
posted at 7/6/2011 9:31 AM EDT
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Posts: 5
First: 7/6/2011 Last: 7/6/2011 |
A partner, a software company, in the U.S. wants to hire a Canadian to work in Vancouver. and this hire will work with my firm but reports and get paid by the U.S. company. What steps need to be taken? Is there a checklist? Information that US company needs to consider for hiring a Canadian to work in Canada. ie. tax, benefits, etc. |
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Hiring Canadian Nationals...... Help?
posted at 7/6/2011 9:50 AM EDT
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Posts: 1771
First: 10/24/2002 Last: 9/14/2011 |
First you need to determine whether this Canadian can legally be classified as an IC or not. The Canadian IC rules are pretty much the same as those in the US so if the US rules allow it, it will be allowed in Canada. And if it's allowed, that's great because then the US company can just pay this Canadian as an IC and will not have to worry about Canadian employment laws and taxes. Your company will have to provide workers' comp coverage for this person, but that will be it.
So look into this and if this work doesn't legally qualify as IC work, come back here and ask me how the US company should go about legally treating this person as an employee. |
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