---
title: Getting started with Canadian payroll
description: Understand the module, its screens, its rights and the path to a first Canadian pay.
url: "http://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/canadian-payroll-getting-started/"
updated: "2026-11-11"
category: Payroll / Canadian payroll
---

# Getting started with Canadian payroll

Canadian payroll calculates, in Illizeo, the pay of your employees who work in Canada, in every province and territory, Quebec included: federal and provincial income tax, CPP/QPP, employment insurance, QPIP and employer contributions. It produces pay statements, tracks remittances to the CRA and Revenu Québec, and prepares T4 slips, RL-1 slips and records of employment. This article gives an overview of the module: what it is for, its screens, the rights it requires and the path to a first pay. It is aimed at administrators and payroll managers.

## The module at a glance

Canadian payroll is a separate module from Swiss payroll: the two are subscribed to independently. It only calculates the sub-companies you entrust to it, through a “Canadian employer” record, and only contracts attached to an office in Canada.

Once the module is installed, the **Canadian payroll** menu has six entries:

- **Pays by period**: the year’s pay calendar, by employer; you calculate, check and close each pay there, then publish the pay statements — see [Calculating, closing and publishing a Canadian pay](https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/canadian-payroll-pays-by-period/).
- **Remittances**: the deductions and contributions to remit to the CRA and Revenu Québec, period by period, and their follow-up — see [Tracking remittances to the CRA and Revenu Québec](https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/canadian-payroll-remittances/).
- **T4** and **RL-1**: the year-end slips, drawn from closed pays — see [Preparing T4 and RL-1 slips](https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/canadian-payroll-t4-and-rl1-slips/).
- **Records of employment**: one record per interruption of earnings, to upload to ROE Web — see [Producing a record of employment](https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/canadian-payroll-records-of-employment/).
- **Canadian employers**: the record of each sub-company calculated by Illizeo — see [Setting up a Canadian employer and the payroll settings](https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/canadian-payroll-canadian-employers/).

Two more screens complete the module:

- the **Canadian payroll** tab of each employee’s profile: their SIN (read from the profile), TD1, TD1X and TP-1015.3 forms, exemptions, dental benefits code and takeover totals — see [The employee’s Canadian payroll tab](https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/canadian-payroll-employee-tax-forms/);
- the **Settings › Canadian payroll** settings: **Canadian employers**, **Pay statement**, **Accounting** and **SFTP deposit**.

### What each profile sees

- **Administrators and payroll managers** see the whole module: they set up employers, complete employee files, calculate and close pays, record remittances and prepare returns.
- **Employees** see, on their own profile, a reduced version of the **Canadian payroll** tab: **My tax forms**. They can read their forms and masked SIN, and submit new signed forms themselves, which a payroll officer approves. Their published pay statements and T4 slips arrive in their documents.

## Before you start

- The **Canadian payroll** module must be subscribed to and installed in your workspace: **App Store**, category **Payroll & compensation**, **Canadian payroll** card.
- At least one sub-company must have an office in Canada, with employees attached to it through their contract.
- The module’s rights are set in the role matrix, **PAIE CANADA** menu. Each has two levels: **Access** to read, **Execute** to act. The Administrator and Payroll Manager roles hold them all at the highest level:
  - **Canadian payroll module access**;
  - **Canadian employers**: read the records (Access); enter numbers, frequencies, workers’ compensation and contact, remove from payroll (Execute);
  - **Canadian pay statement** and **Canadian payroll accounting**: read (Access); edit (Execute);
  - **Employee’s Canadian payroll tab**: read masked SIN, forms and missing data (Access); enter TD1, TD1X, TP-1015.3, exemptions and dental code (Execute);
  - **Pays by period**: read calendar, pays and pay statements (Access); calculate, enter, close, publish (Execute);
  - **CRA and Revenu Québec remittances**, **T4**, **RL-1**, **Records of employment**: read and download (Access); enter, prepare, publish or declare (Execute).
- **My tax forms** is granted to the “All employees” role: read one’s own forms (Access), submit new forms or withdraw the request (Execute).
- An employee’s **Canadian payroll** tab only opens if your role covers that person and they have a Canadian contract.

## Installing the module

1. Open the **App Store**. Until the module is installed, the **Canadian payroll** card appears in the **Available** section, category **Payroll & compensation**, marked **AVAILABLE**.
2. Click the card title. Its page opens on the **Overview** tab: description, **Features** and **Information** (plan, version, category).
3. Click **Install**.

![Available section of the App Store: the Canadian payroll card, category Payroll & compensation, labelled Included during the trial, with its description “Canadian payroll calculation: federal, provincial and Quebec deductions, employer contributions.” and the Available badge; next to it, the Moroccan payroll card.](https://i0.wp.com/illizeo.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/paie-canada-01.en_.png?resize=800%2C216&quality=80&ssl=1)
Before installation, Canadian payroll is listed among the available modules.

![Canadian payroll page in the App Store, Overview tab: Available and Included during the trial labels, version I26.5.0, Install button at the top right; About paragraph, four features (federal, provincial and Quebec income tax; CPP / QPP, employment insurance, QPIP; remittances to the CRA and Revenu Québec; T4 slips and records of employment) and an Information box showing the Premium plan and the Payroll & compensation category.](https://i0.wp.com/illizeo.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/paie-canada-02.en_.png?resize=800%2C294&quality=80&ssl=1)
The module page, before installation.

## Setting up a first pay

The path from installation to the first pay statement follows the order of the screens.

1. **Install the module** from the **App Store**.
2. **Attach each Canadian sub-company to a reference period** (**Settings › Payroll › Reference periods**): it provides the pay frequency, the end of the periods and the payment delay. Without it, the pay calendar cannot be scheduled.
3. **Create the Canadian employer record** of each sub-company in **Settings › Canadian payroll › Canadian employers**: legal name, CRA payroll program account number, province of the head office, remittance frequencies and, for Quebec, the Revenu Québec number and total payroll. Click **Have Illizeo calculate it**.
4. **Set up the chart of accounts** in **Settings › Canadian payroll › Accounting** if you want an accounting voucher at each closing, and optionally the pay statement template and the SFTP deposit.
5. **Complete each employee’s file** in their **Canadian payroll** tab: SIN in the profile, TD1 forms (and TP-1015.3 in Quebec), dental benefits code, and takeover totals if you start during the year.
6. **Calculate the first period** in **Canadian payroll › Pays by period**, check the lines, complete what is missing, then close the pay.
7. **Publish the pay statements** from the closed pay, then record remittances as you make them with the agencies.

## What Canadian payroll does, and does not do

- It **calculates**: statutory deductions, employer contributions (including the HSF, CNESST and provincial health taxes), and the amounts to remit to each agency.
- It **prepares** the files: PDF pay statements, T4 XML, record of employment XML, RL-1 export, accounting voucher.
- It **files nothing** with the agencies and **pays nothing**: you upload the T4 XML to the CRA Internet File Transfer, the record of employment to ROE Web, and make remittances with the CRA and Revenu Québec. You then record them in Illizeo for follow-up.
- In Quebec, the RL-1 slips and the RLZ-1.S summary are a **working document**: until Revenu Québec authorizes the software, you file your RL-1 slips through Revenu Québec’s online entry.

## Good to know

- A pay belongs to the year of its **payment date**: the end-of-December pay paid in January is the first pay of the following year.
- A closed pay is frozen: it makes the year-to-date totals, remittances, T4 slips and records of employment. A pay that is still open counts nowhere.
- Four actions can go through a four-eyes validation: closing a pay, publishing pay statements, publishing T4 slips and declaring a record of employment issued. The matching circuits, in **Workflows**, Canadian payroll category, are delivered inactive: until you activate them, each action is immediate. Once activated, the action waits for a second officer’s decision, and its author cannot approve it.
- Holders of the Execute level receive the module’s reminders: remittance due dates, T4 slips to produce in February, records of employment to produce.
- Illizeo never makes up a rate specific to your company: workers’ compensation rates, HSF total payroll and health tax exemption shares are entered in the employer record.

## Frequently asked questions

### I cannot see the Canadian payroll menu. Why?

The module must be subscribed to and installed, and your role must hold **Canadian payroll module access** and the right for the screen you want. Without these rights, the screen shows “Access denied”.

### Does Canadian payroll replace Swiss payroll?

No. They are two separate modules, subscribed to independently. Each sub-company is calculated by a single payroll engine, chosen in **Settings › Payroll › Payroll engines**.

### Can I start during the year?

Yes. For each employee, enter the takeover totals: what was paid and withheld before the first pay calculated by Illizeo. They count towards the annual maximums, T4 slips and records of employment.

### Does Illizeo file my returns with the CRA?

No. Illizeo produces the files; you upload them yourself to the online services of the CRA, Service Canada and Revenu Québec.

### *Similaire*