Pay and minimum wage, deductions, and wage recovery

From: Employment and Social Development Canada

As an employee working in a federally regulated business or industry, you have certain protections related to the payment of wages and other amounts. This web page provides information about your rights and the steps you can take if you believe that your employer has not complied with the Canada Labour Code (Code).

Minimum wage

In this section

Annual federal minimum wage adjustment
Employees under 18 years of age
If you are not paid on an hourly basis
Reporting to work at the call of your employer
Exemptions for apprentices and employees receiving room and/or board

As an employee working for a federally regulated employer, you are entitled to receive at least the minimum wage. This also applies if you are an intern.

If the minimum wage set by the province or territory you are employed in is greater than the federal minimum wage, the provincial or territorial wage rate will apply to you.

If you are under the age of 18, the minimum wage also applies to you.

For more information, refer to the Minimum Wage Database.

Annual federal minimum wage adjustment

The federal minimum wage may increase to account for inflation. Increases to the federal minimum wage are based on Canada's Consumer Price Index for the previous calendar year, as published by Statistics Canada.

Effective April 1, 2023, the federal minimum wage is set at $16.65 per hour.
Effective April 1, 2024, the federal minimum wage is set at $17.30 per hour.

Employees under 18 years of age

If you are under the age of 18, you may work if:

you are not required by provincial law to attend school
your work is not likely to endanger your health or safety
you are not required to work underground in a mine or in employment prohibited for young workers under the following:
you are not required to work between 11 p.m. on one day and 6 a.m. the next day

Note: On June 12, 2023, the Canada Labour Code , Part III (Code) and the Canada Labour Standards Regulations were amended to raise the minimum age of employment from 17 to 18.

However, a transitional provision set in the Code allows employees who are 17 years of age prior to June 12, 2023, to be considered as if they are 18 years of age, and may keep their employment if they:

remain employed by the same employer, and
remain in the same position

If you are not paid on an hourly basis

If your employer does not pay you on an hourly basis, you must receive at least the equivalent of the minimum wage.

Where the basis of your pay is not time (for example, you may be paid an annual salary or in accordance with a mileage rate), the Minister of Labour may fix a rate that is equivalent to at least the minimum wage. This rate is determined by dividing the amount of salary you received (excluding any vacation pay, general holiday pay, and overtime pay) by the number of hours worked you performed.

Reporting to work at the call of your employer

If you report to work at the call of your employer, you must receive wages for at least 3 hours at your regular rate of wages. This applies whether or not your employer asks you to do any work after reporting to work.

Exemptions for apprentices and employees receiving room and/or board

If you are registered under and paid according to a provincial apprenticeship act, your employer is exempt from the application of the minimum wage.

If your employer provides you with room and/or board, and you accept that arrangement, your employer may reduce your wages below minimum wage. Your employer cannot reduce your wages more than:

50 cents, for each meal, and
60 cents, per day, for living quarters

Getting paid for work

Your employer must pay your wages on the regular payday established.

Any vacation pay you are owed must be paid at the time you take your vacation. If your employment ends and you are owed vacation pay, your employer must pay it within 30 days after your last day of work.

Reimbursement of work-related expenses

Your employer must reimburse you for reasonable work-related expenses that you paid out-of-pocket. This does not apply to expenses you are required to pay as per a written agreement or collective agreement.

Employers must reimburse reasonable work-related expenses within 30 days after the day on which you submitted the claim for payment. This does not apply if there is an alternative time limit set out in a written agreement or collective agreement.

Important note: the 30-day time limit begins on the day you submitted the claim for payment to your employer. It does not begin on the day you paid for the expense. As such, you should not file a complaint with the Labour Program for the reimbursement of work-related expenses until:

you submitted the claim for reimbursement to your employer, and
30 days have passed since you submitted the claim

For more information, please consult IPG-120.

Deductions

As an employee, your employer can make certain deductions from your pay, including those:

required by federal or provincial law, such as:
- taxes, and
- employment insurance premiums
authorized by a court order, such as garnished child support payments
authorized by a collective agreement, such as union dues, and
intended to collect any overpaid wages

You can also authorize your employer to make other deductions, including for the following:

charitable donations
savings plan contributions
medical and dental premiums
life insurance and long- term disability premiums, and
pension plan or RRSP contributions

For your authorization to be valid, it must be in writing and set out the following:

specific amounts
purpose, and
frequency of the deductions

This ensures that you understand what you are signing and how/when it will affect your pay.

Note: Your employer can only deduct traffic tickets and fines from your wages if you provide a written authorization.

Your employer cannot force you to sign an authorization. You must voluntarily consent.

Your employer cannot deduct money from your pay for property damage without your written consent. If your employer believes that you are responsible for the property damage, an alternative is civil court. In this case, the court would decide on the matter.

For technical guidance, please consult Deductions from wages or other amounts due to an employee (IPG-060).

Wage recovery assistance

The Code has a wage recovery system for employees working for federally regulated employers.

The system allows the Labour Program to collect some amounts that you may be owed.

For example, the Labour Program can collect:

wages for hours worked including overtime
vacation pay
general holiday pay
severance pay, and
pay in lieu of notice of termination of employment

The Labour Program can recover up to 24 months of unpaid wages or other amounts owed. When your employer does not provide payroll records, the Labour Program can determine wages or other amounts owed using the best available evidence.

As an employee, you can file a complaint with the Labour Program about unpaid wages and/or other amounts owed to you by your past or present employer. The Labour Program will investigate your complaint to determine whether your:

complaint is founded, and
employer owes wages or other amounts

File a complaint with the Labour Program

When your employer owes wages or other amounts

The Labour Program may find that your complaint of non-payment of wages is founded and that your employer owes you monies. In this case, the Labour Program will first ask your employer to voluntarily pay the wages or other amounts owed. If this happens, and you agree with the amount your employer will pay, the Labour Program will close your case. You may receive the monies directly from:

your employer, or
the Labour Program

However, if you do not agree with the amount your employer will pay, the Labour Program may issue a Notice of Voluntary Compliance to your employer. This will provide you with the opportunity to request a review.

If your employer does not voluntarily comply, the Labour Program may issue a Payment Order to the employer or the director of the corporation to collect unpaid wages.

When your employer does not owe wages or other amounts

The Labour Program may find that your employer does not owe you wages or other amounts under the Code. In this case, you (and your employer):

will receive the Labour Program’s findings in writing, and
may receive a Notice of Unfounded Complaint, which:
- advises that your employer is in compliance, including the reasons why, and
- provides you with the opportunity to request a review

If the Labour Program finds a pattern of non-compliance during an investigation, it will advise the employer on their responsibilities under the Code. If the employer does not comply with the Code, they may be subject to enforcement action up to and including an administrative monetary penalty.

Administrative fees

The following administrative fee will be added to the Payment Order when issued to the employer:

a fee of $200, or
a fee of 15% of the total amount owed

Note: If the 15% of the total amount owed is more than $200, the Labour Program will apply that amount to the Payment Order along with the wages or other monies owed to the employee.

Director’s liability

Sometimes, wage recovery from an employer is unlikely or impossible. In this case, the Labour Program may hold the corporation’s directors liable for amounts employers owe to employees during their time as director. Corporate directors are jointly and individually liable for employees’ wages and other amounts to which employees are entitled, up to a limit equivalent to 6 months’ wages.

When an employer or director does not pay a Payment Order, the Labour Program can collect from a director’s debtors or financial institution.

Review and appeal of a Notice of Unfounded Complaint or a Notice of Voluntary Compliance

If you do not agree with the Labour Program’s decision, you may request that the Labour Program review the Notice of Unfounded Complaint or Notice of Voluntary Compliance. To do this, you must make your written request to the Labour Program, with reasons and within 15 days after notice is served.

Upon completion of the review, the Labour Program may, in writing:

confirm the Notice of Unfounded Complaint,
confirm the Notice of Voluntary Compliance, or
rescind the notices

In the case of a rescinded notice, the Labour Program will re-examine the complaint.

If you are not satisfied with the review decision with respect to a question of law or jurisdiction, you may request an appeal at the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB). You must make your request to the CIRB, in writing and with reasons, within 15 days after the Labour Program review decision is served.

Note: The Labour Program may refer some requests for review directly to the CIRB.

Review and appeal of a Payment Order

As an employee, employer or a director of the corporation, you may request a review of the Payment Order if you do not agree with the decision. To do this, you must make a request to the Labour Program, in writing and with reasons, within 15 days after the Labour Program’s decision is served.

As the employer or the director, you must also include:

a full payment for the amount indicated in the Payment Order or a Letter of Credit in lieu of payment, and
the administrative fee, if applicable

Upon completion of the review, the Labour Program can confirm, vary or rescind the Payment Order.

If you do not agree with the review decision of the Payment Order, you may request an appeal at the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB). You must make the request to the CIRB, in writing and with reasons, and within 15 days after the Labour Program served the order. The CIRB can only hear the appeal if it based on a question of law or jurisdiction.

Note: The Labour Program may refer some requests for review directly to the CIRB to address.

Failure to comply with a Payment Order may result in an administrative monetary penalty.

Employee who attends an appeal hearing at the Canada Industrial Relations Board

As an employee, if you are summoned by the Canada Industrial Relations Board to attend at an appeal proceeding, you are entitled to be paid at your regular rate of wages.

Your employer must pay you your regular rate of wages for time spent at the proceeding that would otherwise have been time spent at work.

This applies to appeal proceedings related to:

payment orders
compliance orders
notices of unfounded complaint, or
notices of voluntary compliance

For employees who are paid on a basis other than an hourly rate, please consult section 18.1 of the Canada Labour Standards Regulations found in the Canada Gazette, Part II, Volume 157, Number 8.

Claims against a debtor

The Labour Program may issue an Order to Debtor up to the amount stated in the Payment Order to:

debtor of employers, or
debtor of corporate director

If this is the case, the debtor will be required to pay the amount within 15 days of receipt of such an order.

Filing in Federal Court

As an employee, you can register a Payment Order or any other Order issued by the Labour Program in the Federal Court of Canada. Following court proceedings, the order could be upheld as a court judgment.

Once a Payment Order or any other Order is filed in the Federal Court, the statutory authority of the Labour Program ends. This means that the Labour Program no longer has the authority to enforce the Payment Order or the Order. For more information, visit the Federal Court website.

Page details

Date modified:: 2024-04-24

Language selection

Search