Payroll Reporter
Can
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Can
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adian adian a
www.payroll-reporter.com
April 2018
Federal budget off ers mix of proposals
Changes to EI system highlighted by introduction of 'use-it-or-lose-it' parental leave
BY SHEILA BRAWN
THE 2018 federal budget did not contain any payroll-
related source deduction rate changes, but it did pro-
pose measures that could affect employers and pay-
roll departments in the coming months and years.
The budget, which Finance Minister Bill Morneau
tabled on Feb. 27, proposed a variety of changes af-
fecting employment insurance (EI). Chief among
them was a new "use-it-or-lose-it" EI benefit for two-
parent families, including adoptive and same-sex
couples, if the parents agree to share parental leave.
The benefit — to become available in June 2019 —
would provide up to five extra weeks of benefits to
parents who agree to share the 35 weeks of standard
EI parental benefits that the government provides.
The 35 weeks of benefits are paid over 12 months at
a rate of 55 per cent of insurable earnings, to a maxi-
mum amount.
The proposed Parental Sharing Benefit would give
those parents a total of 40 weeks, which they could
share in any combination, as long as one parent took
no more than 35 weeks and the second parent took
at least five weeks of the 40. The new benefit would
also be available for couples who opt for extended EI
parental benefits.
see ROUNDUP page 7
PM
#40065782
Legislative Roundup
Changes in payroll laws and regulations
from across Canada
see TAX page 6
Credit:
Chris
Wattie
(Reuters)
B.C. budget proposes
new payroll tax
Measure would replace MSP premiums
BY SHEILA BRAWN
BEGINNING next year, employers in British Columbia will have to
pay a payroll-related health tax to help fund the province's health-
care system.
Finance Minister Carole James announced the new measure when
she delivered the province's 2018 budget on Feb. 20. The employer
health tax will help replace some of the revenue that the government
New Brunswick
Minimum wage increase
in eff ect for April 1
On April 1, the provincial government raised New Brunswick's
minimum wage rate from $11 an hour to $11.25.
The rate increase is the result of a government decision to be-
gin indexing the minimum wage rate to corresponding increases in
New Brunswick's consumer price index.
see FEDS page 2
Finance Minister Bill Morneau receives a standing ovation as he arrives to deliver the budget
in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Feb. 27.
News in Brief pg. 11
B.C. aligns Family Day with rest of Canada
| PSAC union encouraged by Phoenix
proposals | CPP hike could result in more
job losses than predicted: Study
Lessons from
Phoenix pg. 3
Woes show importance
of prep, resources,
communication
Ask an Expert pg. 5
Calculating statutory holiday
pay by jurisdiction | Source
deductions on irregularly
paid commissions
