# T4 Slip: Canada's Employment Tax Document Explained for Global Hiring > Machine-readable page from EOR Overview (https://eoroverview.com/), an independent research platform for Employer of Record services. > Canonical page: https://eoroverview.com/glossary/t4-slip/ > Methodology: how providers are researched, scored and compared is documented at https://eoroverview.com/methodology/. > Disclosure: EOR Overview is free to use. We may earn a referral fee from some providers; this never affects a rating or ranking position (https://eoroverview.com/disclosure/). A T4 slip (Statement of Remuneration Paid) is the official Canadian tax document employers must issue to every employee and the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) by the last day of February each year, summarizing all employment income and deductions from the previous calendar year. For companies hiring in Canada through an Employer of Record or directly as a foreign employer, the T4 is your primary payroll compliance obligation with the CRA. Getting it wrong - or failing to issue one at all - carries penalties and can expose misclassification risk. ## Explanation What is a T4 slip? The T4 slip, officially called the Statement of Remuneration Paid, is a standardized CRA form that records every dollar of employment income paid to a worker in a calendar year, along with statutory deductions such as income tax, Canada Pension Plan (CPP) contributions, and Employment Insurance (EI) premiums. Employees use it to file their personal tax returns. The CRA uses it to cross-check what employers have remitted. Every employer with at least one paid employee in Canada must issue T4 slips - there are no size thresholds or exemptions for foreign-owned businesses. The deadline is the last day of February following the tax year. When that date falls on a weekend, the deadline shifts to the next business day. Why the T4 matters in global hiring If your company is headquartered outside Canada but employs people there - whether through a Canadian subsidiary, a branch, or an Employer of Record - the T4 is the document that makes your Canadian payroll visible to the CRA. It is not optional, and the obligation does not disappear because your HR team is in another country. Foreign employers with Canadian workers A non-resident employer that pays a Canadian-resident employee must still withhold and remit Canadian payroll deductions and issue a T4. The CRA's Non-Resident Employer Certification program allows qualifying foreign employers to avoid withholding on certain payments, but the T4 filing requirement remains. Missing it triggers late-filing penalties and draws CRA attention. EOR arrangements and the T4 When a company uses an Employer of Record in Canada, the EOR becomes the legal employer on record. The EOR issues T4 slips under its own CRA business number, not the client company's. This is one of the clearest practical benefits of the EOR model: the compliance burden for T4 preparation, filing, and distribution sits with the EOR, not the foreign client. If you switch EOR providers mid-year, the worker may receive two T4 slips - one from each entity - covering different parts of the year. Both are valid and both must be filed. Contractors vs. employees: the T4 vs. T4A distinction This is where misclassification risk becomes concrete. Employees receive T4 slips. Independent contractors typically receive T4A slips (for self-employed or other income). If a company classifies a Canadian worker as a contractor but the CRA later determines they were actually an employee, the company faces back-remittances for CPP, EI, and income tax - plus interest and penalties - and must reissue T4 slips in place of T4As. Foreign companies without local legal knowledge are especially exposed to this risk because Canadian employment law tests for worker status differently from US or European frameworks. What information does a T4 slip contain? The slip is organized into numbered boxes. Each box maps to a specific type of income or deduction. The table below covers the boxes most relevant to employers. Box Description Notes for global hiring 10 Province of employment Determines which provincial tax rates apply; critical for remote workers in multiple provinces 14 Employment income (before deductions) Includes salary, wages, bonuses, commissions, and most taxable benefits 16 CPP contributions Employee share only; employer share is remitted separately 17 CPP2 contributions (second additional CPP) Applies to earnings above the first CPP ceiling 18 EI premiums Employee share; rate and maximum insurable earnings set annually 22 Income tax deducted Combined federal and provincial; province determined by Box 10 24 EI insurable earnings May differ from Box 14 if some earnings are EI-exempt 26 CPP/QPP pensionable earnings Quebec uses QPP instead of CPP; Quebec workers get an RL-1 in addition to the T4 40 Other taxable allowances and benefits Housing, car allowances, and many remote-work stipends land here 44 Union dues Deductible for the employee on their personal return 52 Pension adjustment Affects the employee's RRSP contribution room; errors here have a downstream impact T4 slips vs. other Canadian tax slips The CRA uses a family of information slips. Knowing which applies to which worker type matters for global hiring teams managing mixed workforces. Slip Used for Issued by T4 Employment income (employees) Employer T4A Pension, annuity, self-employed commissions, contractor fees Payer T4E Employment Insurance benefit payments Service Canada T5 Investment income (dividends, interest) Financial institution or corporation RL-1 Quebec provincial equivalent of the T4 Quebec employers (issued alongside T4) Quebec is the most common area of confusion for foreign employers. Workers employed in Quebec receive both a T4 (federal) and an RL-1 (provincial, filed with Revenu Quebec). These are separate obligations with separate deadlines and agencies. An EOR with Quebec operations should handle both automatically. Province of employment and remote workers Box 10 on the T4 is not simply an administrative field - it determines which provincial income tax rates and rules apply to the employee. For remote workers, the CRA's general rule is that the province of employment is where the employee reports to work. For employees who work entirely from home with no physical office, the province is typically where the employer's establishment is located - but this is a nuanced area that the CRA has addressed in specific guidance for remote-work situations. Companies that hire Canadian remote workers across multiple provinces without tracking where each person works can end up with incorrect Box 10 entries, leading to wrong provincial tax withholdings and the need for amended T4 slips. Filing requirements for employers Employers must both distribute T4 slips to employees and file a T4 Summary with the CRA by the last day of February. - Electronic filing: Required for employers filing more than 5 T4 slips (the threshold was lowered from 50 as of the 2023 tax year). Filing is done through the CRA's Internet File Transfer or Web Forms service. - Paper filing: Permitted only for employers with 5 or fewer slips. A T4 Summary must accompany the paper slips. - Employee distribution: Slips can be delivered by mail, in person, or electronically - but electronic delivery requires the employee's express consent. Employees can also access slips through their CRA My Account portal once the employer files. - Record retention: Employers must keep copies of T4 slips and supporting payroll records for at least six years from the end of the tax year. Late filing and common penalties The CRA charges late-filing penalties based on the number of slips filed late. Penalties start at $100 and scale upward. Deliberately filing false information can result in more significant consequences under the Income Tax Act. For a foreign company managing Canadian payroll for the first time, the most common triggers are missing the February deadline, filing paper returns when electronic filing is required, or issuing T4As to workers who should have received T4s. Taxable benefits and the T4 Non-cash benefits provided to employees must be valued and included in employment income on the T4. This catches many international employers off guard, because what qualifies as a taxable benefit in Canada sometimes differs from rules in the employer's home country. Common taxable benefits that must appear on the T4: - Personal use of a company vehicle (calculated using CRA's prescribed standby charge and operating cost formulas) - Employer-paid life insurance premiums above certain thresholds - Housing or accommodation subsidies - Gift cards and cash-equivalent awards (non-cash gifts below a certain annual threshold may be exempt - check the current CRA Taxable Benefits and Allowances Guide for the figure in effect) - Home internet and phone allowances, to the extent the benefit is personal rather than work-related Remote-work stipends paid to Canadian employees deserve particular scrutiny. A flat monthly payment labeled a "home office allowance" may be partially or fully taxable depending on how it is structured and whether a Detailed or Flat Rate method is used for home office expense reimbursement. Correcting a T4 slip after filing If an error is found after T4 slips have been filed, the employer must submit an amended T4 slip to the CRA and provide the corrected slip to the affected employee. Amended slips are filed the same way as originals - electronically if the employer is above the threshold. There is no separate penalty for filing an amendment, but errors that result in under-remittance of payroll deductions will attract interest on the outstanding amount. Practical checklist for foreign employers hiring in Canada - Confirm whether you are the legal employer or whether an EOR holds that role - this determines who files the T4. - Obtain a CRA business number and payroll account before making the first payroll payment. - Identify the province of employment for each worker, especially remote workers. - Determine whether any workers classified as contractors should be reclassified as employees under CRA guidelines. - Track all taxable benefits throughout the year; do not leave valuation to year-end. - For Quebec employees, set up a separate Revenu Quebec account and prepare to file RL-1 slips as well. - Confirm the electronic filing requirement applies (more than 5 slips) and set up CRA portal access before December of the tax year. - Distribute T4 slips to employees and file with the CRA by the last day of February.