On October 1, 2023, the general minimum wage rate that applies to most provincially-regulated employees in Ontario will increase from $15.50 to $16.55 per hour.

The minimum wage rates for students, liquor servers, hunting and fishing guides, wilderness guides and homeworkers in Ontario will also increase on October 1, 2023. The Ontario Ministry of Labour has posted a list of these increased rates on its website.

Provincially-regulated employers in Ontario who are paying their employees the minimum wage should:

• take steps to ensure their payroll records are updated effective October 1, 2023, to reflect the increased rates. If the October 1 change occurs partway through a pay period, an employer will need to treat the pay period as if it were two distinct periods and the employee must receive at least the minimum wage that applies in each of those periods; and
• consider whether this increase in labour costs will impact budgeting, scheduling or staffing needs, and plan accordingly.

https://www.mondaq.com/canada/employee-rights-labour-relations/1367992/general-minimum-wage-in-ontario-will-rise-to-%24-1655-per-hour-on-october-1-2023

I founded Canadian Group Insurance Brokers (CGIB) as an association dedicated to educating employee benefit advisors, across the country.  Along the way, the group has grown to included insurers, TPA’s, and other providers in the group insurance space. Since 2009 we have produced over 70 educational events with hundreds of speakers, ranging in size from workshops of 40 to seminars with over 350 in attendance, all while garnering rave reviews.

As these events have grown, many employers have indicated an interest in attending these full-day educational events.  The feedback from clients is that they love to be the “fly on the wall” in the event and hear what only advisors would generally get to hear. Would you like to be that fly?

Our next seminar is on November 8th and located in Vaughan (near Hwy’s 407 and 400) and the details are all here… https://cgib.glueup.com/event/november-8th-2023-cgib-toronto-seminar-71832/

If you are an existing or prospective client, and and are interested in attending, please drop me an e-mail and I’ll book you a spot (at my cost).

The new National Dental Plan is becoming a reality.

The program is expected to launch later this year, with coverage for kids under the age of 18, people with disabilities and seniors.  Initially, this will program will benefit families with net annual incomes below $90,000 and NO private coverage of any kind.

Sun Life has been awarded the project to get things started.  READ MORE HERE

Most employers will not make changes, as private plans are likely to provide far superior coverage to the federal plan.  that said, clients that have dental plans will need to report the fact on T-4’s each year.

The article for payroll Company Knit People provides a good summary.

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To support the implementation of the Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP), the 2023 Budget Implementation Act includes legislative updates to permit its effective administration of the Dental Care Measures Act.

The Dental Care Measures Act will permit the collection of Social Insurance Numbers from applicants and require the reporting of employer-provided dental coverage via T4 and T4A tax slips.

The legislation requires employers to report on a tax slip whether an employee, former employee, or a spouse of a deceased employee was eligible on December 31 of the reporting tax year, to access dental insurance or dental coverage of any kind, due to current or former employment.

This includes access to ongoing (not one-time occurrence/exceptional) dental care coverage, reimbursement, or insurance as an employee or retiree benefit. Whether or not an individual made use of, or accepted coverage/insurance is not reported. Reporting covers only whether or not it was available to them.

Employers may include Pension Plan Administrators and other organizations that complete T4As and T4s annually.

This reporting requirement will be mandatory beginning with the 2023 tax year reporting cycle, and will continue to be required on an annual basis.As a result, the following new boxes will be added to the T4 and T4A slips for the 2023 tax year along with specific codes:

T4 Box 45: Employer-Offered Dental Benefits
T4A Box 015: Payer-Offered Dental Benefits

Code 1 – No access to any dental care insurance, or coverage of dental services of any kind.
Code 2 – Access to any dental care insurance, or coverage of dental services of any kind for only the payee.
Code 3 – Access to any dental care insurance, or coverage of dental services of any kind for payee, spouse and dependants.
Code 4 – Access to any dental care insurance, or coverage of dental services of any kind for only the payee and their spouse.
Code 5 – Access to any dental care insurance, or coverage of dental services of any kind for only the payee and dependants.

https://help.knitpeople.com/hc/en-us/articles/16416322216599-New-Boxes-added-to-the-T4-T4A-slips-for-National-Dental-Plan