CRA payroll remittance schedules: regular, quarterly and accelerated remitters

What you remit

Every pay, you hold back income tax, CPP contributions and EI premiums from the employee. You then add your own share as the employer: an equal CPP contribution and 1.4 times the employee's EI premium. The remittance is all of that together, sent to the Receiver General against your payroll program account (the RP account).

The money is held in trust for the government from the moment you deduct it. That is why the CRA treats a late remittance more seriously than most late payments.

How your remitter type is set

The CRA assigns your remitter type from your average monthly withholding amount (AMWA): the total you were required to remit in a calendar year, divided by the number of months that had a remittance (up to 12). It uses the year before the previous calendar year, so your type for 2027 depends on what you remitted in 2025. You can see your type in your CRA business account, and the CRA reviews accounts every year.

A perfect compliance record means no late remittances, no payroll penalties and no overdue T4-type returns, and, if you have a GST/HST account, no balance owing, no overdue returns and no refund on hold. One late payment can move you from quarterly to monthly.

Due dates by remitter type

The date that counts is the date you paid the employee, not the end of the pay period. Wages for December 16 to 31 paid on January 2 belong to January.

For quarterly remitters, the 2027 dates are Friday, January 15 (for October to December 2026), Thursday, April 15, Thursday, July 15 and Friday, October 15. Remitting more often than required is fine, but it does not change your type.

Weekends, nil remittances and closing

• Weekends and holidays: if a due date is a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday the CRA recognizes, the payment is on time if the CRA receives it, or a Canadian financial institution processes it, by the next business day.
• Pay electronically through your bank, CRA My Payment or your business account. Payments over $10,000 must be made electronically.
• No payroll this period? If you have no employees, or only seasonal ones, file a nil remittance by the due date and tell the CRA when you expect to start again. Do not file a nil remittance for a period in which you made deductions.
• Closing or changing the business: the final remittance is due within 7 days of stopping operations, a change in legal status, bankruptcy, a restructuring, or the death of a sole proprietor or partner.

Penalties for remitting late

The penalty applies to late amounts over $500, or any amount if the lateness was knowing or grossly negligent. A second failure in the same calendar year can be charged at 20% if it was knowing or grossly negligent. Interest on top runs from the due date at the CRA's prescribed rate, compounded daily.

Treat the remittance like rent. Schedule the payment for the day you run payroll, not the day it is due.

Employees in Quebec

If your employees work in Quebec, the remittance is split. The CRA receives federal income tax and EI. Revenu Québec receives Quebec income tax, QPP contributions (instead of CPP), QPIP premiums and the employer contributions it collects, such as the health services fund. Revenu Québec sets its own remitting frequency from your average monthly remittance: monthly remitters pay by the 15th of the following month, larger employers twice a month or more, and very small ones less often. Check your frequency in your Revenu Québec account.

In AcboBooks

Every paycheque posts the income tax, CPP and EI it deducted, plus your CPP and EI, to Payroll Liabilities. Payroll Tax Forms → PD7A gives the totals for a month: gross payroll, CPP or QPP for both shares, EI for both shares, income tax, and the total to send. Pay Liabilities records the payment against the CRA, so the liability clears and your books match your CRA statement.

What it does not do: it does not send the money to the CRA, and the PD7A summary is monthly. If you are an accelerated remitter, add up the paycheques for each period yourself. For Quebec, AcboBooks shows QPIP separately to remit to Revenu Québec, but its Quebec income tax withholding is calculated on a best-effort basis; check it with Revenu Québec's WebRAS tool or your accountant, and split QPP and Quebec income tax off the CRA total. More on the whole cycle in how to run payroll in Canada.

Source: CRA, "When to remit (pay)" source deductions page and guide T4001; Revenu Québec, "Frequency of remittances and due dates". Check your own remitter type with the CRA before relying on a date.