Paying your employees is the most important and the most responsible thing for your business. But, knowing all the details about payroll management can be a task! Which programs are offered by Canada Revenue Agency, which one to choose? Will some service charge me some crazy amount of money? How do I set up all those different online components of payroll administration? OY! My brain feels like it’s on fire. But here’s what you have to know.
In this review, I will bes showing you the best canadian payroll systems.
PAYWORKS
Payroll Services by Payworks Canada. Payroll services with HRMS and integrated employee time & attendance tracking systems from Payworks Canada.
PAYWORKS
PSIPAYROLL
PSI Payroll Services | Canadian Payroll Service Solutions. PSI specializes in Canadian payroll services solutions for US companies with Canadian employees. Call 18663025926 for your payroll services in Canada.
PSIPAYROLL
PAYTRAK
Paytrak | Canadian Payroll | Payroll Processing | Payroll Service. PayTrak Payroll Services is a Canadian payroll outsourcing services company that offers payroll management, payroll processing, payroll accounting and more for small business.
PAYTRAK
ADP
ADP Canada. ADP Canada provides payroll services, human resources management and time & attendance solutions, tax benefits and more for businesses of all sizes.
ADP
CERIDIANSMALLBUSINESS
Payroll Services | HR Services | Ceridian for Small Business. Choose payroll services and HR services that make it easy to manage your people as your company grows.
CERIDIANSMALLBUSINESS
THEPAYROLLEDGE
Canada’s Small Business Payroll Services Provider | The Payroll Edge. We have more than 25 years of trusted expertise, processing payroll for hundreds of companies. Call us today and see how we can help your business grow!
THEPAYROLLEDGE
7. ONPAYROLL
Our outsourced solutions are a new way to manage your Canadian workforce. Working with OnPayroll.ca will give you a new perspective on outsourcing.
Square Payroll — Best for Retailers and Restaurants

- STARTING AT $29 PER MONTH
- EASY INTEGRATION WITH SQUARE POS
- ECOMMERCE FRIENDLY
- SELF-SERVICE ONBOARDING
Square is best known for its POS software and credit card processing services. But they also offer Square Payroll which is an excellent all-in-one payroll solution.
It’s no surprise then that they’re a great choice if you already use Square POS. You can easily sync those timecards with your payroll system.
Since Square also offers an ecommerce solution, this makes them a perfect payroll service for any organization that relies heavily on their ecommerce or online store.

Really though, I’d highly recommend Square if you are in either the restaurant or retail industry with physical locations. They have the equipment and integrations you need to connect your entire business online, from front to back.
They also offer one of the best ways to digitally track employee hours without having to manually enter information for each pay cycle. Square will also help you calculate and split any employee credit card tips. That’s great for restaurants.
Another top benefit of Square Payroll is the setup. You can get up and running in just a few quick steps, all done online. Simply input your company info, add your workers’ information, and run your payroll.
Alternatively, you can invite your employees to enter their own information for self-service onboarding. Square Payroll has a great mobile app for managing payroll from anywhere.
Pricing for Square Payroll is affordable and straightforward. It costs $29 per month plus $5 per person paid.
Furthermore, Square Payroll offers a unique option for businesses paying contractors. It’s just $5 per contractor per month, with no base subscription fee. This is one of the most affordable pricing plans you’ll find.

Paycor is an all-in-one human capital management platform with a culmination of payroll solutions and HR management capabilities.
Considered one of the best HRIS systems in the market currently, Paycor is designed to handle everything, from recruiting, onboarding, and tax compliance, to payroll and reporting.
The platform is extremely user-friendly and responsive, and you have full customizability to tweak the features according to your organizational needs.
With extremely accurate and powerful reporting tools and features, you can track employee time, workers’ compensations, tax compliance, HR tasks, and payrolls, in real-time.
Paycor lets you fully integrate it with your in-house business systems such as Ameritas, WageWorks, etc. The platform has optimized mobile apps on both Android and iOS stores.
There is no price update on the site. This is because Paycor gives you a private quote after asking a series of questions to better understand your business and human capital management needs.
Along with full integration with third-party applications, Paycor also has an onboarding module. The payroll and tax compliance services ensure you’re always doing business the right way. If you’re looking to invest long-term in your small business, investing in Paycor is a smart move.
Visit Paycor

If you own a restaurant, Toast Payroll should be your payroll software solution of choice. Toast Payroll is designed for restaurants so that they can better their payroll processes and manage and streamline their labor.
The company also has measures in place to make sure everyone ensures compliance with government regulations.
You can effectively maintain timesheets without having to do any manual calculations.
The company also has several calculation tools for things like overtime consideration, taxes, and different pay rates.
This way, you can rest easy knowing all the payments you receive and send are accurate. In addition, the company helps you with things like state and federal labor regulation compliance.
With automatic syncing between POS and Payroll, you have several federal and state compliance tools at your disposal. There are multiple pay rates, benefits administration, integrated reporting, and dashboards.
Visit Toast

Being a fully-fledged payroll service and a huge leading financial collaborator, it’s hard to determine where Xero stands right now.
The company actively works to reduce financial damage and fix accounting gaps. After a long time of continuous efforts, the software is finally user-friendly enough to allow people without accounting knowledge to use it.
It simplifies things like double bookkeeping. Little features such as this make Xero very useful, whereas it also constantly improves its usability.
The price for Xero’s payroll services ranges between $20 to $30.
You get major bank connections and reconciliation support. You get an invoicing module and purchase tracking. There are multi-currency tracking and free unlimited email support inventory.
Xero would work for you if you were looking for a long-term solution to payroll and other HR tasks.
Visit Xero
BEST OVERALLGusto
Gusto is our best overall payroll service because it is easy to use and provides an all-in-one solution that works for most businesses. Their pricing is competitive and Gusto’s features are loaded with everything that businesses without an internal payroll team will love. From automating your entire payroll to servicing businesses in many states, Gusto is a great option for any business but really tops the other options for small businesses that need the most help.
Here’s a more detailed breakdown of Gusto’s payroll service:
- Pricing: $39 to $149 + $6 to $12 per employee per month
- Ease of Use: Very Easy
- Tax Services: Offers a penalty-free tax guarantee, automatically calculates taxes and withholdings, and automatically formulates end-of-year tax forms
- Year-End Fees: Issues year-end W2s and 1099s, included in the price
- Accounting Integrations: QuickBooks, Xero, and most other accounting software
Additionally, Gusto’s customer service is highly rated. They offer phone, chat, and email support. Chat is available from 6 am to 4 pm PT, while phone hours are between 7 am and 3 pm or 4 pm PT based on what level of service you select. Both are available Monday through Friday. Users can even get a dedicated team that intimately knows their account if they opt for the most expensive plan.
RUNNER-UP FOR BEST OVERALLIntuit QuickBooks Payroll
Intuit QuickBooks Payroll offers many of the same features that Gusto does, even down to health benefits for employees. QuickBooks Payroll is our runner-up for best overall because of how well-rounded their offering is combined with their ability to connect so seamlessly with QuickBooks, which is the most widely used accounting software for small businesses. While slightly more expensive than Gusto, Intuit still offers a competitive price, a solid service, and overall is a good fit for just about anyone, especially if you use QuickBooks.
Here’s a more detailed breakdown of Intuit Payroll’s services:
- Pricing: $45 to $125 + $4 to $10 per employee per month
- Ease of Use: Easy overall with the easiest QuickBooks integration on the list
- Tax Services: Tax penalty protection, 1099 e-file, auto-calculates withholdings, and company tax payments are integrated directly into QuickBooks accounting software
- Year-End Fees: Issues year-end W2s and 1099s, included in the price
- Accounting Integrations: QuickBooks accounting (which they also make), most other major accounting platforms
Intuit also has a strong customer support system built around all of their products. Their payroll service isn’t the most popular part of their business, but they support it the same as QuickBooks accounting. You can reach their support from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Pacific time via both phone and live chat. They also offer a payroll support center online where you can get additional help through various guides, FAQs, and other resources they’ve curated.
Conclusion
Payroll is an important function for business owners to manage to ensure that employees are paid at the right time and for the right amount. The tax benefits for small businesses in Canada make it even more important. Fortunately, there are several options for payroll processing programs in Canada.