Contractor Payments – Employment Hero Canada

Available for the following plans: All Payroll plans
Available for the following user access levels: Admins

Use Contractor Payments to manage and pay independent contractors in the same platform you use for employees. You can run payroll, sync approved hours into pay runs, and manage CRA T4A reporting in one place.

Important

To help prevent employee misclassification, the platform keeps contractor profiles, workflows, and terminology separate from standard employee records.

Key benefits

Run payroll in one place: Pay employees and contractors side-by-side, without switching workflows.
Simplify compliance: Generate and submit T4As to the CRA, with built-in prompts to reduce reporting errors (including warnings for contractors under the $500 threshold).
Reduce manual entry: Approved contractor timesheets automatically sync into your active pay run.
Keep supporting documents together: Attach invoices directly to contractor profiles to support record-keeping.

System capabilities and limitations

What you can do

Individual vs business classification: Capture relevant tax identifiers (SIN, Business Number, or GST Number) based on contractor type for CRA reporting.
No tax withholdings: Pay independent contractors without tax, CPP, or EI deductions.
Flexible pay schedule mapping: Assign contractors to any standard company pay schedule.
Direct T4A filing and distribution: Generate and submit T4As to the CRA, and publish them to contractor portals during tax season.
Unavailability tracking: Allow contractors to set one-off or recurring unavailability windows.
Reactivate concluded contracts: Reactivate past contractor profiles with historical data intact, without re-entering details.

System limitations and important restrictions

No sub-contractor support: Supports independent contractors only. Sub-contractors (for example, T5018 tax slips for construction) are not supported.
Single pay schedule assignment: A contractor can only be assigned to one active pay schedule at a time.
No admin timesheet editing: Admins can’t edit submitted contractor timesheets. To preserve legal independence, the contractor must correct and resubmit the timesheet.
No native invoice generation or automatic OCR: The system does not auto-generate invoices, and uploading an invoice does not extract amounts into payroll. Admins must manually verify amounts.
No automated payroll submission: Hours sync into draft pay runs, but an admin must manually review, approve, and finalise the pay run.
Canadian bank accounts only: Contractors must provide a valid Canadian bank account. Non-Canadian bank accounts are not supported.
No cheque generation or printing: If you pay by cheque, you must create and print cheques outside the platform.
Quebec RL-1 slips unsupported: The platform does not currently generate RL-1 slips for Quebec-based contractors. These must be processed externally.
Locked tax identifiers: Contractor classification and tax details (SIN/BN/GST) can’t be edited after the first payment is processed.

What you’ll see in the app

Interface highlights

Guided setup track: An onboarding workflow designed specifically for contractors.
Clear B2B terminology: Professional language throughout the app (for example, Contract Conclusion rather than Termination).
Contractor badges: A visual tag next to a contractor’s name, so you can quickly confirm their worker type.

What contractors can and can’t access

Contractor overview and permissions

Contractor access is restricted to help maintain clear legal boundaries between internal employees and third-party vendors.

The table below lists each feature module, the level of access contractors have, and notes about what they can and cannot do.

Feature module	Contractor access level	Access notes
Personal information and documents	Full access	Can view and update their own banking, tax data, and documents.
Time tracking	Full access	Can submit timesheets and view approved hours. Note: Admins can’t edit entries.
Submit unavailability	Full access	Can submit one-off or recurring unavailability windows.
Company directory and org chart	Limited access	Read-only view (same as regular employees).
Asset management	Limited access	Admins can assign assets; contractors can view assigned assets on their profile.
Company feed	Limited access	Read-only. Can view posts and announcements, but can’t post or react.
Performance	Limited access	Can access 1:1s, feedback, and goals (admins can further restrict access).
Time off	No access	Can’t view or request employee leave.
Compliance	No access	Restricted from compliance settings and policies.
Benefits and perks	No access	Can’t view employee benefit schemes.
Company values	No access	Hidden from view.
Ask Hero AI	No access	Restricted from the AI chatbot.

Troubleshooting and FAQs

Why can’t I edit a contractor’s timesheet as an admin?

To reduce misclassification risk, contractors control their own hours. If something looks wrong, reject the timesheet and ask the contractor to correct and resubmit it.

How do I change a contractor’s GST number or Business Number after running payroll?

After you pay a contractor for the first time, their tax details are locked. If their business details change, end the current contract in the platform and create a new contractor profile.

```