ARCHIVED Your Payment Statement (Pay Stub)

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Explanation of Pay Stub

The following is a sample of what your pay stub (whether attached to a cheque or a Direct Deposit Statement) will look like as well as a brief explanation of each field.

Your Payment Statement (Pay Stub) - Deposit Statement

1- Pay office number 2 - Departmental abbreviation 3 - Paylist number 4 - Personal Record Identifier (PRI) 5 - Name and initials 6 - Gross pay for the two-week period ending on the pay day 7 - Total deductions withheld from this particular cheque 8 - Net pay = gross pay less the deductions 9 - Federal taxes deducted according to tax code, salary and province of employment. 10 - Provincial taxes deducted according to province of employment 11 - Contributions to your pension plan 12 - Canada Pension Plan/Quebec Pension Plan 13 - Employment Insurance 14 - The Supplementary Death Benefit is a life insurance type coverage 15 - Disability Insurance (DI) 16 - Province of work 17 - Assigned work week 18 - Provincial Health Plan deductions 19 - Public Service Health Care Plan deductions 20 - Charitable donations 21 - Canada Savings Bonds deduction 22 - Provincial Parental Insurance Plan (PPIP) 23 - Credit Union Deduction 24 - Association or union dues deduction 25 - Taxable Allowance Benefits 26 - Entitlements and other deductions 27 - This is used to describe the number of units or hours being paid for certain entitlements 28 - The rate used for the entitlement or deduction 29 - The actual amount paid or deducted 30 - Message

This image shows a sample of a pay stub. The first three rows of information are contained within the top third of the overall pay stub. The first row of information concerns your statement of earnings. Starting from left to right, you will find fields 1 through 8. The second and third rows show information pertaining to standard deductions. From left to right, fields 9 through 17 are shown on the second row, while fields 18 through 25 are shown on the third. Fields 26 through 30 are found in the bottom two thirds of the pay stub, from left to right in the following order: 26, 30, 27, 28 and 29. You will find a brief description of each field below.

Statement of Earnings

  1. Pay office number
    • 08 = Halifax,
    • 25 = Montreal,
    • 34 = Toronto,
    • 36 = Ottawa,
    • 62 = Edmonton,
    • 66 = Vancouver
  2. Departmental abbreviation
  3. Paylist number
  4. Personal Record Identifier (PRI)
  5. Name and initials
  6. Gross pay for the two-week period ending on the pay day (this includes salary and allowances)
  7. Total deductions withheld from this particular cheque

  8. Net pay = gross pay less the deductions

    Standard deductions

    (variable depending on your marital status, tax rate and salary)

  9. Federal taxes deducted according to tax code, salary and province of employment.
  10. Provincial taxes deducted according to province of employment.
  11. Contributions to your pension plan.
  12. Canada Pension Plan/Quebec Pension Plan
  13. Employment Insurance
  14. The Supplementary Death Benefit is a life insurance type coverage. Participation in this plan is mandatory. Coverage is equal to twice your annual salary plus bilingual bonus (if applicable) rounded to the next multiple of $1,000. Premiums are calculated at 15 cents per $1,000 of coverage.
  15. Disability Insurance (DI): if your position is not represented by a bargaining agent (or excluded) you will be covered under the Long-term Disability (LTD) Plan by National Life of Canada. Otherwise, you will be covered under the DI Plan by Sun Life of Canada.
  16. Province of work (income tax is deducted based on province of work)
    • 10 = Newfoundland and Labrador (NL),
    • 11 = Prince Edward Island (PE),
    • 12 = Nova Scotia (NS),
    • 13 = New Brunswick (NB),
    • 24 = Quebec (QC),
    • 35 = Ontario (ON),
    • 46 = Manitoba (MB),
    • 47 = Saskatchewan (SK),
    • 48 = Alberta (AB),
    • 59 = British Columbia (BC),
    • 60 = Yukon (YK),
    • 61 = Northwest Territories (NT)
  17. Assigned work week (the number of hours you work in a week)
  18. Provincial Health Plan deductions (BC, Alberta)
  19. Public Service Health Care Plan deductions (PSHCP)
  20. Charitable donations (e.g. United Appeal)
  21. Canada Savings Bonds deduction (if applicable)
  22. Provincial Parental Insurance Plan (PPIP)
  23. Credit Union Deduction (for loan payments, registered retirement savings plan, savings, etc.)
  24. Association or union dues deduction (if applicable, deduction is taken from the second pay of the month)
  25. Taxable Allowance Benefits - employer paid benefits for reporting on your T4
  26. Entitlements and other deductions

    (variable depending on your status and voluntary deductions)

    Outlines salary and allowances for the period covered. The deduction adjustment is an accounting mechanism used by the Pay System to regularize the net amount of your cheques. The amount shown as a deduction adjustment on one cheque (plus or minus) will be reversed on the following cheque that same month. The province of Quebec and Ontario charge Sales Tax on insurance premiums. For Quebec, the amount is 9% on all insurance premiums and for Ontario the amount is 8%.

  27. This is used to describe the number of units or hours being paid for certain entitlements (usually overtime) or deductions.
  28. The rate used for the entitlement or deduction.
  29. The actual amount paid or deducted.
  30. Message

    A message will be printed on your payment statement only when there is a need to advise you of an important issue relating to your pay and benefits.

Note: The grey shading on your regular pay (not on supplementary cheques) is for the reporting of cumulative totals throughout the year.