November 2026: Free Payroll Beta, AODA Reporting & Your Employer Action List
November is the time to turn reminders into evidence. Prepare for Ontario’s December accessibility report, follow through on B.C. pay-transparency reporting, and confirm that October’s wage changes reached the right employees. Federal equal-treatment requirements are now in effect for workplaces within their scope. Canada Policy Manual Payroll beta is open now, free for up to five active employees across your business’s linked payroll workspaces. Explore the supported 2026 workflows, create a free account and bring your payday routine into one guided workspace. Paid plans are planned for January 1, 2027, when launch is ready; 2027 payroll is not enabled today. Your policy-manual subscription remains separate. Employers complete wage payments, CRA remittances and filing through their own bank and CRA channels. Selected official sources checked November 1, 2026. This issue covers specific priorities, not every legal change or employer situation. Quebec remains outside the product’s scope.
Legal updates
B.C. pay transparency — check completion and publication separately
BC
Effective Annual statutory preparation date: November 1 — check the 2026 holiday rule
Covered provincially regulated employers with at least 50 employees working in B.C. on January 1, 2026 must prepare the required report. Include B.C.-based remote staff. The Act names November 1 as the annual preparation date. Because November 1, 2026 is a Sunday, consider the Interpretation Act’s holiday rule when deciding whether a report is late; do not treat a calendar label as an employer-specific finding. Complete outstanding work promptly. Publish the finished report on a publicly accessible website as soon as practicable afterwards, or use the Act’s alternative where there is no such website. Retain actual completion and public-access evidence.
Ontario accessibility reporting — prepare for December 31
ON
Effective December 31, 2026 — business/non-profit reporting deadline
Businesses and non-profits with 20 or more employees must file their 2026 accessibility compliance report by December 31. Identify the authorized certifier and collect the information needed for accurate answers. Designated public-sector organizations follow a different cycle: Ontario says a missed December 31, 2025 report still needs to be filed. Our readiness PDF helps organize work; it does not certify or submit the official report.
Federal equal treatment — October 20 is now in force
FED
Effective October 20, 2026 — now effective
For covered federally regulated workplaces, different employment status alone cannot justify a lower wage rate when the statutory comparison criteria apply. Compare the actual work, establishment, conditions and wage-rate type, and assess the permitted exceptions. Do not reduce another employee’s wage to comply. Record each written wage-review request and provide the required review and written response within 90 days of receipt. This is a federal labour-standards rule, not a rule for every Canadian employer.
Alberta — keep the correct general minimum wage
AB
Effective Current general rate: CAD $15.00 per hour
The general minimum remains $15.00 per hour. Separate student, weekly salesperson and domestic-employee rules need their own coverage check. For November, inspect a pay statement against the employee’s actual category and hours. This is an implementation check, not a newly announced November increase.
Nova Scotia — check that the October rate reached payroll
NS
Effective October 1, 2026
The general minimum wage is $17.00 per hour from October 1, following April’s $16.75 rate. Use the applicable wage order and coverage rules. Check affected October work rather than leaving an April rate in the system. Do not guess the April 2027 amount from an inflation headline; the official order sets the adjustment and notice process.
Ontario — use $17.95 for covered October and November work
ON
Effective October 1, 2026
The general minimum is $17.95 per hour. Specialized wage categories and exemptions remain separate. Where a wage-rate change falls inside a pay period, the guide requires the affected portions to be treated separately for minimum-wage purposes. Confirm the work dates and category rather than choosing a rate only from the payday.
B.C. — the general minimum remains $18.25
BC
Effective June 1, 2026
B.C.’s general minimum wage is $18.25 per hour from June 1. Specialized minimum wages and agricultural piece rates have their own rules and effective dates. Keep the applicable employee category with your source record; do not substitute a specialized rate or an old general rate.
Year-end payroll — keep 2026 and 2027 separate
FED
Effective 2026 payroll review; 2027 preparation only
CRA’s July 2026 formulas include B.C.’s prorated mid-year tax changes and flag upcoming 2027 matters. Those notes are not a complete new-year implementation pack. Reconcile 2026 payroll and reporting sources now, and track the official 2027 formulas, tables and status confirmations separately. Canada Policy Manual’s supported payment dates remain in 2026; 2027 payroll is not enabled.
Your November action list
Payroll workspace
Payroll beta is open now — free for up to five employees
Create a free account now and explore the supported 2026 biweekly payroll workflows for Alberta, Nova Scotia, Ontario and British Columbia, subject to the eligibility and coverage shown in the app. Guided setup, field explanations, payroll review, retained records and authorized employee documents help make each step understandable. All available supported beta features are included for up to five active employees across the business’s linked workspaces. Employers still make wage payments and complete CRA actions themselves. 2027 payroll is not enabled.
Payroll workspace
First five free; paid plans planned for January 1
The first five active employees remain free in the planned model. Above five, the planned monthly subtotal is CAD $25 plus CAD $2 for each selected employee place beyond five, for limits from 6 to 30: 6 places cost $27, 10 cost $35, 25 cost $65 and 30 cost $75, before any applicable tax. During the ordinary beta, an action above the current five-employee allowance stops rather than silently charging you. The business owner can request a one-off notice when paid plans are ready. Paid plans are planned for January 1, 2027, when launch is ready; no automatic upgrade is created. Genuine complimentary grants and authorized retained records are preserved. Payroll and policy-manual subscriptions are separate.
Payroll workspace
A clearer home for employers — a personal portal for employees
Employers get a guided workspace for their people, pay runs, records, documents and next actions. Employees use their own sign-in and see their own authorized payslips and issued T4 copies, without employer billing or business-setup screens. The owner can download a portable ZIP of the selected business’s available records and original issued documents after the required identity and confidentiality checks. A download is not a government filing or proof of payment. Downgrading does not erase retained payroll records; access remains subject to authorization and retention rules. Returning to five employees does not automatically cancel an existing paid subscription. The employer remains responsible for wage payments, CRA remittances, filing and delivery duties.
Give your workplace policies the same practical attention
A clear payroll routine works alongside clear workplace policies. Build your company-specific policy-manual preview, review the available sample and compare the separate subscription plans. The current annual first-jurisdiction plan is CAD $249 per year; additional jurisdictions are priced separately. Choose the coverage and plan that fit your workplace. Payroll beta access does not purchase, replace or cancel a policy-manual subscription. See canadapolicymanual.com/pricing for current prices and plan details.
Prepare for AODA reporting with a free action plan
Use the free AODA readiness and action-plan tool to organize the requirements relevant to your ordinary Ontario business or non-profit, identify missing evidence and assign next steps. On-screen results are free; a professional email is required only when requesting your tailored PDF. The featured employer handbook explains the rules in more detail. A checklist result or workbook is not an official filing, authorized certification or independent accessibility audit.
Compliance calendar
B.C. pay-transparency report preparation — annual statutory date
2026-11-01
BC
For covered employers meeting the January 1 threshold. November 1 falls on Sunday in 2026: consider the statutory holiday rule before treating a report as late. Check actual preparation evidence, then publish as soon as practicable under the applicable route.
Free Canada Policy Manual Payroll beta — open now
2026-11-01
PRODUCT
Product availability, not a statutory deadline. Create a free account and explore the supported 2026 workflows for up to five active employees. Availability and coverage are shown in the app; 2027 payroll is not enabled.
Policy-manual plans and free preview — explore now
2026-11-01
PRODUCT
Product resource, not a statutory deadline. Compare the separate policy-manual plans and current prices. The annual first-jurisdiction plan is CAD $249; additional jurisdictions are priced separately.
Suggested internal wage-review intake check
2026-11-06
FED
Planning suggestion, not a statutory deadline. Confirm who logs requests and tracks each request’s own 90-day response period.
Suggested internal accessibility evidence handoff
2026-11-13
ON
Planning suggestion, not a statutory deadline. Identify the certifier and unresolved questions before the official reporting deadline.
Ontario business/non-profit accessibility report
2026-12-31
ON
2026 reporting deadline for the ordinary 20-or-more-employee business/non-profit route. Other organization categories require their own reporting check.
End of the current supported payroll payment year
2026-12-31
FED
Product coverage boundary, not a new government filing deadline. Prepare separately for official 2027 parameters; no 2027 payroll is enabled.
Planned Canada Policy Manual Payroll full launch
2027-01-01
PRODUCT
Product milestone, not a statutory deadline. Paid plans are planned for January 1, 2027, when launch is ready. The official new-year calculation pack must be implemented and tested first; 2027 payroll is not enabled today.
Featured read
AODA Compliance in Ontario: The Employer Handbook for 2026 Reporting and Everyday AccessibilityAn in-depth employer handbook with employee-count examples, reporting preparation, training, websites and employment processes. It links to the free readiness tool and explains why an action-plan PDF is different from the government report.
Give the reviewer an evidence map, not a pile of files
For each open task, record the responsible person, the question being checked, the evidence location and the next action. Keep confidential employee information in its protected system; a public action-plan tool does not need identifiable medical or disciplinary records. A short list of unresolved issues is more useful than an unsupported “all done” statement.
AODA headcount is not a full-time-equivalent calculation
For the Ontario reporting threshold, use the organization’s peak employee count at one time during the previous 12 months. Include Ontario full-time, part-time, seasonal and employee contract positions; exclude workers outside Ontario and genuine independent contractors. Resolve uncertain worker classifications before relying on a threshold.
Your November action list: confirm which requirements apply, retain actual completion evidence, resolve missing information and reconcile year-end records. Try the free payroll beta now at canadapolicymanual.com/payroll/ for up to five active employees, using the supported 2026 workflows. Paid plans are planned for January 1, 2027, when launch is ready; 2027 payroll is not enabled today. Employers complete wage payments, CRA remittances and filing through their own channels. For workplace policies, build your manual preview and compare the separate plans at canadapolicymanual.com/pricing. For Ontario accessibility reporting, use the featured AODA handbook and free readiness tool to organize your evidence. Selected official sources were checked November 1, 2026. This is general information, not a complete legal change register or a guarantee of compliance.