You run a small team in Canada, payday is Friday, and you are staring at quotes that swing from "free" to a few hundred dollars a month. So the real question behind your search for cheap payroll software in Canada is not "what is the lowest sticker price?" It is "what is the cheapest tool that still gets CPP, EI, and provincial income tax right, files my T4s on time, and does not break the day I hire in Quebec?" That is the through-line here: the honest cost picture, how pricing works, the value math, the hidden fees, and whether it is worth it for you.

Here is the straight answer on the going rate.

Plan tier Typical monthly cost (CAD) Per-employee fee Who it fits
Free / DIY $0 $0 1–2 staff, manual CRA remittance, lots of risk
Entry payroll $20–$40 base $4–$8 / employee 2–10 employees, single province
Mid-tier + HR $40–$80 base $6–$10 / employee 10–25 staff, multi-province
Full suite $80+ base $8–$12 / employee Quebec payroll, ROE volume, benefits

A 10-person Ontario shop on a typical "$30 base + $6/employee" plan pays about $90/month, or roughly $1,080 a year. That is the number to beat, and the number to weigh against one late-remittance penalty.

How cheap payroll software in Canada pricing works

Now that you have the ballpark, here is why those numbers move. Almost every vendor prices payroll on a base fee plus a per-employee fee, billed each pay run or each month. That structure matters because your cost scales with headcount and pay frequency, not with how complex your compliance is. Watch for these models:

  • Per-employee, per-month — a flat base plus a charge for each active employee.
  • Per-pay-run — cheaper if you pay monthly, pricey if you run weekly payroll.
  • Tiered bundles — payroll folded into an HR plan, so you pay for seats you may not use.
  • Add-ons — ROE filing, T4 e-filing, or Quebec RL-1 support charged on top.

The catch is that a "cheap" weekly plan can cost more than a mid-tier monthly one, because per-run pricing multiplies by 52.

WoneSuite pricing and the value math

So how does that framing land on a real bill? WoneSuite Payroll uses the same base-plus-per-employee model, which means you can forecast your cost exactly: multiply your headcount, add the base, done. The value math is where it separates from a bare-bones tool. The reason cheap matters less than correct is the CRA penalty math. According to the CRA, late or missing remittances draw a penalty of 3% to 10%, and late T4 filing runs $10 to $75 per day by slip count. One missed remittance on a $5,000 payroll can erase a year of savings.

In practice, what teams actually hit is the multi-province wall. A tool built for one jurisdiction handles Ontario fine, then mishandles Quebec's QPP, QPIP, and RL-1 the day you hire in Montréal. WoneSuite runs the federal layer (CPP, EI, income tax) and the provincial layer together, which is why a slightly higher base can be the cheaper total cost. See the full breakdown in the full guide.

What you are actually paying for

You are not paying for a calculator. You are paying for current CRA tables, because the 2026 maximum pensionable earnings rose to $74,600 and the CPP2 second tier now adds 4% on earnings up to $85,000 — a ceiling many owners still miss. You are paying for automatic Records of Employment, which Service Canada requires within five calendar days of an interruption of earnings. And you are paying so direct deposit, T4 e-filing, and six-year record retention happen without you tracking them.

A quick cost picture

That comparison is the whole argument in one image: the subscription is the small number.

Hidden costs to watch for

That said, the sticker price rarely tells the full story, so bridge your budget from "monthly fee" to "true annual cost." These are the line items that surprise teams:

  1. Onboarding or setup fees — some vendors charge to migrate your year-to-date payroll history.
  2. Per-slip filing fees — T4, T4A, and Quebec RL-1 slips billed individually at year-end.
  3. ROE add-ons — charged per Record of Employment, which stings in seasonal sectors.
  4. Multi-province surcharges — extra fees the moment you cross into a second jurisdiction.
  5. Integration costs — connecting accounting or time-tracking, sometimes a paid tier.

The reality is that a $20 plan with $4 ROEs and per-slip filing can land above a $40 all-in plan. Read the renewal terms, because intro pricing often steps up in year two. WoneSuite folds filing and ROEs into the plan, which is how you compare apples to apples — see how it works.

Is it worth it for you?

So is a paid payroll tool worth it at all, or should you stay on spreadsheets? It depends on your headcount and your provinces. If you pay one or two people in Alberta — GST only, $15.00 minimum wage, one workers' comp board (WCB-Alberta) — a careful spreadsheet and manual CRA remittance can stretch a while. But the math flips fast, which is why most teams switch by their third or fourth hire.

The trade-off is sharpest when you cross a provincial line, because minimum wage, overtime, and statutory holidays all change. For example, say you pay staff in three places: Ontario rises to $17.95/hr on October 1, 2026, BC sits at $18.25/hr from June 1, and Nunavut holds the country's highest at $19.75/hr. A spreadsheet cannot track that drift, run ROE codes, and file RL-1s for a Quebec hire. As a result, the right buyer is anyone past two employees, multi-province, or with Quebec exposure — which is why best for small business beats free within a quarter.

FAQ

Is there genuinely free payroll software in Canada?

Some tools offer a free tier for one or two employees, but you still file and remit to the CRA yourself, and free rarely covers ROEs, T4 e-filing, or Quebec RL-1. Because the CRA charges 3% to 10% on a missed remittance, "free" often costs more after the first slip-up. For most teams, a low paid plan is the cheaper choice once you count penalties.

What is the cheapest plan that still handles Quebec?

Quebec is a separate regime — QPP instead of CPP, plus QPIP, RL-1 slips, and Revenu Québec remittances — so the cheapest safe option is any plan that natively supports it, not an add-on bolted onto an Ontario tool. Under Bill 96, Quebec employees are entitled to French pay documents, so confirm bilingual slips before you buy.

How much should a 10-person business budget per month?

Budget roughly $80 to $100 CAD a month all-in for a single-province team of ten, or about $1,000 a year. Add for multi-province coverage, ROE volume, and year-end filing. Compare that against one $7,500 maximum T4 late-filing penalty and the value math is plain.

See plans · start free

You came in asking what cheap payroll truly costs in Canada, and the honest answer is that the sticker price is the small number — getting CPP, EI, provincial rules, and your T4s right on time is what protects your money. That is the pain you opened with, and it is the one WoneSuite Payroll is built to resolve: pay your team accurately, file payroll taxes on time, across every province. The next step is the easy one. WoneSuite Payroll lets you start free, set up your first pay run, and see your exact cost before you commit a dollar.