James D. Peros C.A. C.P.A

It is the owner-manager’s responsibility to ensure that the workplace is safe for employees or subcontractors. Not only does safety protect the worker from injury or death, but a consistent record of safety also lowers payment to WSIB and lessens the cost to employers by ensuring that injuries to workers are minimized to guarantee that quality workers are not prevented from performing an essential company task. Management should take it upon themselves to conduct personalized workplace walk-arounds to identify areas that may potentially pose a safety hazard and determine whether safety procedures that have been put in place or mandated by safety boards are working as they should.   Going through a jobsite or the manufacturing factory also allows management to assess if project or floor managers as well as employees are following safety practices that have been mandated. After all, corporate safety manuals may mandate wearing safety glasses or a safety harness, but ...

In 2018, many owner-managers across Canada chose to adjust staff levels, wages and prices when the minimum wage was increased. For many, it is still too early to determine the final impact on the corporate bottom line as a full fiscal year has not been completed. With the adjustments of 2018, owner-managers may not have looked at budgets for 2019, but considering changes in the Canada Pension Plan (CPP), it may be time to start projecting 2019 and beyond. Bill C-26 On October 6, 2016, Bill C-26 was passed with the objective of enhancing the CPP to increase the amount working Canadians receive from CPP when they retire. The amount is set to increase from one quarter of their eligible earnings to one third. The increase to an individual’s pension will depend on how long and how much they have contributed to the enhanced CPP structure. An individual will receive the full increase if they have contributed to the enhanced CPP for 40 years. Further, the federal working income...