About the role
Position Summary
The Payroll and Benefits Manager is responsible for the accurate, timely, and compliant administration of payroll, certified payroll reporting, employee benefits, HRIS access governance, and payroll operations across Canada and the United States.
This role provides leadership to payroll team members, ensures regulatory compliance, maintains strong internal controls, and delivers a high-quality employee experience.
Key Responsibilities
Payroll Operations Management
- Manage end-to-end payroll processing for Canadian and U.S. employees, ensuring accuracy, timeliness, and compliance
- Oversee multiple payroll cycles (weekly, bi-weekly)
- Ensure compliance with Canadian (CRA, CPP, EI, provincial) and U.S. (IRS, FLSA, state/local) regulations
- Review and approve payroll changes including hires, terminations, bonuses, commissions, garnishments, and retroactive adjustments
- Conduct payroll reconciliations and resolve discrepancies
- Perform GL reconciliation and variance analysis
- Support month-end, quarter-end, and year-end close activities
- Deliver reporting on payroll, overtime, benefits, and labour distribution
- Provide labour costing by department, project, and cost centre
- Produce analytical and ad hoc reporting to support Finance
Certified Payroll & Regulatory Reporting
- Generate and submit certified payroll reports for government and prevailing wage contracts
- Ensure accuracy of hours worked, classifications, fringe benefits, deductions, and net pay
- Respond to audits, compliance reviews, and government/client inquiries
- Maintain appropriate record retention practices
- Prepare and file statutory documents including:
- Canada: T4, T4A, RL-1, ROE
- U.S.: W-2, W-3, 1099
People Leadership
- Provide direct and indirect leadership to payroll team members
- Assign workloads, manage deadlines, and ensure payroll continuity
- Deliver coaching, training, and performance feedback
- Review team output for accuracy and compliance
- Support succession planning and business continuity
Benefits Administration & Deductions
- Administer benefits programs across Canada and support U.S. deductions
- Ensure accurate setup of employee and employer payroll deductions
- Reconcile payroll deductions with vendors and insurers
- Manage enrollments, changes, and terminations
- Ensure compliance with ERISA, ACA, COBRA, HIPAA, and provincial regulations
Vendor & Payment Management
- Manage benefit premium payments and remittances
- Partner with Finance/AP for accurate funding
- Resolve vendor billing discrepancies
- Support annual benefits renewal processes
HRIS Management & Access Governance
- Manage HRIS payroll and benefits configurations
- Administer system roles, permissions, and access controls
- Provision, modify, and deactivate user access
- Conduct regular access audits and ensure segregation of duties
- Support HRIS upgrades, testing, and audits
Qualifications & Experience
- 5+ years of payroll and/or benefits experience supporting Canada and U.S.
- Payroll certification or accreditation (or in progress)
- Proficiency with ADP payroll platforms (Workforce Now preferred)
- Experience with HRIS systems, including user access and configuration management
- Strong Microsoft Excel skills
- Proven experience leading or supervising payroll staff
- Experience with certified payroll and regulatory reporting is an asset
- Strong knowledge of payroll taxes, benefits deductions, and remittances
- Ability to work 100% on-site in Brampton
- Experience managing 2 direct reports and 1 indirect (dotted-line)