If you have an employee who is 18 or older, both you and the employee must contribute to the Québec Pension Plan (QPP).

This rule applies even if the employee:

• receives a retirement pension under the QPP or the Canada Pension Plan (CPP); or
• is 70 or older.

The QPP provides pension income to employees who have retired or who have become disabled. If an employee dies, the QPP provides benefits to the employee's spouse or dependants.

QPP contributions are shared equally by you and the employee. You stop withholding the employee's QPP contribution and paying your contribution when the employee's earnings reach the maximum pensionable salary or wages under the QPP for the year. 

You must remit an employee's QPP contribution and your contribution to us at the same time. We remit the employee and employer QPP contributions to Retraite Québec, which then enters the amount of the contributions and the employee's pensionable salary or wages in the Record of Contributors.

You must remit QPP contributions to us periodically, according to your remittance frequency, using the payment option that is best for you.

Calculating contributions

To calculate the employee and the employer QPP contributions, use one of the following:

• WebRAS – Calculation of Source Deductions and Employer Contributions;
• the Source Deduction Tables for QPP Contributions (TP-1015.TR-V); or
• the Formulas to Calculate Source Deductions and Contributions (TP-1015.F-V).

Enhancement of the QPP

On January 1, 2019, the QPP was enhanced and now consists of the base plan and an additional plan.

Consequently, the employee's QPP contribution is comprised of the base contribution and an additional contribution.

The contribution for the additional plan is being phased in as follows:

• For 2019 to 2023, the employee's QPP contribution includes the base contribution and a first additional contribution. They are calculated on the portion of an employee's pensionable salary or wages that exceeds $3,500 for the year, up to the maximum pensionable earnings under the QPP for the year. The rate of the first additional contribution will progressively increase until it reaches 2% in 2023 (shared equally by the employee and the employer).
• As of 2024, the employee's QPP contribution will include the base contribution, a first additional contribution and a second additional contribution. The second additional contribution will be calculated on the portion of an employee's pensionable salary or wages exceeding the employee's maximum pensionable earnings under the QPP for the year, up to the additional maximum pensionable earnings under the QPP for the year. The second additional contribution will be withheld at a rate of 8% (shared equally by the employee and the employer). The amount of the additional maximum pensionable earnings will be equal to 107% of the maximum pensionable earnings for 2024 and 114% of the maximum pensionable earnings for 2025 and subsequent years.

For more information about the QPP enhancement, go the the Retraite Québec website.