Benefits Provided to an Employee Working at a Special Work Site or a Remote Location
This page details the special rules that apply to certain benefits provided to employees working at a special work site or remote location.
A reimbursement or reasonable allowance you provide to an employee for expenses incurred for board and lodging, or board and lodging you provide to the employee, does not constitute a taxable benefit for the employee where the employee's duties require them to be away from their principal place of residence or to be at a special work site or a remote location for a period of at least 36 hours, and the board and lodging are provided:
- at a special work site, where the employee performs temporary duties, and the dwelling that is the employee's principal place of residence is:
- available throughout the period for occupancy by the employee and is not rented to another person, and
- far enough from the work site that the employee could not reasonably be expected to return home every day; or
- at a location so remote from any established community that the employee could not reasonably be expected to establish or maintain a dwelling there.
If these conditions are not met, the value of the benefit is taxable and must be included in boxes A and V and, where applicable, in box G or box I of the employee's RL-1 slip (see courtesy translation RL-1-T). For more information, go to the Benefit Provided to an Employee page.
If an employee works at a special work site in a designated remote area (prescribed zone), the value of a tax-exempt benefit for board and lodging may reduce the amount of the deduction for residents of designated remote areas that an employee can claim in their income tax return if the following conditions are met:
- You provide a benefit (including an allowance or reimbursement fixed by a government order, by a decision of the Conseil du trésor or by a collective agreement made pursuant to the Act respecting labour relations, vocational training and workforce management in the construction industry) to the employee for board and lodging at a special work site.
- The work site is in a prescribed northern zone or a prescribed intermediate zone and is situated within a radius of 30 kilometres of a population centre of at least 40,000 inhabitants.
- The employee ordinarily maintains and lives in a dwelling that is their principal place of residence outside a designated remote area.
If these conditions are met, you must enter “V-1” in a blank box of the RL-1 slip, followed by the amount of the tax-exempt benefit for board and lodging.
The value of a benefit related to a reimbursement or reasonable allowance you provide to an employee for expenses incurred for transportation, or transportation you provide to the employee, is not taxable for the employee if the following conditions are met:
- The employee's duties require them to be away from their principal place of residence or at a special work site or a remote location for a period of at least 36 hours.
- The employee received a reimbursement or an allowance for their board and lodging during the period, or received board and lodging during the period.
- Transportation is provided:
- between the employee's principal place of residence and the special work site, or
- between the remote location and a location in Canada or in the country where the employee is working.
If these conditions are not met, the value of the benefit is taxable and must be included in boxes A and L and, where applicable, in box G of the employee's RL-1 slip (see courtesy translation RL-1-T). For more information, go to the Benefit Provided to an Employee page.
Under some employment contracts, an employee who leaves a special work site or a remote location for the weekend receives a check-out allowance. This allowance usually corresponds to the value of board and lodging during the employee's absence.
The allowance is taxable and must be included in boxes A, G, I and L of the employee's RL-1 slip (see courtesy translation RL-1-T).
Under some employment contracts, an employee can leave a special work site or a remote location for a vacation after a specified work period. If you pay the cost of the employee's round trip entirely, the value of the benefit must not be included in the employee's income (see “Transportation” above).
If the employee elects to remain at the special work site or the remote location and be paid a compensation allowance for having elected to forgo the right to leave, the allowance is taxable and must be included in boxes A, G, I and L of the employee's RL-1 slip (see courtesy translation RL-1-T).