An employee's public transit pass is not a taxable benefit in the following cases:

• The employee receives a total or partial reimbursement, upon presentation of supporting documents, for:
  • an eligible transit pass valid for at least one month, or
  • an eligible paratransit pass that the employee acquired with a view to using it to commute between his or her usual place of residence and the workplace.
• You purchase an eligible transit pass or an eligible paratransit pass that is provided to the employee primarily to commute between his or her usual place of residence and the workplace.

However, an allowance that you pay an employee to compensate for the cost of his or her transit pass is a taxable benefit for the employee. You have to include the value of the benefit in boxes A and L and in box G or box I of the employee's RL-1 slip (see courtesy translation RL-1-T). See Benefit Provided to an Employee to find out how a benefit in kind should be treated.

Employee who works for a public transit company

Where an employee of a public transit company receives a free transit pass, or a full or partial reimbursement for such a pass, the pass is not considered a taxable benefit, provided it is to be used only by the employee. However, the fair market value of the pass constitutes a taxable benefit for the employee if the pass is for a member of the employee's family.

If there is a taxable benefit for the employee, you have to include its value in boxes A and L and in box G or box I of the employee's RL-1 slip. See Benefit Provided to an Employee to find out how a benefit in kind should be treated.