“Compliance program” sounds like something that needs a department, a committee and a hundred-page manual. In a business of five, ten or twenty people, it fits in a spreadsheet, a well-organized folder and one hour a month from someone who owns it.
What separates a business that is up to date from one that lives putting out fires is not the size of the program. It is having an owner for each obligation and a calendar that warns before the deadline. This guide shows how to set that up in six steps.
- Start with what the law requires, not generic policies: taxes, payroll, corporate filings and employer rules.
- Every obligation needs an owner and a reminder well ahead of time, not on the due date.
- Review once a year and whenever something changes: a new partner, the first employee, selling into another province.
1. List your business’s obligations
Before writing any policy, take stock of what the law requires of you. For most small businesses in Canada, the list has four blocks: GST/HST and corporate returns, payroll remittances and slips, annual returns to government, and employer rules such as WSIB and employment standards. Our guide to what compliance means in practice has the full list with deadlines.
2. Give each item an owner and a date
Turn the list into a calendar. For each obligation, record the deadline, who is responsible and a reminder two weeks ahead. A simple spreadsheet does the job:
Obligation | Deadline | Owner | Reminder |
Payroll remittance | 15th of each month | Accountant | The 10th |
T4 and T4 Summary | Last day of February | Accountant | February 1 |
T2 and Ontario annual return | 6 months after year-end | Accountant and owner | 1 month before |
Update the ISC register | 15 days after any change | Owner | When the change is signed |
The weakest point in small businesses is “owner: everyone”. When everyone owns it, nobody does.
3. Organize your records
The CRA can ask for records going back six years, and some, like the share register, must be kept for as long as the corporation exists. In practice:
- A business bank account and card, separate from personal ones.
- Invoices and receipts scanned every month, in a folder per year.
- Contracts, minutes and the ISC register in one place, with a backup.
Without receipts, the GST/HST you paid on purchases cannot be claimed back in a review. Staying organized is, quite literally, money.
4. Write only the policies you will use
A small business does not need a long code of conduct. It needs a few clear, written rules about what actually happens day to day:
- Expenses: what the business pays for, who approves it and what receipt is required.
- Customer data: what you collect, where it is stored and who can access it. Outside Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec, PIPEDA applies; in Quebec, Law 25.
- Conflicts of interest and gifts: what value is acceptable and when to disclose.
- Corruption: anyone dealing with the public sector, in Canada or abroad, needs an explicit rule. In Brazil, the Anti-Corruption Law holds the company itself liable. See our team’s article on compliance in small businesses.
5. Take care of your people
Most employer obligations show up on day one of each hire. Build an onboarding checklist: TD1 forms, WSIB registration for your first worker, a copy of Ontario’s employment standards guide within 30 days and, with 25 or more employees, the job details in writing before the first day. Also give people a way to report a problem without fear: a direct email to the owner will do.
6. Review once a year, and when things change
Schedule an annual review, ideally right after year-end, to check that the calendar was met and whether any rules changed. And review outside that cycle whenever the business changes: a partner joins or leaves, you hire your first employee, you pass CAD 30,000 in sales, you start selling into another province or open a new location.
MB Tax runs the tax calendar and payroll for the businesses it serves, and helps set up the rest. To see what happens when these obligations slip, read 4 problems a company faces without compliance.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Yes, but not a big one. A list of legal obligations, a calendar with an owner for each item, organized records and a few written policies are enough.
With what the law requires: GST/HST and corporate returns, payroll remittances and slips, annual returns to government, and employer rules.
Six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to. Some records, such as the share register, for as long as the corporation exists.
The ones that reflect day-to-day reality: expenses, customer data, conflicts of interest and gifts, and anti-corruption if you deal with the public sector.
Once a year, right after year-end, and whenever the business changes, such as a new partner or your first employee.
