Payroll & Benefits Specialist

Payroll and Benefits Specialist

Own full-cycle payroll and benefits for a growing multi-entity, multi-province group

Toronto, ON or Kelowna, BC

Full-time, permanent

About the opportunity

PRI is a multidisciplinary engineering and environmental consulting firm with offices across British Columbia, Alberta, Nova Scotia, and Ontario, and part of a group of related companies. We are seeking a Payroll and Benefits Specialist to own payroll and benefits end to end for 150 to 200 employees across three companies in the group, with the firm growing toward 300.

This is a sole-practitioner role with real ownership. You will run every payroll cycle, administer the group benefits and retirement plans, handle year-end and all statutory remittances and filings across multiple provinces, and keep payroll, HR, and finance systems reconciled with each other. You will be the person employees trust to get their pay right and the person the CFO relies on for clean, timely, reconciled payroll data. You will work closely with the Director, Human Resources on employee changes, leaves, and benefits. It suits someone who takes pride in accuracy, likes owning a process completely, and is comfortable being the expert in the room on payroll compliance.

What you'll do

Payroll

• Process full-cycle payroll on schedule for all three companies, including salaried, hourly, and field staff, overtime, allowances, taxable benefits, and commissions and bonuses.
• Administer new hires, changes, leaves, terminations, and Records of Employment accurately and on time.
• Calculate and remit source deductions, workers' compensation (WorkSafeBC, WCB Alberta, WCB Saskatchewan, WSIB), Employer Health Tax, and other provincial and federal remittances for each entity.
• Complete year-end: T4s, T4As, reconciliations, pension adjustments, and WCB and EHT annual returns for each company and province.
• Reconcile payroll to the general ledger each cycle with the Controller, and prepare payroll journal entries, accruals, and reports for finance.
• Respond to employee payroll questions, and to CRA, Service Canada, and provincial agency inquiries and audits.

Benefits and retirement

• Administer the group benefits plan: enrolments, changes, terminations, premium reconciliation, and carrier invoices across all three companies.
• Administer the group retirement plan contributions, matching, and remittances.
• Support employees through benefits questions, leaves, disability claims, and return-to-work coordination, working with HR and the carriers.
• Support annual benefits renewal with the CFO and the Director, Human Resources, including data, cost analysis, and plan communication.

Systems and compliance

• Own the payroll system (Payworks) and keep employee data aligned between payroll, the HR system of record, and finance; support the firm's move to its new HR platform.
• Keep payroll practice compliant with employment standards and tax rules in each province, and document procedures so payroll runs cleanly every time.
• Maintain confidentiality and strong controls over payroll data and approvals.

What you bring

Required

• Payroll Compliance Professional (PCP) designation from the National Payroll Institute, or completion in progress.
• 5 or more years of full-cycle Canadian payroll experience, including year-end, for an organization of 100 or more employees.
• Experience running payroll across multiple provinces and multiple legal entities.
• Hands-on experience administering group benefits and retirement plans.
• Strong knowledge of CRA requirements, provincial employment standards, workers' compensation, and EHT.
• Advanced Excel skills and comfort reconciling payroll to the general ledger.
• Meticulous accuracy, discretion with confidential information, and the organization to hit every deadline without being chased.

Preferred

• Payworks experience, or another mid-market Canadian payroll platform.
• Payroll Leadership Professional (PLP) designation, or progress toward it.
• Experience in a professional-services or engineering firm with billable staff and project-based time entry.
• Experience with payroll system implementations or HRIS integrations.
• Exposure to US payroll or cross-border employees.

Why PRI

• Complete ownership of payroll and benefits for a growing group, with the autonomy to run it your way.
• Genuine complexity: three companies, four provinces, field and salaried staff, and a firm on its way to 300 people.
• A firm investing in modern HR and finance systems, and leaders who value the function.
• Competitive compensation, comprehensive benefits, and support for your NPI designation and professional development.

PRI is an equal-opportunity employer committed to building a diverse and inclusive team. We welcome applications from all qualified candidates, and we particularly encourage applications from Indigenous professionals.