Free guide for Canadian relief and locum pharmacists
Before you incorporate your relief work, make sure the CRA sees a business.
If the CRA decides you’re really an employee of the pharmacy, your corporation can end up paying more tax than you would have paid without one. This free guide shows how the CRA makes that call, and how to check where you stand in about five minutes.
Instant download. Arrives by email in minutes.
Someone has probably told you to incorporate.
A colleague who says it cut their tax bill. An accountant who mentioned it at tax time. A thread in a pharmacist Facebook group.
What rarely comes up is the question the CRA asks first: are you actually running a business, or are you an employee who sends invoices?
Having a corporation doesn’t answer that. Neither does your contract, or the word “contractor” on your invoice. The CRA looks at how the work really happens: who sets your schedule, whether you can turn shifts down, how many pharmacies you work for, and who carries the costs.
If the answer comes back “employee,” your corporation is treated as a personal services business. It loses the small business tax rate, pays a federal rate of 33% plus the provincial general rate, and can deduct very little. It usually surfaces in a reassessment years later, with interest.
What’s inside
- A five-minute self-check: 11 signs you’re running a business, and 6 warning signs you might not be
- The CRA’s six tests, translated into what actually happens behind the dispensary counter
- The factor that works against most relief pharmacists, and why it usually isn’t a deal-breaker
- How a steady “every Tuesday and Thursday” arrangement can quietly start to look like a staff job
- What to do if you’re still unsure, including how to request a formal ruling from the CRA
- The five steps I’d take, in order, before paying to set up a corporation
Worth reading if you
- Are thinking about incorporating your relief or locum work
- Already have a corporation and have never checked whether your arrangements support it
- Have heard conflicting advice and want the rules in plain language
14 pages. About 15 minutes. Written for pharmacists, not accountants.
Who wrote it
I’m Brad Norman, CFP®. I do tax-aware financial planning for pharmacists, and I work alongside my clients’ accountants and lawyers, not around them. Before that I was a clinical epidemiologist working alongside medical professionals, so I understand the world you work in.
Employee vs. Self-Employed: A Guide for Canadian Relief Pharmacists
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