Calculation Methodology

What our calculators do

WageWise Canada calculators provide educational estimates for selected wage-conversion and Canadian employment-standards questions. Each tool defines its jurisdiction, supported rule, inputs, assumptions and exclusions. A result applies only to the facts entered and the scope stated on that calculator page.

General wage-conversion tools perform arithmetic and do not determine taxes, deductions, legal status or statutory entitlement. Jurisdiction-specific tools estimate selected statutory minimums. They do not decide disputed employee status, the correct jurisdiction, exemptions, special-industry rules, collective agreements, contractual rights or the effect of a court or tribunal decision.

Sources, jurisdiction and effective dates

We prioritize official legislation, regulations, government employment-standards guidance and date-effective rate notices. Each statutory calculator links to the official sources supporting its current published scope. Our Sources Policy explains the hierarchy in more detail.

Employment standards differ among federal, provincial and territorial jurisdictions. Users should confirm the governing jurisdiction before choosing a tool. When a rate or rule changes over time, the calculator should select a documented rule version using the relevant work date rather than silently replacing historical data.

How formulas are developed

1. Define the supported question: identify the calculation, jurisdiction and general-rule boundaries.
2. Document inputs and eligibility: list every value required and any question that changes the calculation path.
3. Translate the rule: write an explicit formula specification, thresholds, lookback periods, caps and rounding points.
4. Identify exclusions: state situations that need an official authority or qualified professional rather than calculator output.
5. Implement and explain: keep the calculation engine, labels, worked examples and result explanation aligned.

Editorial changes must not silently alter calculation logic. Formula or rule changes receive their own code review, source review and tests.

Testing and validation

Automated fixtures cover ordinary examples, thresholds, boundary dates, zero and invalid values, caps, eligibility branches and overlapping rules where applicable. Browser-side and server-side implementations are checked against the same documented scope. We also test validation messages, keyboard operation, responsive layout and whether results update when inputs change.

Passing tests demonstrate that the implemented formula behaves as specified; they do not prove that the specification covers every real-world employment situation. Report a suspected error through the Contact page with the page URL, inputs used and supporting official source.

Rounding, display and saved inputs

Calculations retain working precision until the result is formatted. Canadian currency is normally displayed to two decimal places, while hours, weeks and percentages follow the precision explained by the tool. Payroll systems or legislation may prescribe a different sequence, so the displayed estimate should not be treated as a pay statement.

Some calculators use browser session storage to hand an input to another WageWise tool. That temporary value remains in the visitor’s browser and is not a WageWise account or payroll record.

Review, updates and limitations

Date-sensitive pages display a completed review date, a scheduled review date and the scope checked. Material rate, rule, formula or correction changes are recorded in the Updates area and Update and Review History. A review date describes work completed; it is not a guarantee that no later change has occurred.