Report a problem with your pay
This page provides steps to follow if you need to report a pay issue.
It applies to departments and agencies served by the Pay Centre. Employees of departments and agencies not served by the Pay Centre should contact their departmental compensation unit. All employees, regardless of department or agency, can submit My Pay Enquiry forms.
All employees should request additional guidance from their manager, departmental human resources (HR) unit and finance unit, as pay-related information and processes are subject to change.
If you are experiencing problems with your pay, follow the steps below to help ensure your pay issue is resolved quickly and accurately.
On this page
- Step 1: Inform your manager
- Step 2: Report your pay issue
- Step 3: Track your pay issue using MyGCPay
- Tips on submitting a pay action request
- Related links
Step 1: Inform your manager
The first step is to inform your section 34 manager, who can guide you through your department’s internal HR processes and help you identify the best options available for your particular issue. This first step is critical in identifying whether your issue is related to:
- a pay transaction, such as a salary change or leave without pay, or
- an HR issue, such as a letter of offer, retirement package, maternity leave document, acting form, or any other HR-related document that must be correctly filled out and sent to your HR team
Step 2: Report your pay issue
Your manager will help you choose one of the following 3 options:
- call the Pay and Benefits Client Contact Centre to speak to an agent
- submit a My Pay Enquiry form, which can be used to flag a:
- technical issue
- missing pay or concern about your pay
- $0 pay, in which case, you should also immediately inform your manager
- submit a pay action request form
Important Note
A pay action request (PAR) form is only required when a specified action (not an enquiry) is being requested by the Pay Centre. A client can complete and submit a form on their own for certain personal actions (such as changes to benefits, direct deposit or taxation changes, or when forwarding a cheque to pay back amounts owed). Note, however, that the majority of specified actions affecting pay requires a trusted source. This means that the form must be approved by a section 34 manager and then sent to your department’s trusted source. The trusted source authenticates the delegated authority and signature of the requesting manager and submits the PAR form to the Pay Centre.Step 3: Track your pay issue in MyGCPay
You can track any enquiries that have been created as a result of either contacting the Pay and Benefits Client Contact Centre, or submitting a My Pay Enquiry form, or a PAR, by logging in to the MyGCPay application. The application can be accessed both internally (through a Government of Canada network) or externally (through an Interac® sign-in partner).
If you do not have access to the Compensation and pension portal or the MyGCPay web application, contact the Pay and Benefits Client Contact Centre at 1‑855‑686‑4729 (in Canada or the United States) or 506‑424‑4330 (outside Canada and the United States).
Tips on submitting a pay action request
- An employee’s manager cannot send in a pay action request (PAR) directly to the Pay Centre. It must first be sent to a departmental Trusted Source. Before forwarding a PAR to a Trusted Source, your section 34 manager should confirm that all required documentation is attached (and where required, check that all attachments are fully filled out and signed where appropriate).
- The Trusted Source will authenticate that the requesting manager has delegated authority and has authorized the requested action. In many departments, the Trusted Source will also review the PAR and ensure that it has been correctly completed before submitting it to the Pay Centre. For most pay actions, only Trusted Sources can submit PAR forms to the Pay Centre.
- Once the PAR arrives, the Pay Centre will check to ensure it complies with requirements (for example it is readable, it has arrived via a listed Trusted Source email, all mandatory fields are filled out and all the required documents are completed and attached). Typically, within 24 hours, the sender can expect to receive either an acknowledgment that the PAR form has been accepted and entered into the system, or that it has been rejected and is being returned. Since such rejections can cause delays in processing of payments, you are encouraged to revise and return the corrected PAR (and all related attachments) as soon as practicable. Once again, if the PAR requires a section 34 manager’s authorization, the corrected PAR package must be resubmitted by a Trusted Source.
- To follow up on a PAR form requesting actions on your pay file, submit a My Pay Enquiry form once your PAR form has been accepted by the Pay Centre or contact the Pay and Benefits Client Contact Centre.