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What is the Automated Earnings Reporting System (AERS)?
The benefits of AERS
Who can participate?
User Requirements
To register for the AERS program and for support

What is the Automated Earnings Reporting System (AERS)?

The Automated Earnings Reporting System is a voluntary verification program that protects the integrity of the Employment Insurance (EI) fund and reduces administrative costs for employers.

Through AERS, employers electronically submit payroll information to Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC), remaining fully compliant with federal and provincial privacy legislation.

Although employers may choose to provide their payroll data each pay period, they must provide the data at least once every 4 weeks.

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The benefits of AERS

Employers participating in this program are excluded from further Request for Payroll Information forms from HRSDC, which saves employers both time and money.

In addition, there is less hardship on employees as overpayments are detected earlier. 

Who can participate?

  • Employers with computerized payroll systems who can provide HRSDC with payroll data in a weekly, Sunday to Saturday format. Note: Employers with daily data capture capability meet this requirement.
  • Employers who are able to provide payroll data via the Internet, using HRSDC’s secure transfer mechanism — Data Gateway; and  
  • Employers who have access to the Internet with a Browser that supports 128-bit encryption, Netscape 4.0 or higher or Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher.

In addition:

  • Employers who have hired 10 or more employees within the past 12 months or who expect to do so in the next 12 months; or
  • Employers who were required to complete 10 or more Records of Employment over the past 12 months or who expect to do so in the next 12 months.

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User Requirements

If a Payroll Service Bureau or Software Vendor is responsible for creation of your record layout, please provide them with these Business Rules. 

Business Rules  — Also available in PDF format (81kb). About PDF Files.

General

  • Files are to be produced in ASCII text format (.txt).
     
  • File Name must be in the following format (.txt): 
    • Business Number, Pay Period Start Date-Pay Period End Date.txt 
    • Example: 123456789RP000120020317-20020323.txt. 
       
  • Optional fields can be left blank.
     
  • All fields must be right justified.
     
  • Browser must support 128-bit encryption.
     
  • Netscape 4.0 or higher, Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher, or compatible browser are required.
     
  • Although not a requirement, the faster the modem speed — 56k, cable, DSL, the quicker the file transmission.
     
  • It is recommended the employers clear their computers "cache" after each submission for their own security reasons.
  • Because all Business Numbers must be registered with AERS before a file can be accepted, employers must notify Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) when they wish to add, change or delete a Business Number(s). 
  • The Pay Period Start Date and Pay Period End Date must be the same as identified in the Business Header Record.
     
  • Each Header Record must contain only one Business Number covering a weekly, Sunday to Saturday pay period. 
     
  • Both a  Header Record — record type 01— and Detail Records — record type 02 — must be provided. 
     
  • One Header Record per file which includes only one weekly period per Business Number.
     
  • Employee Details Records must be sorted by Social Insurance Number (SIN), ascending — smallest to largest.
     
  • Employee earnings must be shown in the week they are earned regardless when paid.
     
  • The same SIN cannot occur more than once in a file. If this situation occurs within your payroll, the earnings associated to this Social Insurance Number (SIN) must be combined and totaled for the SIN to appear only once within the file. 
     
  • For School Boards, payroll data for permanent contract teachers should be excluded.
     
  • Payroll files must be received in the correct order. A valid payroll file must exist for the previous pay period, unless it's the first submission.
     
  • The first submission to AERS must include current payroll data. Any files where the payroll data is older than four weeks from the week the file is being submitted will reject as "too old".
     
  • In a week where no employees worked, a file must be sent for the weekly period, in the format indicated above, with one Employee Details Record showing the SIN as "blank" and zero’s in the Gross Earnings and Other Monies fields. Also, the Number of Employee Records field in the Business Header Record must show as 1. This will prevent files from rejecting as "out of sequence".
     
  • Employers are encouraged to submit when the payroll is produced. However, files must be submitted at least once every four weeks .
     
  • If a file was rejected, a corrected file must be sent before any other payroll files are accepted . If an employer sends a new file without correcting and resubmitting a rejected file, that new file will be in a "Pending" status until the corrected file is received or 14 days has elapsed, whichever is shorter. Note: If the corrected file is received before the 14 days has elapsed, the new file will be accepted.  If the corrected file is not received before the 14 days has elapsed, the new file will be rejected.
     
  • Adjustments should be made before submitting payroll files.
     
  • Corrections should be made and submitted before the end of the month, if possible.
     
  • Files which are 10% or greater in error are entirely rejected, and not processed. Errors should be corrected and the file(s) resubmitted.
     
  • Files containing less than 10% in error records are retained and processed.  Note, only valid information is processed. Correction or adjustment files must contain all original information. Note: a file cannot be sent containing only corrected or adjusted records.
     
  • Files can be sent through Data Gateway anytime. However, business hours for support, if required, are 8:00 am to 5:00 pm Central Standard Time.
     
  • It is necessary for employers to logon to the HRSDC Data Gateway, choose "History", scroll to the appropriate reference number(s) and "click" on that number(s) and scroll down to review the status of their previous file submissions before transmission of their next file(s). This will ensure errors are noted and corrected with files being received in the proper sequence. 

Important: Files sent to HRSDC receive instant confirmation of receipt. If confirmation is not received, the file(s) must be resent. 

Validation of the file(s) is done every ten minutes. Therefore, users can return to Data Gateway ten minutes after submitting a file to view their processing results, under History.

Employers who fail to submit payroll data for a four month period will be automatically removed from the AERS program and will receive written "Request for Payroll Information" forms.

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Business Header Record
Elements Position Content - All fields are Mandatory unless stated otherwise

Record Type

1–2

Numeric — 2 Digits;

Default Value is 01;

Identifies the record as being the Business Header Record.

Business Number

3–17

Alpha/Numeric — 15 Characters;

Canada Revenue Agency (CRA);

Format:  123456789RP9999;

Only one Business Number per file;

Must include all 15 characters.

Payroll Location

18–21

Alpha/Numeric — 4 Characters

Used by some employers as additional method of identifying different payroll locations;

Format:  Right Justified;

Optional.

Pay Period Start Date

22–29

Numeric — 8 Digits;

Calendar date of the first day of the pay period covered by the file;

Must be weekly, Sunday to Saturday. 

Must be earlier than the Pay Period End date;

Format:  CCYYMMDD

Pay Period End Date

30–37

Numeric — 8 Digits;

Calendar date of the last day of the pay period covered by the file;

Must be weekly, Sunday to Saturday.  

Must be later than the Pay Period Start date;

Format:  CCYYMMDD

Number of Employee Records

38–42

Numeric — 5 Digits;

Number of employee records contained in the file;

Equal to the number of records provided in the Employee Detail portion;

Format:  99999  Right Justified

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Employee Details Record
Elements Position Content – All fields are Mandatory unless stated otherwise

Note: There will be an Employee Detail Record for each Social Insurance Number.

Record Type

1–2

Numeric — 2 Digits;

Default is 02;

Identifies the record as being the Employee Detail Record;

Social Insurance Number (SIN)

3–11

Numeric — 9 Digits;

Must pass a MOD 10 check;

Used to identify the employee;

Can only occur once per file;

Format:  999999999;

Badge/Payroll Number

12–33

Alpha/Numeric — 22 Characters;

Used by some employers as an additional method of identifying employees;

Format:  Right Justified;

Optional.

Period Start Date

34–41

Numeric — 8 Digits;

Calendar date of the first day worked by the employee, or pay period start date, whichever can be provided, within the weekly pay period covered by the Header Record; 

Format:  CCYYMMDD

Period End Date

42–49

Numeric — 8 Digits;

Calendar date of the last day worked by the employee, or pay period end date, whichever can be provided, within the weekly pay period covered by the Header Record; 

Format:  CCYYMMDD

Gross Earnings

50–62

Numeric — 12 Digits and the decimal point – 10 to represent before the decimal, the decimal point, and 2 to represent after;

Format: 9999999999.99 

— cannot be a negative amount —

Earnings before deductions;

Optional.

Note: Although Gross Earnings and Other Monies are Optional, one or the other must be provided.

Other Monies

63–75

Numeric — 12 Digits and the decimal point – 10 to represent before the decimal, the decimal point, and 2 to represent after;

Format:9999999999.99;

— cannot be a negative amount —

Monies other than Gross Earnings paid during the pay period;

Can include Bonus, Commissions, Non Pecuniary Income, Severance Pay, Statutory Holiday Pay, Gratuities, Wages in Lieu of Notice, Overtime, Pension, Profit Sharing, Shift Premiums, Supplementary Unemployment Benefit (SUB) plan and Vacation Pay. See Record of Employment (ROE) Guide for a more extensive listing;

Optional.

Note: Although Gross Earnings and Other Monies are Optional, one or the other must be provided.

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MOD – 10 Check

A MOD-10 check ensures that any invalid SIN is rejected and cannot be matched against our Benefit Pay file. If your system does not already have a MOD-10 check to verify the validity of a SIN, we would like to suggest that you add such a check to your program which would allow your payroll and personnel offices to correct the files of those employees whose SINs are invalid.

Validity Verification Procedures:

Let's take the following SIN as an example:

998 986 731

  1. Starting with the 1st digit, add every 2nd digit: 9 9 8 9 8 6 7 3 1. Therefore, 9 + 8 + 8 + 7 + 1 = 33

  2. Double and add the other digits. If the doubling results in more than 9, add the two digits in the result, i.e., 2 X 9 = 18, so 1 + 8 = 9.

  3. Therefore, 9 9 6 3 = (1 + 8) + (1 + 8) + (1 + 2) + 6 = 27

  4. Add the results of 1 and 2. Therefore, 33 + 27 = 60.

  5. The results of this addition should be a multiple of 10. If it is not, the SIN is invalid and the correct one must be determined.

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To register for the AERS program and for support

Only questions related to the AERS program (payroll or technical) will be responded to. 

sadr-aers@servicecanada.gc.ca
 
     
   
Last modified :  2005-11-23 top Important Notices