The CRA usually considers a work location to be remote when it is 80 kilometres or more from the nearest established community with a population of at least 1,000 people.

A location is considered an established community if it has essential services or those services are available within a reasonable commuting distance. Essential services may include access to:

• basic food store
• basic clothing store, with merchandise in stock (not a mail-order outlet)
• accommodation
• certain medical services
• certain educational facilities

Board and lodging at a remote work location

You can exclude from income the value of board and lodging, or an allowance (not in excess of a reasonable amount) for board and lodging that you provide to an employee who works at a remote work location, if all of the following conditions are met:

• The employee could not reasonably be expected to set up and maintain a self-contained domestic establishment because of the remoteness of the location and the distance from any established community
• You did not provide a self-contained domestic establishment for the employee
• The board and lodging, or allowances (not in excess of a reasonable amount) for board and lodging, were for a period of at least 36 hours when one of the following situations applied:
  • The employee had to be away from their principal place of residence because of their duties
  • The employee had to be at the remote work location

Transportation

You can exclude from income the value of free or subsidized transportation, or an allowance (not in excess of a reasonable amount) for transportation expenses, that you provide to an employee who works at a remote work location if all of the following conditions are met:

• The employee's duties required them to be away from their principal place of residence or to be at the remote work location for a period of at least 36 hours
• The free or subsidized transportation, or the allowance, was for transportation between the remote work location and any location in Canada. If the remote work location is outside Canada, you can exclude the allowance for transportation between that location and any location in Canada or outside Canada
• You (or a third party) provided board and lodging, or a reasonable allowance for board and lodging, to your employee for that period

If you need help determining whether a location qualifies as remote, see Archived Interpretation Bulletin IT-91R4, Employment at Special Work Sites or Remote Work Locations.

Form TD4, Declaration of Exemption – Employment at a Special Work Site

When there is an exemption for board, lodging, or transportation allowances you pay to employees who work at a remote work location, do not fill out Form TD4.

Payroll deductions

If you exclude a benefit for board, lodging, and transportation at a special work site or remote work location, it is not a taxable benefit. Do not deduct CPP contributions, EI premiums, or income tax.

Forms and publications

• Form TD4, Declaration of Exemption – Employment at Special Work Site
• Archived Interpretation Bulletin IT-91R, Employment at Special Work sites or Remote Work Locations