WCB-Alberta Account – Employer Registration Before Your First Hire

An honest note on the price: WCB-Alberta does not charge to open an employer account, and you can register directly with WCB-Alberta at no cost. Premiums are paid to WCB-Alberta and are separate from our price. You pay us to get the industry classification and coverage date right the first time, and to have the account submitted within 1 business day.

WCB Alberta registration: the rules in plain English

• Who must register. Most Alberta employers must open a WCB-Alberta account when they hire workers. WCB-Alberta is the Workers' Compensation Board, the body that covers workers injured on the job; it is separate from CRA and from Alberta Corporate Registry.
• Exemptions. Some industries are exempt from mandatory coverage. We check yours before you register.
• Deadline. Employers must register within a set number of days of hiring. Opening the account before the first day of work removes the question.
• Premiums. WCB-Alberta sets premiums based on the industry classification and the payroll you report. Premiums go to WCB-Alberta; none of it is part of our price.
• Owners and directors. Some owners can buy optional personal coverage WCB Alberta offers for people who are not covered as workers.
• Contractors and subcontractors. Whether a contractor counts as your worker, and whether a subcontractor needs an account of their own, depends on WCB-Alberta's rules for the arrangement.
• Reporting. Once the account is open, WCB-Alberta expects payroll reporting on its schedule.
• Three separate bodies. The CRA payroll (RP) account handles deductions from pay; the WCB-Alberta account handles workplace injury coverage; Corporate Registry handles the corporation itself. Opening one does not open the others.

Who this is for

• The corporation about to hire its first employee, with a start date already agreed.
• The sole proprietor with a registered trade name who has taken on help and wants to be covered before anything goes wrong.
• The owner in an industry that may be exempt from WCB-Alberta coverage, who wants to know for certain before paying a premium.
• The owner-director who works alongside the crew and wants personal coverage for themselves as well as the account for the staff.

How it works

1. You fill in the online form — about 10 minutes. The operations description is the part to take your time on.
2. A trained agent reviews the description and proposes the industry classification within one business day, flags any possible exemption, and asks about contractors if your answers raise a question.
3. We complete the registration and submit it to WCB-Alberta within 1 business day of a complete order, with the personal coverage application if you chose it.
4. WCB-Alberta issues your account number, and we email it to you with your classification and coverage date.
5. We send you the first-year reporting note and remind you before the first report is due.

ACS is a private company. We are not WCB-Alberta, and we are not a government office. If a registration cannot be completed, our refund policy explains what happens.

Common mistakes we catch before filing

• The wrong industry classification. A business described by its trade name rather than by what the workers do lands in the wrong class and pays the wrong premium.
• Registering after the first day of work, or after the first injury.
• Assuming contractors need no coverage.
• The owner on site without personal coverage, because nobody mentioned it was optional and available.
• Treating the CRA payroll account as WCB coverage. They are different accounts with different bodies.

What you need before you start

• The business's legal name, any trade name, and its CRA business number. If you do not have a business number yet, we set up your CRA business number and payroll account first.
• The business address, mailing address and a contact person.
• A plain description of your operations: what the business sells or does, and what the workers actually do day to day. This decides the classification, so more detail is better.
• The date of the first hire and your estimated annual payroll.
• The names of the owners or directors and whether any of them want personal coverage.
• Whether you use contractors or subcontractors, and what they do for you.

• A review of what your business and your workers actually do, matched to WCB-Alberta's industry classification. The class drives your premiums, so this is the part worth paying for.
• Your employer account registration completed and submitted to WCB-Alberta.
• The coverage start date set to match your first hire.
• An optional personal coverage application for the owner or directors, if you want it.
• Your WCB-Alberta account number and confirmation by email, in PDF for your minute book.
• A plain-English note on what WCB-Alberta will ask you to report in your first year, and when.
• A trained person who reads your answers before anything is submitted, and calls you if the classification is not obvious.