Remitted By Meaning: What the Term Means in Canada

What does remitted mean?

Remitted is the past tense of the verb remit. To remit means to send money, or sometimes goods, to a person or organisation, usually to settle an amount owed. If a sum has been remitted, it has been sent and recorded against the obligation it was meant to cover.

The phrase remitted by is the passive form of that verb. It answers one specific question: who sent the money? A record that says amount remitted by employer identifies the employer as the sender. The matching phrase remitted to identifies the recipient, such as a government agency or a supplier.

Where the word comes from

The word comes from Latin remittere, which carried senses such as to send back, send away, or release. English adopted it through legal and commercial writing. That origin explains why the term still sounds like something from a contract rather than a conversation.

In everyday speech most people say they sent money rather than remitted it. The formal word survives in finance, accounting, payroll, tax, and law. Recognition matters more than usage: readers need to understand the term when it appears on a form, invoice, tax slip, or bank statement.

Remit, remittance, payment, and transfer

These four words overlap, but they are not identical. Remit is the verb. Remittance is the noun, and it can describe either the act of sending or the sum that was sent. Payment is broader, covering any settlement of a debt, including cash handed over in person.

Transfer usually describes movement of funds between accounts or institutions, and it does not always involve a debt. That is why an internal transfer between your own accounts is generally not called a remittance, while money sent abroad to family usually is.

Payroll remittance in Canada

In Canadian payroll, employers deduct income tax, Canada Pension Plan contributions, and Employment Insurance premiums from wages. The employer holds that money temporarily and then remits it to the Canada Revenue Agency. The amounts belong to the employee; the employer is acting as a collector and remitter.

How often a business remits depends on the size of its payroll, and the same verb appears in sales tax and instalment payments. In payroll records, remitted by normally names the employer and remitted to names the agency, which makes clear who is accountable for the payment.

Invoice remittance and remittance advice

On business invoices, the instruction please remit payment means please pay this invoice. It is a conventional way of asking for settlement by the stated method and due date. The wording is common on statements and on formal billing templates.

A remittance advice is different from the payment itself. It is a note, often attached to a bank transfer, cheque, or money order, telling the recipient which invoices the money covers. Money orders issued through Canada Post are an example of a payment instrument that may travel with a remittance advice.

International remittance from Canada

An international remittance is money sent from one country to another, typically to support family or to pay an obligation abroad. Canada's financial consumer regulator publishes guidance on sending money abroad, including how to compare the total cost of different options.

Businesses that transmit money internationally for a fee are money services businesses. In Canada they must register with FINTRAC, the federal anti-money-laundering regulator, and certain transactions must be reported. Registration is a legal requirement, not a quality rating.

Exchange rates affect how much actually arrives. The Bank of Canada publishes daily reference rates that are widely used as a benchmark, while the rate applied to your own transaction is set by the provider. Fees also vary by provider and by channel.

Why the wording matters in practice

Wording in financial documents carries weight. A line reading remitted by on a receipt, tax slip, or statement identifies the sender of record. That detail matters in audits, reimbursement claims, and disputes about who paid what.

If you receive money from abroad, the tax treatment depends on what the money is: a gift, salary, business income, or a loan repayment are treated differently. Canadian residents generally report worldwide income, and large foreign holdings can trigger extra reporting.

Keep the paperwork that shows the sender, the date, and the purpose. Fraudulent payment requests often borrow formal remittance language to look legitimate, so confirm requests through a channel you already trust rather than a contact detail supplied in the message itself.

Common confusions

The most common mix-up is reading remittance as reminder. The words are unrelated. A remittance is money or the act of sending it; a reminder is a prompt to pay. An invoice subject line that says remittance advice is not chasing you for payment.

The second confusion is treating remitted as received. Remitting is the sending side of the transaction. A confirmation that funds were remitted says nothing on its own about whether they arrived, cleared, or were credited to the right account.

Finally, remittance and transfer are not always interchangeable. A transfer between your own accounts in the same country is not normally a remittance. A remittance usually implies sending value to another party, and very often across a border.