That's pretty common for companies that don't have a payroll entity in a particular country. A lot of startups do this and slowly add payroll in countries that have a larger or growing number of employees.

There isn't much for fallout. You will have to set aside $$ for CRA - either prepay into your CRA account on a quarterly basis or put money aside each month in an account you NEVER touch until tax time. It's not too hard to guestimate your taxes owed.

You will have to keep all receipts - you can claim quite a lot as a contractor. I'd recommend also hiring an accountant. It won't cost you that much - maybe around $500 if you are organized and make things easy by tracking things in a spreadsheet or personal accounting program.

You typically won't get benefits... but most companies will top up a fixed amount per month to allow for what you'd usually get as an employee.