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What’s new for the 2025 filing season? When Canadians sit down to prepare the tax return for the 2025 tax year, the forms they use will appear to most taxpayers to be identical to the ones completed at this time last year. That appearance is deceptive, as the tax return form is never the same […]

Trade War Supports For Canadian Employees – Changes to the Employment Insurance System The current trade and tariff dispute between Canada and the United States has affected individuals and businesses in virtually all provinces and industries. On an individual level, those most affected are often employees who work in industries (like steel and aluminum) for

Some Last-Minute Tax Filing Strategies – What (And What not) To Claim While it’s true that the best year-end tax planning starts on January 1 of the tax year, the reality is that most Canadians don’t turn their attention to their tax situation for 2024 until the spring of 2025, when the deadline for filing a

Tax Deadlines And Limits For The 2025 Tax Year Each new tax year brings with it a schedule of tax payment and filing deadlines, as well as some changes with respect to tax saving and planning opportunities. Some of the more significant dates and changes for individual taxpayers for 2025 are listed below. Registered retirement

Some new tax breaks from the federal government On November 21, the federal government announced two new measures intended to relieve some of the financial stress currently being experienced by most Canadian families and households. That financial stress arises, in large measure, from the steady increase in the cost of goods and service over the

Claiming the Canada Carbon Rebate Residents of the eight Canadian provinces in which the federal fuel charge (more commonly known as the federal carbon tax) is levied are entitled to claim and receive the federal Canada Carbon Rebate (CCR). That rebate (formerly known as the Climate Action Incentive Payment) is a non-taxable payment made four

Deciding when to begin receiving Old Age Security benefits The Old Age Security (OAS) program is one of the two major federal benefit programs available to older Canadians – the other being the Canada Pension Plan (CPP). While both programs provide taxable monthly payments to Canadians, there are significant differences between the two.    The

Tax planning for year-end charitable donations While the need for charitable donations for any number of causes is a year-round reality, appeals for such donations tend to increase as the holiday season and the end of the calendar year approach. And generally, those appeals are met, as Canadians have a well-deserved reputation for supporting charitable

Finance Announces Additional Changes To Mortgage Lending Rules In the 2024-25 Federal Budget released earlier this year, the federal government announced changes to the rules which govern mortgage lending in Canada. Those changes had two goals: making it easier for first-time home buyers to qualify for a mortgage and providing an incentive to encourage the

Year-end planning for medical expense claims While the current state of the Canadian healthcare system is far from perfect, Canadians are nonetheless fortunate to have a publicly funded healthcare system, in which most major medical expenses are covered by provincial healthcare plans. Notwithstanding, there is a large (and growing) number of medical and para-medical costs