The process of adopting a child is often a lengthy one, in which a myriad of requirements must be met and legal processes followed. Where the adoption is an international one, the process can be even lengthier and more complex, as often the legal requirements of more than one [...]

Two quarterly newsletters have been added – one dealing with personal issues, and one dealing with corporate issues. They can be accessed below. Corporate: Issue #73 Corporate Personal: Issue #73 Personal The information presented is only of a general nature, may omit many details and special rules, [...]

Tax-free savings accounts (TFSAs) have been a part of the Canadian tax system since 2009, and the TFSA program can be utilized by more Canadians than any other tax-advantaged savings program. And Canadians have clearly recognized the benefits: Canada Revenue Agency statistics show that, as of 2022, nearly 18 [...]

By the time the end of summer approaches, the tax return filing deadline for all Canadian individual taxpayers has passed, and nearly all tax filers will have filed the required return for the 2024 tax year and received a Notice of Assessment from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) with [...]

The Canadian tax system provides a number of opportunities for taxpayers to save on a tax-assisted basis. Most Canadians are familiar with registered retirement savings plans (RRSPs) and many are also aware of the availability of the tax-free savings account (TFSA). The newest (and probably least well known) such [...]

Over the past few decades the Canada Revenue Agency, like many other organizations and businesses, has gradually shifted to providing more and more of its services online, through its website. The Agency has been remarkably successful in bringing the Canadian taxpayer along with those efforts to the point where [...]

According to numbers released by Statistics Canada there were, as of July 1, 2024, an estimated 2.5 million Canadians aged 65 to 69 and around 2 million Canadians who were between the ages of 70 and 74. That being the case, it’s likely that during the 2025 calendar year, [...]

By the time summer arrives, Canadian taxpayers have filed their income tax returns for the previous year, have received a Notice of Assessment from the tax authorities with respect to that return, and have either saved or spent their tax refund or, less happily, have paid any balance of [...]

Two quarterly newsletters have been added – one dealing with personal issues, and one dealing with corporate issues. They can be accessed below. Corporate: Issue #72 Corporate Personal: Issue #72 Personal The information presented is only of a general nature, may omit many details and special rules, [...]

While most Canadians are familiar with the obligation to file an annual tax return and to pay income taxes owed by the end of April each year, there are in fact many more tax filing and payment deadlines imposed on individuals or businesses throughout the calendar year. Fortunately, the [...]

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 which the US tariff barriers are especially [...]

The work-from-home arrangements which were ubiquitous throughout the pandemic and, to a lesser degree, for a couple of years afterwards, are now largely a thing of the past for most Canadians. One of the consequences of the return to the office was the need for parents who work outside [...]

As of the end of May 2025, there were just under 202,000 properties listed for sale on the Canadian Real Estate Association’s Multiple Listing Service. While each of those properties and each property sale is different, all of them involve a move to a new location – sometimes a [...]

Most Canadians, understandably, think of our income tax system as a government “program” that takes money out of their paycheques and out of their pockets. And, while it’s certainly true that virtually every Canadian who earns an income must allocate a portion of that income to paying federal and [...]

While it’s unlikely that they do so with any great degree of enthusiasm, the vast majority of Canadians prepare their annual tax return each spring and file that return on time. That’s necessary, because the Canadian tax system is a “self-assessing” one, in which the onus is completely on [...]

By mid to late June 2025, most taxpayers have filed their tax return for the 2024 tax year and a Notice of Assessment has been issued by the Canada Revenue Agency outlining the Agency’s conclusions with respect to the taxpayer’s income, tax deduction, and tax credit claims and the [...]

Regardless of their particular circumstances, Canadians who act as unpaid caregivers for disabled, elderly, or chronically ill relatives carry a heavy physical and emotional burden. The weight of those responsibilities is often made greater by financial stresses, particularly where the situation requires full-time caregiving, to the extent that the [...]

To win elections, politicians need votes. And to run the election campaigns needed to garner those votes, they need an organization, volunteers, and money – a lot of money. To wage the federal election held last month, the major political parties needed to raise and spend millions of dollars. [...]

While no two tax returns filed with the Canada Revenue Agency are identical, all such tax returns have one thing in common. Once those tax returns are filed, the CRA will review the income amounts reported and the tax deduction and credit claims made, and issue a Notice of [...]

At first glance, it might seem that the financial pressures experienced by Canadian families would have eased over the last year or so. The spike in interest rates which started in early 2022 has abated, with the Bank of Canada cutting its benchmark rate several times since mid-2023. As [...]

It’s likely that very few Canadians view completing and filing the annual tax return as anything other than an unpleasant chore to be endured, with a sigh of relief once it’s finally done. The goal, for both the taxpayer and the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), is for the return [...]

Most Canadians live their lives with only very infrequent contact with the tax authorities and are generally happy to keep it that way. Sometime between mid-February and the end of April 2025 the majority of Canadian taxpayers will file a return for 2024 with the Canada Revenue Agency. Once [...]

When Canadians gather together the information slips, receipts, and other documents needed to prepare and file their annual income tax return, their biggest concern is likely whether completing that return will result in the need to pay a tax amount owing. Taxpayers who are recipients of Old Age Security [...]

Most taxpayers sit down to do their annual tax return (or wait to hear from their tax return preparer) with some degree of anxiety. In most cases taxpayers don’t know, until their return is completed, what the “bottom line” will be, and it’s usually a case of hoping for [...]

Notwithstanding the considerable complexity of the Canadian income tax system, there is one rule which applies to every individual taxpayer living in Canada, regardless of location, income, age, or circumstances. That rule is that income tax owed for a year must be paid, in full, on or before April [...]