The Importance of Provincial Budgets: Elbows Up and No Bracket Creep!

Some of the right things are happening in Nova Scotia, from the perspective of improving standards of living in that province.  And that’s important news because according to the Fraser Institute, Canadians have suffered the worst five-year decline in their standard of living over the 2020-to-2024 period since the Great Depression.  It notes, our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per person decreased by 2.0% (0.4% annually) ; this despite aggregate GDP growth of 1.5% over the period.  Further, all ten provinces are experiencing stagnation, which is unique in our history.  So what’s the good news in Nova Scotia, at this critical juncture?

You don’t want to miss the Ottawa Bureau Chief of the Globe and Mail, Mr. Robert Fife at the DAC Conference October 16-18 in Niagara Falls. Robert will be speaking to the topic: “Help Wanted – Transformative Leadership for Canada”. Enrol by May 31 for early-bird tuition savings, to experience the thought leadership of Robert Fife and more  - live and in person!

Did you miss the May 18 Virtual CE Summit? You can still sign up for the Advanced Retirement & Estate Planning Update Course and access the live speaker recordings from the event plus save $200 until May 31.  Plus, don’t miss our next CE Summits this fall. Get the best pricing of the year: tuition pricing as low as $295 per event when you enrol to attend 4 events!  Get low rates on Team Member enrollments too! 

Inflation, interest rates and bankruptcies are all going up. Wealth taxes on the horizon, are too. Savvy tax and financial advisors will want to understand these trends and be sure to discuss them now with their most financially vulnerable clients, and that includes high net worth clients.  It’s one of the most important insights attendees at this week’s Advanced Retirement and Estate Planning course learned at the CE Summits.  We share some of those insights with you now.  

The 2021 Federal Budget proposed to allow Canadian Controlled Private Corporations (CCPCs) to write off up to $1,500,000 of “eligible assets” per year if the assets were purchased between April 9, 2021 and the end of 2023.  However, when the legislation was introduced in Bill C-19 (but not yet  passed), the parameters had changed. 

Knowledge Bureau’s May CE Summit featured a review of the appropriate time to consider trusts in planning and in particular, spousal trusts.  The instructor presentation, led so expertly and enthusiastically by Carol Willes, MBA, LLM, TEP, underscored some important issues, discussed below in an excerpt from the Advanced Retirement and Estate Planning course, now available with the instructor-led presentations, for students who wish to study online. 

Did you miss the May 18 Virtual CE Summit? You can still sign up for the Advanced Retirement & Estate Planning Update Course and access the live speaker recordings from the event and save $200 on tuition.  Plus, don’t miss our next CE Summits this fall. Get the best pricing of the year: tuition pricing as low as $295 when you enrol to attend 4 events!  Get low rates on Team Member enrollments too!