Draft Legislation Released July 23, 2026

While Canadians were enjoying the height of summer 2026, Finance Canada released draft legislation for a number of previously announced tax measures including new rules for the disabled, apprentices in the trades, those with automobile benefits, farmers on the prairies and business owners buying assets or remitting GST/HST. A consultation has been issued on the proposed new rules, which must be emailed to the department by September 4.  There are some important changes, some summarized below, which will also be covered in the September 23 CE Summit.

Will Bank of Canada Interest rate setting impact your holiday euphoria? Bank of Canada’s Steven Poloz announced today that the overnight rate would remain at 1.75%.

In the holiday spirit yet? This news might dampen it: on Friday November 30, Statistics Canada released a report on GDP, income and expenditure for the third quarter of 2018. The big news? In 2018, Canadians have had the worst household savings rate on an annual basis since 2005, averaging only 1.4% over the past year. For the third quarter of this year, the household savings rate was a mere 0.8%; the lowest quarterly level since early in 2017.

On the heels of recent criticisms by the Auditor General, Knowledge Bureau Report readers weighed in on CRA service levels and they were conclusive: 87% of last month’s poll respondents say that the CRA needs to work harder. They cited a myriad of issues from 32-week wait times for a T1 Adjustment to the need to correct CRA’s errors, some of them big. 

One-third of parents of millennials say that their children are a financial strain that could ultimately take a toll on their own retirement. That’s the ongoing challenge that the boomers face. When it comes to managing their money, this generation needs to nudge their millennials towards financial independence or place their own retirement plans at risk.

In the height of charitable giving season, a review of recent tax changes provides an opportunity for advisors and clients to plan more strategically, while maximizing tax savings and planning 2019 investments before year-end. Here’s a checklist of talking points for your December meetings:

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) have proposed restrictions on fees related to referral arrangements. The Independent Financial Brokers of Canada (IFB) wants to better understand the impacts of these proposals and has asked for the participation of financial services professionals in a survey, which is open to both IFB members and others in the financial services industry.