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?

If you have clients who are members of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), they may be eligible for a special tax credit. Here's what you need to know:

Introducing the Knowledge Bureau News Network – a new financial education environment everyone can engage in and in the case of professional tax and financial advisors, to start earning CE/CPD Credits, too. Check out the three networks to choose from. There are absolutely no pre-requisites; just a desire to master the news and what it means to the decisions you need to make about your finances, your business and your influential role in your community. Here’s how it works:

Missed Today’s RWM™ & Virtual Campus Orientation? The Recording is Now Available! Continue the conversation. Revisit the insights. Take the next step in your professional journey.

Consider how common out of pocket medical expenses are and how many millions of people miss claiming them. We overview a few of those “dark horses” below.

Can Canadians build wealth in the current economic environment? Over the longer term?  After taxes?  These are important questions anytime but particularly at election time.  The traditional way to build wealth for Canadians families has been to buy a home, pay it off and even leverage the equity to borrow money to invest in the financial markets.  These wealth building exercises occur over a lifetime.  But today, new generations are building wealth differently.

Provincial budgets have now been tabled from every province but one: Ontario.  This includes those recently delivered by Newfoundland & Labrador on April 9 and PEI on April 10. Neither province introduced tax hikes, but both placed emphasis on helping businesses in their province. Check out the details: