The UHT May Be Cancelled, But Vacancy Taxes Remain

As tax professionals, you are keenly aware of the constant changes our federal government makes to the Income Tax Act. Adjustments are made, and you must adapt. Not often, though, is a tax eliminated altogether. But in the case of the Underused Housing Tax (UHT), that is exactly what has happened – it was cancelled in the federal budget of November 4, 2025, but Canada’s underused housing taxes have not been eliminated. Here’s what you need to know for tax season 2026.

It’s a well-known fact that the next decade will see an enormous amount of money transferred from one generation to the next in Canada. According to a 2016 CIBC study, there is $750 billion at stake. Your clients, and your high-net-worth clients in particular, will be looking to you to help them preserve their family wealth, if they aren’t already.

“I think self-awareness is probably the most important thing toward being a champion.” —Billie Jean King

From cell phones to airplanes, building and coins, ore is indispensable in modern life; but, like many other outputs, the work people do to bring it to market is being impacted by the A.I. Revolution. Similar disruptive changes affect the advice tax and financial advisors give their clients.

Join our online discussion: When changes in the industry force professionals to adapt, should we call them threats, or are they opportunities?

The 100th anniversary of personal income tax is coming up on September 20! On that day in 1917, The Income War Tax Act received Royal Assent, heralding in the first personal income taxes in Canada. Perhaps it’s high time you tackled the challenge and mastered the tax return and all it’s nuances? It’s an investment that could really pay off for you.

Karen Stokowski, a tax professional in Holden, Alta., has this to say about the Distinguished Advisor Conference