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 are a self-employed farmer or an individual who is a member of a partnership operating a farming business with one or more permanent establishments in Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island or Saskatchewan, you may be eligible to have a portion of fuel charge proceeds returned to you. This refundable tax credit is a way to return fuel charge proceeds under the federal carbon pollution pricing system directly to eligible farming businesses.

While taxpayers can claim a variety of medical expenses, there are certain costs related to health that are not eligible for claims. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) outlines these exceptions in their Medical Expense Guide RC4065. The list includes:

Employers are required by law to deduct taxes from your pay and remit them on your behalf. That means the first dollars you earn every day go to the federal and provincial governments. Worse, the tax tables employers must use are skewed against you too. Consider how sizable the average tax refund in Canada is: about $2,200 or approximately $184 a month. That’s money you could be putting to use for your own financial future, rather than waiting until four or five months after the end of the year for it.

Congratulations to Alec Lui on the completion of the MFA-P Designation program! Alec started his career in 2020 as an advisor and in 2022 joined the insurance carrier as a wholesaler to partner with advisors to help Canadians protect what matters most to them. Hear what he has to say about his experience with the program:

It’s provincial budget season, with a federal election coming up soon. What should Finance Ministers in Canada be focusing on to try to meet the tariff winds head on and ensure the standards of living of Canadians going forward in a proactive way? The answer is to focus on economic growth. What is it, why is it important to consumers and voters and how do we measure that?

Medical expenses are the one out of pocket expenditure almost everyone has, and therefore it is the most commonly missed one as well.