Red Ink on the Prairies

A day after Quebec’s Finance Minister Eric Girard brought down a Budget featuring a $6.3 Billion deficit, Saskatchewan’s Finance Minister Jim Reiter tabled his government’s budget on March 19. Next up was Finance Minister Adrian Salas, who tabled the Manitoba Budget on March 24. The common thread: there’s lots of red ink on the Prairies. But that’s where the budget documents differ between Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Here’s the latest tax news and why it matters to the advice you give your clients.

Bare trusts have been the subject of extensive filing controversies. They have been commonly used to hold family cottages and other properties, to avoid probate, or for privacy purposes. CRA will not require bare trusts to file a T3 Income Tax and Information Return (T3 return), including Schedule 15 (Beneficial Ownership Information of a Trust) for the 2023 or 2024 tax year, unless they make a direct request. But, we are now in 2025 and professionals and their clients need to know the rules.

Statistics Canada has recently released statistics about the incredible opportunities for career starts and advancement in the tax preparation industry. 

The RWM™ (Real Wealth Manager) is the designation of choice for independently minded advisors who want to practice in a truly holistic framework using a multi-generational approach to wealth management. It is also the designation that indicates the skills to manage strategic focus within an inter-advisory team required to make joint-decisions with higher net worth clients. Finally, you’ll be connected to an incredibly talented, national network of RWMs. Find out more below:

Stop! Don’t file a T1 or T3 tax return yet, says a March 11, 2025, news release from the CRA, if you have been impacted by the chaos of the proposed capital gains inclusion rate increase.

If Canada’s most famous WWII spy were around today, he might well have been speaking about the federal government's Fall Economic Statement (FES).

A listed trust is one that is generally exempt from filing a T3 return unless, it owes money to CRA.