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Canada Revenue Agency sign that depicts prescribed rate

Canada Revenue Agency prescribed rate remains at 6% for Q2 2024

The Canada Revenue Agency prescribed rate will remain at 6 per cent for the second quarter of 2024 (which extends from April 1st, 2024 to June 30th, 2024). The prescribed rate last reached 6 per cent in the second quarter of 2001; it hovered at only 1 per cent during the COVID-19 pandemic. The current […]

Parliament Hill where 2023 Fall Economic Statement was delivered

2023 Fall Economic Statement runs counter to Ottawa’s claims of fiscal prudence

In the 2023 Fall Economic Statement  tabled yesterday, the federal government was keen to boast about maintaining its ‘fiscal anchor’—the budget guardrails that seek to limit spending and deficits. Yet its recent policy commitments suggest otherwise. With debt-servicing costs skyrocketing, the fiscal picture is anything but pleasant. While the 2023 Fall Economic Statement is light […]

Ottawa announces prescribed rate loan increase

Canada Revenue Agency prescribed rate increases for Q2 2023

For the fourth consecutive quarter, the Canada Revenue Agency  prescribed rate has increased by a percentage point. The rate used to calculate taxable benefits for shareholders and employees from interest-free and low-interest loans is now 5 per cent—up from 4 per cent in the first quarter of the year—for the period ending June 30th, 2023. The […]

CERB relief for students

Government order provides relief for some students who incorrectly claimed CERB

In the early days of the COVID-19 crisis, as the federal and provincial governments rushed to rollout a whirlwind of relief benefits, Canadians applied for income support programs for which they believed they were eligible–one of the most readily available being the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB)  Some of those applications were later deemed inappropriate, […]

person holding a maple leaf after Fiscal and Economic update 2021

Federal Fiscal and Economic Update 2021: Few gifts (or lumps of coal) for business

The federal government tabled its Fiscal and Economic Update 2021 last week and the business community across Canada wondered if it had been all but forgotten. The update was heavy on COVID-19 relief spending and made direct references to the potential uncertainty ahead—including the looming economic impact of the omicron coronavirus variant, global supply chain […]

Fall Economic Statement 2020 Parliament buildings Centre Block

Fall Economic Statement predicts record deficits, extends COVID-19 relief measures for business

The federal government’s Fall Economic Statement 2020 delivered few surprises. As expected, it did not provide a clear fiscal anchor for the year ahead. Nor was there a plan to return to fiscal balance in the near future. Ottawa hasn’t delivered a formal budget since March, 2019, well before the coronavirus pandemic sent the country’s […]

Maple Leaf

What Ontario’s Fall 2019 economic update means for your business

The business community in Ontario just received a modest, yet business-friendly, tax reduction courtesy of Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government. The move is a step towards achieving balanced budget while looking to encourage economic activity within the province Specifically, Wednesday’s Fall Economic Statement announced proposals to reduce the small business Corporate Income Tax rate to […]

Ontario budget 2019: ‘Open for Business’ moves from campaign slogan to governing mantra

When Doug Ford swept into power last year, he promised that Ontario would once again be ‘Open for Business.’ The new Progressive Conservative premier went so far as to plaster his campaign slogan on highway signs at the Ontario-U.S. border. It was a not-so-subtle, all-caps reminder to our American friends of his commitment to undoing […]