Author Archive for: Veronica

Canada has a historically strong banking system. From 2000 to present, there have been zero bank failures. In the United States of America, there have been over 500 bank failures since 2000.For this reason, many are curious about potential Canada bank failure given the tumultuousness of our southern neighbors. The Bank of Canada started operations in 1935 and the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC) was founded in 1967. There have been significant protections put in place by these entities. This ensures economic stability within Canada’s financial sector. In addition, the regulation prevents Canada bank failure. The “Big Five” banks absorb or merge with failing smaller banks prior to their collapse in many instances. Canada has avoided many bank failures this way. Furthermore, Canada and its population tend to value larger, central, and more stable banks. In fact, they prefer it over smaller, regional financial services. For the few banks failures Canada has had, the CDIC has been able to step

A lot of people are self-employed and choose to work remotely from their home offices. For Canadians, there’s more to the flexibility and ease of remote work – the self-employed home office tax deduction in Canada. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) allows self-employed people to take a deduction from their home office expenses. This benefit reduces the total amount of tax paid every year. However, there are rules to follow if you don’t want your tax claim to be denied. In addition, there are several eligible expenses the CRA allows you to use in a home office tax deduction. Generally speaking, if you have a dedicated workspace in your home, there’s a good possibility for a claim of the self-employed home office tax deduction in Canada. Continue reading to understand if you’re eligible and how much you can claim! What is the self-employed home office tax deduction in Canada? A home office tax deduction is an amount that reduces your

What do you do when you get a new job that pays more? Or a raise in your current job? Do you hang onto your old budget and put the extra cash in your savings account? Or do you treat yourself to the finer things in life you always wanted but couldn’t afford? It’s natural to want to celebrate and reward yourself for doing better. Although, you may take it too far and wonder how to avoid lifestyle creep. Did you plan how you would use you new salary? Did you prioritize your savings and financial goals? Or have you been trying to keep up with the Joneses — going on more trips than you can safely afford; eating out more often than you used to. Perhaps you’re buying designer clothes and renting a more expensive apartment, or upgrading your car?If this is you, it may be that you’re experiencing lifestyle creep. Keep reading to learn how to avoid it

There are a ton of benefits and programs available in Canada. Although, if you don’t know what they are and what’s available to you, it’s hard to take advantage of what they have to offer. Understanding the Canada Pension Plan is crucial for all Canadians in the workforce. This applies to both employers and employees. In this guide, we analyze the CPP and the QPP, how they work, eligibility, and payment calculations. Continue reading to understand all the ins and outs of the Canada Pension Plan! What is the Canada Pension Plan? The Canada Pension Plan (CPP) is one of Canada’s many retirement funds. Like any other pension plan, this is a taxable benefit. It primarily serves as an income replacement upon retirement.Although, there are other benefits available under CPP, such as the death benefit and the disability pension. However, the majority of Canadians use CPP for the retirement benefits. Once a person qualifies for the CPP retirement plan, they

With rising costs due to inflation and turbulent times, many Canadians are struggling with their finances. You may have found yourself in more debt than you ever imagined. You may simply be overspending on non-essentials. Or, maybe you incurred a financial emergency and are still recovering. If you want to get a grasp on your debt, we will explore realistic DIY debt solutions in this article. Canadians have a range of debts — car loans, mortgages, credit cards, student loans, lines of credit and personal loans. With rapidly increasing interest rates, you probably have felt the squeeze. In fact, many have been feeling the squeeze in Canada. Just last week, an analysis presented by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation found that Canada’s household debt is the highest out of all G7 countries. Furthermore, about 75% of the debt is attributable to mortgages. Are you looking for solutions to help you stay on track with your wide range of bills

Many seniors in Canada rely on government assistance in their retirement and old age. These funds help seniors pay for their cost of living expenditures. But in the last few years, inflation has wreaked havoc on the wallets of Canadians of all ages. However, seniors are often hit harder since they don’t always have a way to bring in more money like their youthful counterparts. So, the question becomes, will seniors get a raise in 2023 in Canada? By the end of this article, you’ll understand where you can expect a raise in your government benefits. Continue reading to learn more! What are the 2023 senior benefits in Canada? Provincial and territorial governments have benefit programs for seniors. These programs are aimed at helping senior citizens live a decent life in their old age. There are federal programs that also help these senior citizens to retire comfortably. Top of the list is the Old Age Security (OAS), Canada Pension Plan

Without a doubt, it is a difficult task for newcomers to find the right financial services in a new banking environment. The procedures are entirely different from what you’re used to and it can be challenging to know what to expect. If you are one of the many newcomers to Canada, you have more and better choices today. Each newcomer bank option on the list provided in this article comes with benefits such as no fees, free online transfers, or unlimited free transactions. Before choosing the best bank for newcomers in Canada, it is important to consider which of the branches are closer to your home or place of work. This includes finding out their daily hours and if they offer some of the best credit cards in Canada as well. Take a moment to evaluate the information in this article and you’ll find the best bank in no time! Banking Considerations for Newcomers to Canada Canada is a secure

In the past few years, inflation has ran rampant in Canada and other parts of the world. As a result, the purchasing power of Canadians has decreased, including for seniors who rely on benefits like the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and Old Age Security (OAS). Fortunately, these programs offer increases to keep up with inflation. Continue reading to determine how much will CPP and OAS increase in 2023! A Brief Overview of CPP and OAS CPP is short for the Canadian Pension Plan, while OAS means Old Age Security. These terms refer to senior and retirement benefits open to people of a certain age bracket and work status. But, they are often mistaken for each other.It is important to note they do not mean the same thing and do not apply interchangeably. A lack of understanding of these programs may lead to faulty decision making. Thankfully, we are here to set things straight. Let’s take a closer look at each

There are a lot of things to consider for retirement in Canada. For instance, how much you want to save for retirement, when you want to retire, where you want to retire, and how much your lifestyle will cost in retirement. All of these considerations can be quite exhausting, especially if you’re not sure which to consider first. In this article, we’ll explore some averages related to retirement, specifically the average retirement age in Canada.If you’re trying to figure out what the ideal retirement age is for you, continue reading! What is the average retirement age in Canada? Retirement is something many Canadians strive for! Although, it is a challenging feat to accomplish for various reasons. For starters, retirement is expensive no matter which way you slice and dice it. Stemming from the expensiveness is the time and resources to save enough to retire. Let’s take a look at some statistics regarding retirement in Canada. For many Canadians, the retirement

Self employed individuals run their own businesses, stimulate the gig economy, and add a personal touch to the Canadian marketplace! Without them, we might not have the unique and dynamic products and services we have today. Although, self employed people of Canada definitely feel the effects of more burdens – mainly from a tax and administrative perspective. Much more tracking of the ins and outs of money is necessary when self employed. The silver lining is there are tons of self employed tax deductions in Canada. But if you don’t know what they are, you can’t track and take advantage of them. Below, we will explore what self employed means and provide details about the tax deductions available to you in Canada. By the end of this article, we hope you can reduce your tax payable! What does self employed mean? Self employed means someone owns and operates a sole proprietorship. Often referred to as persons who “work for themselves.”

In Canada, we’re fortunate to have access to an array of benefits. One of these benefits is the carbon tax rebate, better known as the climate action incentive payment. This program originally started as a tax credit that could be claimed on your tax return, but became a tax free payment a few years ago. In this article, we’ll cover all the details of the carbon tax rebate, including eligibility, payment amounts, and how to claim the benefit. Continuing reading to learn more! What is the carbon tax rebate? The carbon tax rebate is a benefit available to Canadians in certain provinces and territories. It is more commonly known as the climate action incentive payment, or CAIP for short. The program offers a tax free payment to individuals and families to offset the cost of federal pollution pricing.It is paid quarterly and enrollment is typically automatic. If you received a strange deposit to your bank account recently from the Canada

The climate action incentive is a new benefit program available to Canadians. It is designed to subsidize the cost of climate change incentives as implemented by the federal government. The payment is sent to Canadians quarterly, usually in the form of direct deposit. Generally speaking, the eligibility criteria of the CAIP payment is quite broad. So does everyone get the climate action incentive payment? Who is eligible and who’s not? Continue reading to find out more! What is the climate action incentive payment? The climate action incentive payment is a tax-free amount paid to individuals and families. The program started as a refundable tax credit in 2021. However, it has since evolved into a quarterly benefit which began in July 2022. The climate action incentive payment helps offset the cost of federal pollution pricing. At present, the CAIP payment is only available to residents of Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Ontario. But starting in July 2023, the CAIP will also become

Whether it’s you, your spouse, uncle, or friend — layoffs could affect any Canadian. Just this year, Google laid off 2,000 Canadian employees, while Cineplex laid off 5,000. Then there are entire industry-wide layoffs amid economic crises like COVID-19.Forbes shares that, for many, losing work is akin to losing identity, bringing tons of mental health struggles as lingering effects.But one thing certainly helps lighten the blow of a disappeared pay cheque: a bulk pay cheque, aka severance. Fortunately, severance pay can help, but not everyone knows the answer to the question, do you get severance pay when laid off in Canada. This is an area where Canadian labour laws are much more representative for the employee than in the USA, where companies can terminate for pretty much no reason and legally enforce no-termination pay clauses. So, do you get severance when laid off in Canada? Yes and no — it depends on your place of work, time spent working there,

The Old Age Security program is a pillar of the public retirement benefits in Canada. Alongside the Canada Pension Plan and Guaranteed Income Supplement, Canadians have access to a reasonable, government provided income in their retirement and senior years. However, in the mid 2010s, there were some proposed changes to the OAS program, specifically the age requirement. This article will answer the question, when does OAS change to age 67? Continue reading to find out more. An Overview of Old Age Security The Old Age Security program provides a monthly payment to Canadians who are in their 60s. OAS works alongside the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) programs. Together, these three programs support retired, elderly Canadians. The Old Age Pensions Act was originally created in 1927. The legislation was established to address poverty in older Canadian populations at the time. In 1951, it was replaced by the Old Age Security Act and the Old Age Assistance

When completing your tax return, you’ll likely notice the terms tax credit and tax deduction. But what is the difference between tax credit vs tax deduction? In short, one reduces your taxable income whereas the other reduces your tax liability. However, there are other nuances to consider, which are described below. Continue reading to learn more about the unique differences between tax credits vs tax deductions in Canada. What is a tax deduction? Tax deductions are eligible amounts that reduce your net income for tax purposes. Normally, your net income is calculated first, then tax deductions are taken off the total. This step comes before tax credits in the calculation process. What is an example of a tax deduction? Here are some common examples of tax deductions in Canada: What expenses are tax deductible in Canada? There are a wide range of expenses that are tax deductible. If you’re self employed, you can usually deduct business expenses against your income