Fall Federal Budget: Will Spending Be Cut?

Canada has historically presented an annual budget since Confederation in 1867, even through periods like World Wars and the Great Depression, but we have recently experienced the longest period without a full federal budget in our history. By the time the next one is brought down, expected in October 2025, it will have been 18 months since the controversial April 2024 budget which introduced the doomed capital gains inclusion rate hikes. What can we expect?

The maximum Canada Pension Plan (CPP) contributory earnings are indexed annually based on inflation. For 2019, indexation resulted in a 2.68 percent increase over 2018.

Did you forget to file a tax return in a previous year? It can pay handsomely to catch up before year-end. Not only can you recover tax refunds CRA may still owe you (that’s the main reason for most), but here are 8 additional reasons to file those missed returns before year-end:

Knowledge Bureau is excited to announce that 2019’s Distinguished Advisor Conference (DAC) will take place in beautiful Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, November 10-13. Early bird registration is now open with an important opportunity: a $300 hotel credit for registrations received by November 15.

Frank Arnold of Woodville, Ontario completed Knowledge Bureau’s Use of Trusts in Tax and Estate Planning course while pursuing his Master Financial Advisor - Retirement and Succession Services Specialist credentials. He explained why lifelong learning is essential in the tax and financial services: “I feel that learning never really ends. Rules and legislative changes are created constantly, therefore, giving up on learning means giving up on valuable expertise.”

Almost 40 per cent of Canada is north of the 60th parallel. But how many Canadians in the South truly understand northern issues, or the riches of the North, its unique, fragile ecology and centuries of Inuit, Dene and northern First Nations traditions? Senator Patricia Bovey will be providing important economic and social insights as the closing keynote speaker at the Distinguished Advisor Conference next week.

Finance Canada will release its Fall Economic Statement on November 21, about a month later than it was last year. In the meantime, it released two important documents on October 25 and 29: A Notice of Ways and Means Motion and Bill C-86: the second Budget Implementation Act which together enable remaining initiatives outlined in the February 27, 2018 Federal Budget.