Opportunity: Canadian Dollar Stabilizes, Somewhat

Things have started to turn around for the Canadian dollar in the second quarter of 2025. It hit a 22 year low in January of 2025. Investors and property owners, who have been swooning at the high burn rate in their travel plans and property maintenance abroad, may wish to consider recent more positive trends and consider some risk mitigation opportunities now that the dollar is stabilizing somewhat.  

Debt reduction could be the leading financial management strategy as 2019 begins, given the grim housing market forecast, where the biggest concern relates to housing affordability. RBC reports that this will remain a financial challenge for many Canadian families, as the cost of homeownership relative to median income levels will keep rising.

Shake out the cobwebs and sharpen your tax knowledge with Canada’s most popular advanced tax update featuring a detailed line-by-line approach to the new 2018 forms and schedules from the CRA. The national tour featuring keynote speaker Evelyn Jacks and an outstanding faculty of experienced instructors starts Thursday January 17 in Winnipeg; then arrives Monday the 21 in Toronto ; Ottawa on the 22, Calgary on the 23, Edmonton on the 24 and Vancouver on the 25th.  Don’t miss out - there are only a few spots left so call or enroll online today.

A newly updated certificate tax course focused on the dramatic changes to tax planning for corporate owner-managers is launching today. It’s so important that its updater, Dr. Dean Smith of Cadesky Tax says that advisors who do not understand these rules may very well cause harm to their clients. Here’s why:

As a newcomer to Canada, Iqbal Sidhu shares how his Knowledge Bureau education helped him transition into a new career path in professional tax filing as a result of his successful pursuit of the DFA – Tax Services Specialist designation:

The most awaited tax change for the broadest base of taxpayers is the legislation allowing the government to automatically compute the Canada Workers Benefit (CWB) for tax year 2019. This benefit will replace the current Working Income Tax Benefit. But, it requires designated educational institutions to report for each student whether they are studying on a full- or part-time basis so that their eligibility for the CWB can be determined.

Happy 2019! Welcome back to Knowledge Bureau Report and to what’s sure to be a fascinating year for interpreting tax and financial news, based on recent stock market volatility and significant tax change. It’s an election year, too, so broadly misunderstood tax reforms recently introduced will likely re-emerge for debate. What lies ahead for 2019? Here are just some of the facts Canadians should know.