Blog

Discover how taxes impact your estate in Canada and explore strategies to minimize the burden. Learn how to manage earned income, deemed disposition, and withdrawals at death to preserve your legacy.

In today's competitive business landscape, establishing an effective employee benefits program is paramount. Such a program not only attracts and retains top talent but also underscores your organization's dedication to the overall well-being of its employees. This guide outlines the crucial steps to set up a successful benefits program.

As a financial advisor, my primary goal is to help you achieve financial clarity by accessing a network of dedicated professionals. Together, we provide personalized advice and services to help you make informed decisions and secure your future. Think of me as your financial coordinator, ensuring every aspect of your financial life works smoothly.

On April 16, 2024, Canada's Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Chrystia Freeland, presented the federal budget. While there are no changes to federal personal or corporate tax rates, the budget introduces: • An increase in the portion of capital gains subject to tax, rising from 50% to 66.67%, starting June 25, 2024. However, individual gains up to $250,000 annually will retain the 50% rate. • The lifetime exemption limit for capital gains has been raised to $1.25 million. Additionally, a new one-third inclusion rate is set for up to $2 million in capital gains for entrepreneurs. • The budget confirms the alternative minimum tax changes planned for January 1, 2024 but lessens their impact on charitable contributions. • This year's budget emphasizes making housing more affordable. It provides incentives for building rental properties specifically designed for long-term tenants. • Introduces new support measures to aid people buying their first homes. • Costs for specific patents and tech equipment and software can now be written off immediately. • Canada carbon rebate for small business

The best way to provide your family with financial protection is with solid insurance planning. These three types of insurance will ensure your family has the financial resources they need if you die, are injured, or become ill: - Life insurance. - Critical illness insurance. - Disability insurance.

Stay ahead in 2024 with our comprehensive financial calendar! From tax filing to benefit distributions, we guide you through key dates like the $7,000 TFSA contribution and $8,000 First Home Savings Account. Bookmark now for a financially savvy year!

Unlock the mysteries of your group benefits plan! Discover how the target loss ratio (TLR) can influence your premiums and what it means for your company's future. Dive in now!

Many of us dream of the day that we can retire and have the time to ourselves that we have dreamed of for so many years. But, to have a genuinely contented and relaxing retirement, you need to ensure that you have the means to afford it. So, now's the best time to consider the three critical stages of retirement planning. 1) Accumulation 2) Pre-retirement 3) Retirement

As a business owner, one of your challenges is learning how to balance between reinvesting into the business and setting money aside for personal savings. Since there are no longer employer-sponsored pension plans and the knowledge that retirement will come eventually, it’s important to have a retirement plan in place. We've put together an infographic checklist that can help you get started on this.

On March 28, 2023, the Federal Government released their 2032 budget. This article highlights the following financial measures: • New transfer options associated with Bill C-208 for intergenerational transfer. • New rules for employee ownership trusts. • Changes to how the Alternative Minimum Tax is calculated. • Improvements to Registered Education Savings Plans. • Expanding access to Registered Disability Savings Plans. • Grocery rebate. • Deduction for tradespeople tool expenses. • Automatic tax filing. • New Canadian Dental Care Plan.

Welcome to our 2023 financial calendar! This calendar is designed to help you keep track of important financial dates and deadlines, such as tax filing and government benefit distribution. You can bookmark this page for easy reference or add these dates to your personal calendar to ensure you don't miss any important financial obligations.

Being a single parent is a lot of responsibility. Learn how the right types of insurance can provide you and your family with the financial protection they need.

You have worked long and hard to build up your business, and now you are ready to withdraw money from your business' bank account. But you don't want to get hit with a huge tax bill. So here are 5 ways to withdraw money from your business in a tax-efficient manner.

Before buying insurance from your bank to cover your mortgage, please consider your options. What does the insurance cover?

It’ll be time to file your 2021 taxes soon, and you must take advantage of every tax credit and deduction that you can. Our article includes information on a variety of subjects you need to know about, including what to do if you’ve had to repay COVID-19 benefits, how to plan ahead if you’re self-employed or retiring soon, and what you need to know if you have a home office or employer-provided benefits.

On February 22, 2022, the B.C. Minister of Finance announced the 2022 budget. We have highlighted the most important financial measures you need to know, with an emphasis on: • Supporting sustainable economic development • Offering stronger healthcare • Expanding child care options and lowering fees • Supporting capital infrastructure • Providing funding for affordable housing • Promoting clean transportation Budget 2022 includes no changes to personal or corporate tax rates.

The end of 2021 is quickly approaching – which means it’s time to get everything in order, so you’re ready when it comes time to file your taxes. We’ve broken this article into the following sections to make it easy to find the tax tips you’re looking for: • Individuals, including details on COVID-19 benefits and important tax credits. • Investment considerations, including how to best contribute to TFSAs, RRSPs, and RDSPs. • Families, including how to claim childcare expenses and make the most of RESPs. • Retirees, including essential details about applying for CPP and OAS.

Working as a partnership between 2 or more individuals is never an easy task, and the situation only gets more complicated when one or more of them exits the business. Protecting not only the business, but your personal interests, as well as your family’s future are very important objectives for any business owner, and should not be overlooked.

Post-secondary education can be expensive, however having the opportunity to plan for it helps with making sure that you’re capable to meet the costs of education.

You may have had life insurance for as long as you can remember. You knew it was important to make sure that your family would be taken care of and be able to pay their bills if anything happened to you. But now that you’re over 60, your children are grown, and your mortgage is paid off, you may feel you don’t need life insurance anymore. However, there are some circumstances under which it may still make sense for you to have life insurance: • You still have substantial debt. • You have dependent children or grandchildren. • You want to be able to leave a financial legacy.

On April 20, 2021, the B.C. Minister of Finance announced the 2021 budget. We have highlighted the most important things you need to know, including: • Changes in the requirement to repay the B.C. Emergency Benefit for Workers • Home Owner Grant threshold change • PST exemption for electric bikes • Elimination of PST rebate for certain vehicle sales • Delay in the carbon tax increase • Tobacco tax increases • Changes to the speculation and vacancy tax

While it’s great to have group coverage from your employer or association, in most cases, people don’t understand the that there are important differences when it comes to group life insurance vs. self owned life insurance.

Great news for some ineligible self-employed Canadians who received the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB)

For the 2020 tax year, the Government of Canada introduced a temporary flat rate method to allow Canadians working from home this year due to Covid-19 to claim expenses of up to $400.

To help our clients, we’ve put together a comprehensive article filled with great tips on how to get ready for 2020 tax season. Here’s a summary of our personal tax tips article: • Details about the different COVID-19 benefits programs and the tax ramifications of them • Information about family tax issues including the Canada Child Benefits and tips on how to split income. • Managing investments. Details about contributing to various savings plans such as a TFSA, RESP, or RDSP. Also tips on how and when to donate to charity and how to time the purchase or sale of investments. • Retirement planning. How to make the most of your RRSP, things to know if you’ve turned 71, and tips on RRIF conversion.

The Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB) is now open for applications. If you are eligible for the CRB, you can receive $1,000 ($900 after taxes withheld) for a 2-week period. If your situation continues past 2 weeks, you will need to apply again. You may apply up to a total of 13 eligibility periods (26 weeks) between September 27, 2020 and September 25, 2021.

For young families, making sure your family is financially protected can be overwhelming, especially since there’s so much information floating online. This infographic addresses the importance of insurance- personal insurance.

Financial planning for business owners is often two-sided: personal financial planning and planning for the business. Business owners have access to a lot of financial tools that employees don't have access to; this is a great advantage, however it can be overwhelming too. A financial plan can relieve this. A financial plan looks at where you are today and where you want to go. It determines your short, medium and long term financial goals and how you can reach them. For you, personally and for your business.

Estate Planning for Young Families

Business owners can be busy… they’re busy running a successful business, wearing lots of hats and making a ton of decisions. We've put together a list of 10 essential decisions for every business owner to consider.

The Application portal for the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA) opens at 8:00am EST on May 25th

On May 8th, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that they will extend the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) beyond June.

On April 24th, the Federal Government in partnership with the provinces and territories unveiled the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance which provides rent relief to businesses.

On April 21st, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that the Canada Revenue Agency will accept applications for the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) starting Monday, April 27th. This new measure gives qualifying employers up to $847 per employee each week so they can keep people on the payroll.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced: "Today, we're announcing more help for more Canadians. This includes topping up the pay of essential workers. At the same time, we'll also be expanding the Canada Emergency Response Benefit to reach people who are earning some income as well as seasonal workers who are facing no jobs and for those who have run out of EI recently. Expanding the CERB to include people who earn up to $1,000 per month. Maybe you're a volunteer firefighter, or a contractor who can pickup some shifts, or you have a part-time job in a grocery store."

The sheer volume of applications for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) will likely overwhelm the system. If you or someone you know need to apply for this benefit, we suggest you prepare TODAY before the applications begin: Double check your myCRA account username and password Setup Direct Deposit with CRA

To help Canadians through this difficult time, the Federal Government created the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) and made changes to the Employment Insurance Program (EI). For those whose employment has affected by the Coronavirus, we have created a chart to help you figure out which program you qualify for and provide links to apply for each program.

One of the financial planning issues that business owners face is how to access their corporate earnings in a tax efficient way. Please contact us to learn how we can get more money in your pocket than in the government's.

Working with a professional to help you to make sense of your finances can be a wise move, but for this relationship to work effectively it is important that you understand what to expect from your financial advisor.