Until recently, it was more financially beneficial to sell a business to a third party in Canada, rather than passing it along to children or grandchildren through an intergenerational business transfer. This had been a longstanding bone of contention among entrepreneurs. Bill C-208, An Act to amend the Income Tax Act (transfer of small business […]
After months of lobbying on the part of the medical community and various labour groups, the Ontario government this week proposed amendments to the province’s Employment Standards Act, 2000, to provide up to three paid sick days for employees that need to miss work for reasons relating to COVID-19. Under the Worker Income Protection Benefit, […]
Federal budget 2021, the first federal budget in two years, was tabled yesterday amid doom and gloom predictions of increases in the capital gains rates, taxation on the sale of principal residences, and a range of other tax increases to pay for COVID-19 relief programs. The worry proved to be all for naught—at least for […]
Ontario Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy promised to table a provincial budget that would do what it takes to carry the province through the final stages of COVID-19—and the 2021 Ontario budget lives up to the promise of continued major spending commitments. The proposed package would see Queen’s Park spend $173 billion in 2021-22, up from […]
The federal government today announced that it will extend the rate structures for three COVID-19 relief benefits—the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS), the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS) and the Lockdown Support—until June 5th, 2021. The rates for each of the programs were set to expire on March 13th, 2021. The maximum CEWS wage subsidy […]
In the face of widespread confusion, complaints and a looming class action lawsuit, the federal government has changed course, cancelling plans to require some self-employed individuals to repay the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) funds they received at the height of the COVID-19 crisis. Controversy erupted late last year when the Canada Revenue Agency informed […]
The federal government’s new Highly Affected Sectors Credit Availability Program, a COVID-19 relief measure designed to help businesses operating in hard-hit sectors such as hospitality and tourism, is now accepting applications. The program provides loans—fully guaranteed by the Business Development Bank of Canada—of between $25,000 and $1 million to qualifying businesses. Loans of as much […]
The application window for the Ontario Small Business Support Grant is now open. The provincial COVID-19 relief measure is intended as yet another lifeline to aid struggling small to medium-sized businesses across Ontario that have been forced to close or reduce services due to the most recent province-wide lockdown. Qualifying businesses—including corporations, partnerships, charities, non-profits and […]
The federal government continues to adjust and clarify various features of the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy program, the COVID-19 relief benefit designed to help employers cover a portion of their wage expenditures through the worst of the pandemic. Another round of lockdowns, coupled with a stubbornly challenging economic environment across many sectors, has prompted Ottawa […]
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 […]