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Federal Budgets and Related Resources

Legislation subsequent to the 2023 Budget

On September 21, 2023, Bill C-56, the Affordable Housing and Groceries Act, was introduced to increase the GST Rental Rebate on new rental housing from 36% to 100%. The rebate increase is effective for projects that begin construction on or after September 14, 2023 and before December 31, 2030, and complete construction by December 31, 2035. See the September 21, 2023 Department of Finance news release as well as the Backgrounder.

Federal 2023 Budget - March 28, 2023

Previous Federal Budgets - below

COVID-19 Financial Relief for Canadians - Legislation

Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer

Parliamentary Budget Office COVID-19 Analysis

Federal Debt

Consulting with Canadians

Budget-Related Resources

Department of Finance Budget website

Prior Budgets

Department of Finance draft legislation

Parliament of Canada - Bills

House of Commons Sitting Calendar

ParlVU - Live streaming of House of Commons proceedings and public committees. Prior videos can be viewed by going to Calendar-Day/Month and choosing a date on which the House of Commons was in session.

Hansard - official record of what is said by Members of Parliament in the House of Commons - very frustrating/disappointing to read much of the time

Fiscal Monitor - monthly reports

Fiscal Reference Tables

Consolidated Statutes and Regulations of Canada

Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act R.S.C., 1985, C. F-8 - re equalization payments to provinces, health transfers, sales tax harmonization, etc.

Canadian Government News Releases

Department of Finance News Releases

Department of Finance Archived News Releases

Financial Data

Parliamentary Budget Officer - independent analysis to Parliament on the state of the nation's finances, the government's estimates and trends in the Canadian economy; and upon request, estimates the cost of any proposal under Parliament's jurisdiction.

Government of Canada Infobase - interactive data-visualization tool, information on government finances, people, and results. Contains years worth of federal government data.

Federal Budgets & Legislation

2023 Federal Budget - March 28, 2023

2022 Federal Budget & Fall Economic Statement

2021 Economic and Fiscal Update - December 14, 2021

- above is link to the Federal Budget website.

There was no mention of a change to the capital gains inclusion rate.

Bill C-8, An Act to implement certain provisions of the economic and fiscal update, received Royal Assent June 9, 2022, including the following measures:

Income Tax Act and Regulations:

	small business air quality improvement tax credit
	expanding the travel component of the northern residents deduction
	enhanced support for teachers
	new refundable tax credit to return fuel charge proceeds to farming businesses in backstop jurisdictions

Underused Housing Tax Act enacted

Draft regulations under the Underused Housing Tax Act and draft legislation re amendments to the Underused Housing Tax Act were released for consultation on August 9, 2022.

Provision for a 6-year limitation or prescription period for recovery of amounts owing re CEBA loan program established by Export Development Canada

Authorization of payments to be made for supporting ventilation improvement projects in schools

Authorization of payments to be made to provinces & territories for support of COVID-19 proof-of-vaccination initiatives

Authorization of payments re government expenses incurred re COVID-19 tests.

Employment Insurance Act amendments to specify maximum number of weeks for which benefits may be paid in a benefit period to certain seasonal workers.

Tax Measures Proposed

Enhancing the home office expense deduction

extending the simplified rules for deducting home office expenses and increasing the maximum temporary flat rate to $500 annually. This will apply to the 2021 and 2022 tax years.

Enhanced support for teachers

	refundable tax credit rate increased to 25%
	list of eligible goods expanded
	applicable to the 2021 and subsequent taxation years
	Note: Although this is available in certified tax software, it could not be claimed until Bill C-8 received Royal Assent on June 9, 2022.

Small Business Air Quality Improvement Tax Credit

refundable tax credit 25% of eligible entity qualifying expenditures

maximum of $10,000 qualifying expenditures per qualifying location, maximum $50,000 across all qualifying locations

for qualifying expenditures incurred between September 1, 2021 and December 31, 2022

eligible entities include

	unincorporated sole proprietors
	Canadian-controlled private corporations (CCPCs) with taxable capital employed in Canada of less than $15 million in the tax year immediately preceding tax year in which expenditure is incurred. Taxable capital of associated corporations is also counted for this purpose.
	members of a partnership that are qualifying corporations or individuals (other than trusts), and would be based on their proportionate interest in the partnership.

qualifying expenditures include

	expenses directly attributable to the purchase, installation, upgrade or conversion of mechanical heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems
	purchase of devices designed to filter air using high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters
	see further information about qualifying expenditures from the link above.

Underused Housing Tax

	annual 1% tax on value of non-resident, non-Canadian owned residential real estate in Canada that is considered to be vacant or underused
	some exemptions would be available
	effective for the 2022 calendar year
	Underused Housing Tax return for the 2022 calendar year would be required to be filed with Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) on or before April 30, 2023, with tax payable due on or before that date.

Returning proceeds from pollution pricing directly to farmers

return fuel charge proceeds directly to farming business in backstop jurisdictions via a refundable tax credit, starting for the 2021-22 fuel charge year

available to corporations, individuals and trusts that are actively engaged in the management or day-to-day activities of earning income from farming, and incur total farming expenses of $25,000 or more

payment rate will be specified by the Minister of Finance for the fuel charge year

credits would be included in the taxable income of the business in the tax year the credit is claimed

payment rates per $1,000 in eligible farming expenses:

	$1.47 for 2021
	$1.73 for 2022

Will be claimed (eventually) on Form T2043 for a claim by self-employed farmers or individuals who are members of a partnership operating a farming business with a permanent establishment in one or more of Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, or Alberta.

Notes:

	Although the form is available for individuals, and is included in certified tax software, it could not be claimed until Bill C-8 received Royal Assent on June 9, 2022.
	No form is available as yet for corporations, but it is expected that a form will be available by June.

see above link for more information on eligible farming expenses.

November 2021 Legislation Tabled

Bill C-2 An Act to provide further support in response to COVID-19 received Royal Assent December 17, 2021 with the following provisions:

Business Supports

Canada Recovery Hiring Program (CRHP) extended until May 7, 2022, with increased subsidy rate.

Targeted supports:

	Tourism and Hospitality Recovery Program, with subsidy rate of up to 75%.
	Hardest-Hit Business Recovery Program, with wage and rent subsidy rates up to 50%.
	Local Lockdown Program, for businesses facing temporary new local lockdowns

Worker Supports

	Extend Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (CRCB) and Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB) until May 7, 2022 and increase duration of each by 2 weeks.
	New Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit to provide $300 per week in income support to workers impacted by a COVID-19-related public health lockdown in their region, up until May 7, 2022. This benefit is retroactive to October 24, 2021.

November 24, 2021 News Release re above.

Federal 2021 Budget - April 19, 2021

2020 Federal Budget

The 2020 Federal Budget was scheduled to be tabled Monday, March 30, 2020, but was postponed indefinitely due to COVID-19. However, 5 bills have been tabled, with 3 receiving Royal Assent.

2020 Fall Economic Statement - November 30, 2020

The 2020-2021 deficit is expected to reach $381.6 billion, and deficits in the billions are expected to continue until at least 2025-2026. There is no mention of debt reduction or balanced budgets.

No changes to personal or corporate income tax were introduced.

See the Video Tax News summary of measures in the Fall Economic Statement.

For more detail, see:

Fall Economic Statement - Department of Finance

- Full Report in pdf format - Table of Contents has hyperlinks to the topics, which is quite helpful. Legislative proposals start at page 200.

- Tax Measures: Supplementary Information

- Moodys Tax blog: Tax Announcements in the November 30, 2020 Federal Government Fall Economic Statement

Bill C-14, Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2020, was tabled on Dec 2, 2020, to implement measures announced in the Economic Statement. See the News Release. Bill C-14 provides for the government to increase total borrowing under the Borrowing Authority Act to $1.831 trillion. The maximum borrowing allowed in 2018 was $1.168 trillion.

Bill C-14 received Royal Assent on May 6, 2021.

See Parliamentary Budget Officer information on The Borrowing Authority Act and Measures of Federal Debt.

TaxTips.ca Resources re Fall Economic Statement measures:

	Canada Child Benefit - 2021 additional benefits
	Home Office Expense Deduction - simplified

The Throne Speech was delivered on September 23, 2020, outlining in general the government proposals. See a good summary of the proposals prepared by Video Tax News.

See information on Bill C-2 tabled September 24, 2020, which includes 3 benefits to replace CERB, as well as a provision to give the Government authority to spend up to $17.1 billion on specific measures from Oct-Dec 2020.

July 8, 2020 Economic and Fiscal Snapshot

The Economic and Fiscal Snapshot summarized all COVID-19 financial relief. The deficit is projected to be $343.2 billion for the 2020-21 fiscal year. There were no tax changes announced. We've updated the estimated March 31, 2021 interest-bearing debt amount in our Federal Debt article.

Legislative proposals in 2019:

Amateur Athletic Trusts

December 20, 2019 Notice of Ways and Means Motion and Explanatory Notes to extend the maturation period of these trusts from eight years to nine years. Trusts that would mature in 2019 would now mature in 2020.

Personal Tax Credits

December 9, 2019 Notice of Ways and Means Motion and Explanatory Notes re increases for 2020 and subsequent years to the

- basic personal amount - details of amounts in future years

- spousal amount and

- eligible dependant amount

These changes also automatically affect Yukon territorial income tax due to the wording of their Income Tax Act. The Yukon government has not indicated whether they will amend their legislation so that the changes do not affect Yukon territorial tax.

The Detailed Canadian Tax and RRSP Savings Calculator for 2019/2020 has been revised to include the proposed legislation. These proposals are subject to legislative approval. We have included them because the Bloc have indicated they will support the minority government on this change. We have not included the same change for the Yukon territorial income tax yet.

2019 Federal Budget March 19, 2019 and subsequent legislation

2018 Fall Economic Statement November 21, 2018 - on Department of Finance website. Main points:

- No personal income tax changes

- full immediate cost write-off for machinery and equipment purchased after November 20, 2018 and used in the manufacturing and processing of goods

- full immediate cost write-off for specified clean energy equipment purchased after November 20, 2018

- $800 million to be added to the Strategic Innovation Fund over 5 years, with $100 million to be focussed on providing support to the forest sector.

- See November 21, 2018 Notice of Ways and Means Motion and Explanatory Notes for more details.

2018 Federal Budget February 27, 2018 and Subsequent Legislation

2017 Small Business Tax Changes - Tax On Split Income / Income Sprinkling

2018 Federal Budget - Pre-Budget Consultations - on Department of Finance website. No end date for the consultation period has yet been announced.

2017 Fall Economic Statement October 24, 2017

2017 Federal Budget - March 22, 2017 and July 18, 2017 Proposed Tax Changes for Private Corporations

2016 Fall Economic Statement November 1, 2016 - on Department of Finance Budget website

2016 Federal Budget March 22, 2016

Legislative Proposals Prior to 2016 Budget

2015 Liberal Party Platform

2015 Federal Budget April 21, 2015

October 2014 Federal Update - new Family Tax Cut, UCCB increased, Child Tax Credit eliminated, Child Care Expense Deduction increased

2014 Federal Budget / Economic Action Plan February 11, 2014

2013 Federal Budget / Economic action plan - March 21, 2013

2012 Federal Budget - March 29, 2012 - and subsequent legislation

2011 Federal Budget - June 6, 2011

2010 Federal Budget

2009 Federal Budget - Canada's Economic Action Plan

2008 Federal Budget and 2008 Economic and Fiscal Statement

2007 Federal Budget

2006 Federal Budget

Revised: September 22, 2023