Personal Finance

Residents in their final year had prepared to write their certification exams[1] this spring. Then the pandemic struck. Now, with exams delayed until at least the fall, recent resident graduates are having to make some changes. In addition to having to adjust for the new exam timing and all that goes along with that, many are dealing with financial impacts as well.

The federal government is extending its program to subsidize wages in companies hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic until December, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday. The program is the heart of the government's promise to help Canadians get back to work, even if has to be at a slower pace, as the pandemic wanes.

Canada has finally come up with its most accurate picture of the distribution of net worth for Canadian families. The Parliamentary Budget Office released its report titled “Estimating The Top Tail Of The Family Wealth Distribution In Canada” in 2020. Here is a brief summary of what this report is all about.

Canadian physicians pay a substantial amount of income taxes. This is because of Canada’s graduated tax system, which means that the more money you earn, the higher the percentage of your income you will pay in taxes. This tax fatigue has increased in the aggregate because of the Trudeau government’s 2017 tax reform for Canadian Controlled Private Corporations (CCPCs), including medical corporations. Many physicians who were income splitting through their medical corporation can no longer save taxes using this income-splitting strategy because of the change in tax legislation.

The federal Conservatives are calling for an investigation into the Liberal government's decision to have an international charity administer a $900-million program designed to help students during the COVID-19 pandemic. The request is contained in a letter sent to Auditor General Karen Hogan on Sunday in which the Tories argue that "outsourcing'' the Canada Student Service Grant to WE Charity undermines Parliament's ability to monitor the aid program.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau defended his government's fiscal record on Thursday as it launched several new programs promising billions of dollars in new support for students. The moves came one day after Canada saw its credit rating degraded by one major agency, over the massive increase in government spending meant to help Canadians through the COVID-19 pandemic.