People often ask, "Why do you feel the need to tweak things so much?" Well, first off, we prefer to use the word "refine"...! But semantics aside, the reason is, we know how hard it is to keep people's attention. So that's why the look and feel of our electronic content is changing. We hope you like it.
Before the Easter holiday weekend was overtaken by the ice storm in Southern Ontario and resulting power outages, there was March 22...
Here's what happened in Ottawa on March 22nd...
New Federal Finance Minister Morneau tabled his first budget, framed "Growing the Middle Class". While you've probably seen plenty of media coverage, we thought you would appreciate an overview of how some of the budget items relate to investments and taxes.
As part of their 2015 election platform, the Liberals declared that they were prepared to take the Federal government into a deficit position to fund new infrastructure investments, all in an effort to help Canada get out of its "economic funk". But, they also indicated that they planned to return to a balanced budget as of fiscal year 2019/20.
Finance Minister Morneau tabled a budget expected to balloon the deficit to over $18 Billion in 2016/17 and what was startling was that this $18 Billion deficit did not include any new infrastructure programs!
The good news? Part of that spending may benefit you:
The bad news is, the government also took things away:
So, there you have it. It seems the Liberals have decided to take advantage of this low interest rate environment to borrow, borrow, borrow and spend, spend, spend!
As the budget analysis continues, the one thing we know for sure is that there are also, likely, a few "surprises" hidden within the 269 pages. So stay tuned...
I hope you find these highlights useful. If you'd like to discuss these and other federal budget initiatives and how they affect your financial plan, please don't hesitate to contact your financial planner at our firm.
Small business owners seem to have been hit the hardest with this budget so, if you work in a small business, when you go to work today, give your boss a hug, they'll need it.
