Watching gas prices rise as the weather grows (slightly) warmer is a regular experience for Canadians—a rite of spring, if you will. The difference this year is that gas prices, which are, in mid-April, already at a three-year high in some provinces (at around $1.50 per litre in Montreal and Vancouver) seem likely to break new records this summer.
Under Canadian law, all residents of Canada are subject to Canadian income tax. However, the reach of the Canadian tax system does not stop at the Canadian border, as all Canadian residents are taxable on their worldwide income, no matter where that income arises.
For most Canadians, spending hard-earned money on legal fees is about as appealing a prospect as paying income taxes. And, to make matters worse, a need for legal services is often associated with life’s more unwelcome occurrences (e.g., divorce, death, job loss, etc.). About the only thing that mitigates the pain of paying legal fees (aside, hopefully, from a successful resolution of the problem that created the need for legal advice) is being able to claim a tax credit or deduction for the fees paid.
It shouldn’t be news to anyone that while the cost of obtaining a post-secondary education continues to rise, the government’s financial support of post-secondary institutions has, no less, declined. Additionally, the generous government student loan and grant programs available to earlier generations of students are no longer as generous as they once were. A realistic annual budget (including tuition, residence, and textbooks) for even a general arts or science undergraduate program now runs between $15,000 and $20,000. And, where a student decides to pursue post-graduate work or to enter a professional study program like law, dentistry, or medicine, those costs will skyrocket.
The baby boom generation, whose members are now between the ages of 48 and 67, is also known, with good reason, as the “sandwich generation”. Many baby boomers are now in the position of needing to provide some degree of practical support or care to aging parents while also trying to save for their own retirement and to provide for their children. Those children are, in many cases, enrolled in costly post-secondary education programs or, having finished their education, remain living in the family home.
Spring and summer are, in any year, typically the busiest season for real estate sales and, consequently, the time when most moves take place. It's also the season when many post-secondary students are moving home for the summer and back to school as fall approaches. For any number of reasons, therefore, a lot of people will be moving this summer.
