How the federal election affects your finances

Canadian issues: Income taxes

All the major parties are promising cuts to income tax. The Liberal Party has promised to lower the tax rate for the bottom income bracket (below $57,375 in 2025) by a single percentage point to 14%, offering an annual savings of about $400 per tax filer. This is big because it affects virtually all taxpayers.

Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre has pledged to cut the bottom-bracket tax rate to 12.75% from 15%. Conservative Party calculations put the average annual tax savings at $900, or $1,800 for a two-income family.

The Conservatives have also vowed to boost working seniors’ tax-free earnings threshold to $34,000, up from around $24,000 currently, and to enlarge the travel tax deduction available to trades workers above the current $4,000 limit.

The New Democratic Party wants to ensure that Canadians who earn $19,500 or less per year pay no federal income tax whatsoever. However, leader Jagmeet Singh announced the party intends to lower the basic personal amount—the threshold below which you pay no income tax—to $13,500 for Canadians in the top two tax brackets. (Currently, for the 2024 tax year, the basic personal amount is $15,705, and in 2025, it will be $16,129.)

The NDP also plans to double the Canada Disability Benefit (CDB)—slated to launch this July—from $2,400 to $4,800. The NDP also plans to reinstate the 67% inclusion rate on capital gains over $250,000 that was proposed in the 2024 Federal Budget and then abandoned by the Liberals in March 2025.

The Green Party of Canada proposes to raise the basic personal amount to $40,000. The party says this would put as much as $3,644 back into the pockets of taxpayers earning this amount or more this year.

Canadian issues: Housing

The Liberals have already moved to eliminate the GST for first-time buyers of new homes priced under $1 million.

A Conservative government will waive the GST on new homes under $1.3 million for all buyers, Poilievre announced.

An NDP government would back low-interest mortgages for first-time buyers, Singh said at a campaign stop in Port Moody, B.C., on March 30. He offered few details.

The NDP has also pledged nationwide rent control. At a Halifax campaign stop, Singh said his party would make federal housing grants for provinces conditional on tenant protections and pass a renters’ bill of rights that would apply across Canada. He said it would also ban “renovictions” (evicting tenants under the pretense of major renovations) and fixed-term lease agreements.

Currently, different provinces and municipalities have a patchwork of rent control measures. They are controversial; economists and business groups argue that they are counterproductive in the long term because they take away the incentive for developers to build more rental housing and for landlords to maintain housing stock as rental property.

Canadian issues: Inflation

NDP leader Singh has promised to bring in emergency price caps on food staples such as pasta, frozen vegetables and baby formula. He also pledged higher taxes on grocery chain profits and tighter regulations in the sector. The party aims to permanently remove the GST on “essentials” including grocery-store meals, diapers and strollers, as well as phone, internet and heating bills.

Canadian issues: Retirement

The Conservatives have proposed raising the age at which you must wrap up your registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) and convert it to a registered retirement income fund (RRIF) or annuity to 73 from 71. The party has promised to keep the retirement age at 65 for programs such as Old Age Security (OAS), the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS).

The NDP has vowed to raise the GIS for low-income seniors, but it hasn’t specified by how much.

The Liberals announced one-time measures to help seniors cope with the market volatility brought on by American tariff policy. It says it will reduce the minimum amount seniors must withdraw this year from their RRIF accounts and it will boost the GIS by 5%, again just for 2025. The latter move will increase individuals’ GIS payments for the year by up to $652.

Canadian issues: Investing

The Conservatives have proposed to increase the TFSA contribution limit by $5,000 for funds invested in Canadian equities. The policy harkens back to the 1990s and earlier, when RRSP contributions only qualified for a deduction if invested in Canada. There are issues with such policies in practice, however. The Canadian markets feature companies that are domiciled outside Canada, like Franco Nevada, and many Canadian-based companies have most of their operations and employment outside the country. Conversely, there are Canadian companies that are listed only on foreign stock exchanges, such as Lululemon, that presumably would not qualify.

Poilievre et al are also offering a capital gains tax holiday from July 2025 through December 2026, provided the gains are reinvested in Canada.

Canadian issues: Carbon tax

The Liberal government discontinued the consumer carbon tax, effective April 1, resulting in price cuts at the pump across Canada and especially in B.C., which simultaneously withdrew its long-standing carbon tax. Canadians eligible for receiving the associated rebate will receive their last payment in April.

The Conservatives have been campaigning to “axe the tax” for years.

Canadian issues: Health care

The NDP promises to work for full pharmacare coverage—that is, the federal government would pay the cost of prescription drugs for people of working age and their families—within four years. It aims to start with the 100 most prescribed medications, representing about half of all prescriptions. The estimated cost would be $3.5 billion a year.

Read more economic news:

• Canada’s unemployment rate—plus, the rate by province and city
• Canadian companies facing supply-chain challenges in wake of U.S. tariffs
• How soon will Canadians save from the carbon tax’s demise? Depends what you’re buying
• How young investors can respond to stock market volatility

About Michael McCullough

Michael is a financial writer and editor in Duncan, B.C. He’s a former managing editor of Canadian Business and editorial director of Canada Wide Media. He also writes for The Globe and Mail and BCBusiness.

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