r/CanadaFinance

I am a first time home buyer and am about to put down a deposit from my RRSP. I had a question on repayment.

I know for the RRSP HBP loans, between 2022 and 2025, the initial grace period was extended to 5 years, after which it became 2 years in 2026.

But with the spring economic update, and it passing on June 19, 2026, I wanted to clarify if this grace period has been extended to 5 years for HBP loans incurred between 2026 and 2028?

Essentially, if I take money out of my RRSP in August 2026, then my repayment will not start until 2031? Appreciate your help!

I'm an accountant who works with Canadian small businesses, and I see the same questions come up all the time around:

• GST/HST
• Bookkeeping
• Payroll
• CRA letters and reviews
• Incorporation vs sole proprietorship
• Corporate tax

Rather than guessing, I thought I'd spend some time answering questions here.

Whether you're just starting a business or you've been running one for years, ask me anything about your bookkeeping, taxes, or CRA requirements. If I know the answer, I'll explain it.

Hopefully this helps a few business owners avoid costly mistakes.

The obvious ones like RRSP contributions and the basic personal amount are well known, but I keep hearing there are legitimate credits and deductions most people never claim simply because they don't know they exist.

I only recently found out about the Canada training credit and the home office expense deduction for employees who worked remotely. Both were sitting right there and I had no idea for years.

Curious what this community has discovered over time. Things like the disability tax credit for people who qualify but never apply, medical expenses that go beyond just prescriptions, carrying charges on investment accounts, or union and professional dues that people forget to enter.

Not looking for anything sketchy, just legitimate CRArecognized credits that the average Canadian overlooks because the tax system is genuinely complicated and most people just punch in their T4 and call it a day.

If you've ever found something that saved you a meaningful amount and wished you'd known sooner, drop it below. Would love to build a reference list from people with real experience navigating this stuff.

Bro, so I’m 18 right now and in the process of getting a car. I called a lot of insurance brokers today, and they all basically told me to just go with RBC or TD because the rates are too high everywhere else. One broker gave me a quote of $700 A MONTH.
How am I supposed to pay that as a teenager? 😭 I can’t even put the car under my parents’ insurance because I don’t live with them (don’t ask why).
Can someone please tell me what I’m supposed to do? I just want to be able to drive without paying $700 a month. Like, how is a teenager expected to afford that?

I use BMO and their interface is god awful and confusing as all hell. (I have a chequing acct with them and use investorline but the RDSP is whack.)

It’s so bad I’m thinking about moving it altogether. Does anyone have an RDSP account with a bank they would recommend ?

Hi all,

I am an American and a Canadian by descent. I am looking to move to Canada in about a year. What do you think I should know about finances? For context I will be self employed mental health therapist and probably be making six figures similar to the USA.

Traditionally people say the private sector pays better but the public sector has better work life balance.

But I think that is more of an American thing.

No doubt for highly compensated C-suite type roles the private sector pays more, but for the average employee in Canada it is best to the in the public sector.

The only other advantage I can think of private sector roles is they tend to have more flashy offices and an aura of prestige.

Otherwise it is better to be in public sector to public sector adjacent roles.

Robinhood Canada is ready to take users off the wait list now.
Zero trading fee from July 1 through September 30, 2026

Was going through the Survey of Financial Security release and the provincial spread for family networth is bigger than I expected:

- BC: $773,500
- Ontario: $665,600
- Alberta: $457,100
- PEI: $399,800
- Saskatchewan: $394,600
- Manitoba: $386,300
- Quebec: $371,000
- Nova Scotia: $354,600
- Newfoundland: $333,500
- New Brunswick: $286,200

Same country, almost 3x difference in median household net worth. And it's not because people in BC save more or earn 3x the income. The median wage difference between provinces is small. It's home equity. A family that bought in Vancouver in 2012 got a few hundred thousand in net worth for doing nothing except living in their house, while the identical family in Moncton got a fraction of that.

Which raises the uncomfortable question of what net worth even measures anymore. Half the country's household wealth is paper gains on primary residences that can't be spent without selling and buying back into the same market.

The numbers are all from the 2023 SFS release. I ended up putting them into a page that ranks your own household against your province and age group if anyone wants to check where they land: canadacalculator.ca/rank

For those in the expensive provinces, does your net worth feel real to you? Or does it feel like a number on paper that changes nothing about your actual life?

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Hi!

I've spoken to 2 brokers who can help me apply for a HELOC and they aren't telling me the same thing.

Background: We own a house, no mortgage. We bought the house this year (January).

• One told me that we can avoid them having to do an appraisal if we ask for an amount that is low enough (so if we CAN get up to 65% of the value of the house, if we ask for more like 50% they'll likely not do an appraisal - or an in-person check appraisal).
• One told me that the fees are usually around $1500 which is the fee for a third party appraisal and the cost for a lawyer to register the line of credit on the title. Oddly she told me I'd ask my real estate agent lawyer for the cost estimate??? But I thought the bank just had the lawyer do the thing? Or is this because I don't already have a mortgage, now *I* have to get a lawyer to register them on the title? Or is it like banks can do it or I can do it?
• Lastly, one said I should go for the HIGHEST amount possible in order to get any lower interest rate. The highest amount is WAY higher than we'd EVER spend, but should we do that? I'm not really worried about us overspending and getting into debt. I'm a pretty anal budgeter / spender!

From over inflating prices and adding thousands in fees. I often wonder how many people give into this or get tricked? Been to a few dealers recently and they immediately just try to rip you off big time.

Hello all! So not sure if this is the right place to ask, please forgive me, and maybe direct me if im wrong!

My ex is claiming he's been "kicked out of all north American banking institutions" among other things...

Is that a thing? He's not a criminal, unless you can actually charge someone for stupidity 🤷‍♀️

Thank you!

Hi everyone,

Looking for some perspective on whether I am being paranoid or if my mortgage specialist is trying to play me to increase their loan volume.

We are purchasing a property for $865K. From day one, I was explicit that we have a $550K down payment and want a mortgage around $315K. I provided all investment statements upfront to prove the funds. We also wanted a HELOC attached to the file.

Today was our subject removal date. When I asked for the final numbers, the specialist told me we were approved for a $540K mortgage. When I pushed for specifics, they told me that the underwriter had only verified $330K of our down payment due to "capacity issues" over the last 4 weeks. Because a $540K loan + $330K verified cash covers the purchase price, they just pushed the maximum loan approval through to hit the subject deadline.

They also sent this in an email:

"We’ve, according to the previous approval letter, approved you $540,000. You can choose to adjust the amount as to how much exactly a mortgage and a HELOC limit you want as long as they’re together within $540,000. But please make sure you can finalize this on or before July 10th."

My question to the community: Is this normal behavior for a big bank?

It feels like a bait-and-switch tactic to get me to accept a massive mortgage at closing because they haven't actually done the work to verify the remaining $220K of my down payment. If I don't force them to verify that cash before July 10th, I don't see how they can actually fund a lower $315K mortgage on closing day.

Has anyone else dealt with an advisor pushing a "global limit" approval while refusing to do the legwork on the down payment verification until the last minute? Am I dealing with institutional laziness or a pushy sales tactic?

Thanks.

I’m about to receive $50,000 from my late grandmothers estate (give or take), if my calculations are right. I have $4000 in credit card debt (most have gone to collections because of a health emergency that kept me from working for a long period of time, so I made poor financial decisions throughout that process and never paid my credit cards/they are all cancelled now).

I no longer have a credit card. I am working and living paycheque to paycheque. I have $25,000 in student loan debt. Three years left in my degree as I moved provinces and switched schools. I currently have $5000 to my name and am terrified to receive this money because I’ve just never imagined a world in which I wasn’t broke.

For context, I’m 25 and have been paying rent since I was 18. My only living parent is on disability and hasn’t worked for many years. He lives off of that and has no financial knowledge, nor does the rest of my family.

I’d really like to be responsible with this money but I’m completely illiterate in investing so I have no idea where to start. I would love to go to grad school but I’d also love to travel as I’ve never had the opportunity. I was planning on going on exchange next year, and now it somehow seems possible, but maybe would be more worth it to just travel europe for a month; I’m not sure. Any tips would be incredibly helpful as I feel quite embarrassed talking about this with friends. Thank you in advance!

Compare choosing 20 vs 25 years amortization for a fixed rate (4.04%) mortgage of about $260,000. Is it better to select 20 or 25 with focus on double payments/etc.

So about a year and a half ago I bought a 2024 Nissan Kicks, I wanted a Rogue but the price of the kicks was far more affordable. A couple of weeks ago the salesman phones me up and says they want my used kicks and I could get a good deal on the 2026, I said I wasn’t really wanting to upgrade tothe same car as i’d like something bigger eventually for my growing family, he tells me the 2026 is redesigned and a little bigger and convinced me to come in a view one… well I did, it was nice but still not much of an upgrade for strollers, car seats etc…. One thing led to another and I was signing papers for a 2026 Rogue S. $336 bi weekly turned into $376 for 96 months after warranties and replacement insurance was thrown around. I thought I knew when to walk away but I got tempted by a shiny new car and made a huge mistake… I rolled about $12000 of negative equity into my loan and am now financing a rogue for $60,000.
I just want to know if there’s anything I can do in my favour, suck it up and try to pay extra when I can? Would trading down be beneficial? I just bought the car yesterday. Go easy on me I already know I’m a huge idiot and have no idea why tf I did that..

TLDR; rolled over negative equity into 2026 Nissan Rogue S. Now financing 376 for 96 Months and regretting it. Bought the car yesterday, anything I can do.

So this is going to be a bit of a longer one but any advice would be much appreciated! (I am planning on contacting Service Canada tomorrow but it is late and looking for advice before-hand)

So bit of back story, my husband works in the trades and the company he was working for had several branches but it’s a small business just two locations in Alberta. He was working at one branch when it got shut down due to unforeseen circumstances and his boss offered him a few weeks of work at the other branch (7 hours away) while he looked for another job in our home town (August 2025) so he travelled and was staying in a travel trailer provided by the boss at this new job location while I stayed behind in our home town and continued working at my job. After a few weeks the manager at the location my husband was working at really liked him and wanted to keep him there and the boss offered to help him with relocating to this new location (September 2025) I put in my two weeks notice at my job, last day dating September 28, 2025, but was told to still apply for EI considering I was leaving my job due to unforeseen circumstances, being that my husbands work was being relocated which was one of the approved reasons according to service Canada.
I moved down to stay with my husband but it’s a small business town we moved to, and not many houses were available so we continued living in the travel trailer for a few months until we found suitable housing, during this time I recieved a single call at around 5:30am MST in which I didn’t answer and hadn’t checked my voicemail as I had been quite busy dealing with the life adjustment. A few weeks later I login to MSCA and see my EI claim had been denied due to not enough information. Come to find out that phone call was from a claims adjuster (I believe, or something along those lines from service Canada) (mid October 2025) I tried calling service Canada but got stuck in a queue and never ended up getting through and again life was busy so I never ended up getting through to them (yes I understand this was my mistake for not getting through to them then) I was applying for work in this small town and it did take a while as we had clearly just moved in, and in this town everyone knows everyone so nobody would call, until I eventually got employment in January 2026, and in between October to January we ended up finding housing, getting our UHaul and moving 7 hours away from home which was lots of work on its own.
Now months later I’m doing research on if it’s possible to still receive benefits for that time backdated, and things I’m finding online seem to be saying I can but I do see mixed things on it as well. I’m just looking to see if anyone has experienced anything similar. I do have receipts of our U-Haul, my job applications from those months (being ready and willing to work) and other proof of the relocation for my husbands job, just again looking for any advice.
Willing to answer any questions in the comments this was a bit of a confusing time and pretty hard to explain everything here
Thanks!!

I already feel like this is going to be a really stupid question, but I'm very paranoid when it comes to the CRA and going over the contribution limit.

How does the RRSP contribution limit work?

Last year was the first time I started contributing to a RRSP and that was, let's say, $28k as the 2024 limit.

I essentially maxed that out and this time under the 2025 limit (which is this year's limit?) is $32k.

My question is - do I have that full $32k to add to my rrsp for this year (on top of what I added last year)? Or is it just $4k I'm allowed to put in because I contributed the full $28k last year.

Again, sorry if this is a stupid question!