Guides · Official Canadian data
The Metrestick blog
Plain-language guides to Canadian income, taxes, net worth, and housing — built on the same official CRA and Statistics Canada data as our tools.
Budget 2026 proposes a second groceries top-up in January — here's what your household would get
The November 5 budget proposes a one-time payment worth half the year's Groceries and Essentials Benefit, paid in January 2027. Here's the math by household type, who qualifies, and the one thing that decides it.
Read the post →Giving $1,000 to charity costs about $641 — and donating shares instead of cash can save another $593
The charitable credit pays 19% on your first $200 and about 40% above it. Here's the math on a $1,000 gift, why donating appreciated shares beats selling first, and the December 31 cutoff.
Read the post →Your workplace benefits may expire December 31 — check before the money disappears
Health spending accounts, flex credits and annual dental maximums often reset at year-end. A short checklist for finding out what you still have, and what to do if you're not covered.
Read the post →Selling a loser for the tax loss? The 30-day rule can cancel it
Tax-loss selling only works if the CRA lets you keep the loss. Here's the superficial loss rule, the spouse and TFSA traps, and a worked example of what a $10,000 loss is actually worth.
Read the post →Over 65 with no pension? A $2,000 RRIF withdrawal before December 31 can still save you $280
CPP and OAS don't qualify for the federal pension income credit, but RRIF income does. Here's who can use the trick, the math on a real retiree, and the one case where it does nothing.
Read the post →Budget 2026 lands November 5 — what a budget can change for you, and what to leave alone until then
Finance Minister Champagne will table the federal budget on November 5. Here's the difference between a proposal and a law, which year-end deadlines don't move, and what to check on your own numbers first.
Read the post →The 2027 RRSP limit is $35,390 — and your 2026 deadline is March 1
The RRSP dollar limit rises $1,580 for 2027, but most people never hit it. What the 18% rule really gives you, what a deduction is worth at common incomes, and the dates that matter.
Read the post →Turning 71 in 2026? Your RRSP has a hard deadline: December 31
The year you turn 71, your RRSP must close by December 31 — convert it, annuitize it, or the CRA taxes the whole thing at once. The rules, the options, and the moves that still work in the final months.
Read the post →Medical expenses: you get to pick the 12-month window — and the 3% hurdle decides who claims
The medical expense credit isn't tied to the calendar year, and the first 3% of your income earns nothing. How to choose the window, who should claim, and what to pay before December 31.
Read the post →Is $100,000 a good income in Canada? It depends on where you file
$100,000 puts you in the top 13% of earners in Nova Scotia but the top 21% in Alberta — and the take-home ranges by thousands depending on province. Individual vs household income, explained.
Read the post →Waiting for RRIF minimums to fund your retirement? On $700K, it leaves $316K for the taxman
We ran the same Ontario retiree through three RRSP drawdown strategies to age 90. The 'just take the minimums' path is the only one that doesn't fund the lifestyle — and it leaves the biggest tax bill behind.
Read the post →Year-end bonus coming? Here's what actually reaches your account — and the move that keeps all of it
A $10,000 bonus on a $90,000 Ontario salary nets about $7,035 after tax. Sent to your RRSP instead, the full $10,000 goes to work. How bonus tax really works, and what to ask payroll before December.
Read the post →Ottawa's new $10,000 heat pump rebate: who should actually take it
The new National Heat Pump Rebate pays up to $10,000 below the median income and $2,000 above it. Whether it pays off depends on the fuel you're replacing — here's the math for oil, electric and natural gas homes.
Read the post →The Ontario Trillium Benefit lands October 9 — what it's for, and what to do if it doesn't show up
The Ontario Trillium Benefit pays out on the 10th of each month, and October's deposit arrives a day early on the 9th. Here's what the three credits inside it cover, why some people get one lump sum in June, and what to check if your payment is missing.
Read the post →The Bank of Canada decides October 28 — what a quarter-point hike adds to a variable mortgage
Two big banks expect a hike, four expect a hold. Here's what 25 and 50 basis points would do to payments on a $400,000 variable mortgage, and how to check where you stand before the announcement.
Read the post →The CRA now charges 7% on what you owe — is that your most expensive debt?
CRA's overdue-balance rate sits at 7%, compounded daily, while refunds earn 5%. Here's what a $5,000 tax bill really costs over 3, 6 and 12 months, and when borrowing elsewhere actually beats owing the CRA.
Read the post →A $600K home takes 34 months at $1,000 a month — or 57 if you want 10% down
How long the down payment on a $600,000 home actually takes at $1,000 and $2,000 a month, for the 5% minimum, 10%, and 20% — and what an FHSA refund shaves off the calendar.
Read the post →Carrying a credit card balance into the holidays? Five paydays decide what it costs
Canadians owe $134.2 billion on credit cards, and one in four expect to make only minimum payments soon. What a $4,000 balance plus $1,000 of holiday spending costs at 21%, and how to use the paydays left before Black Friday.
Read the post →The $1 million retirement number is only true if you forget CPP and OAS exist
A couple spending $60,000 a year needs about $385,000 in savings once government pensions are counted — not $1.1 million. Here's the nest-egg math at $60K and $90K, and why the single-person number is so much bigger.
Read the post →The carbon rebate isn't quite over — unfiled returns have until October 30
If you skipped a tax return between 2021 and 2024, filing it can still pay out Canada Carbon Rebate money you never received. Ottawa wants to close that window on October 30, 2026. Who's owed, roughly how much, and why you shouldn't wait for the bill to pass.
Read the post →$300K at 30 is the top 28%. $300K at 50 is the bottom third. Where your net worth actually ranks
The same dollar figure lands in a completely different place depending on your age. Here's what $100K, $300K and $750K rank at 30, 40, 50 and 60 — using Statistics Canada's household net worth distribution.
Read the post →Heating oil is up 44% from last year — how to budget for this winter's fill-ups
Fuel oil prices rose 43.7% year over year in August, the fastest-rising item in the CPI. What that means for an oil-heated home this winter, the help programs that open October 1, and a few ways to spread out the cost.
Read the post →Pension income splitting: you claim it in April, but you set it up before December 31
Retired couples can move up to half of eligible pension income to the lower-income spouse on a single form. The catch: whether that income exists — and counts — is decided by what you withdraw this year.
Read the post →Fixed mortgage rates are rising while the Bank of Canada sits still — here's why, and what a rate hold is worth
Bond yields jumped in September and lenders pushed five-year fixed rates up, even with the policy rate unchanged at 2.25%. What that does to a renewal payment and a buyer's budget, and why a 120-day rate hold is the cheapest insurance you'll get.
Read the post →OAS rises 1.4% on October 28 — and it's now 3% ahead of where it was a year ago
The October quarter brings the biggest OAS bump of 2026, with GIS moving in step. Here's the new maximums, why OAS is outrunning CPP this year, and what the gap tells you about January's CPP raise.
Read the post →The October 10 EI deadline is moving — and a fourth rule now covers people who quit
Ottawa's August 25 tariff package extends the three temporary EI measures past October 10, 2026 — two of them by a year — and adds a new one: a recent voluntary quit no longer blocks your claim if your latest job loss wasn't your fault. Here's the new timeline and what it changes for a fall layoff.
Read the post →EI premiums for 2027 are set — here's what they cost you, and what they'd pay
The 2027 EI rate is $1.64 per $100, the insurable-earnings ceiling rises to $70,800, and the maximum weekly benefit climbs to $749. Most workers will notice a few dollars a year; higher earners pay $38 more and would collect $20 a week more if laid off.
Read the post →Minimum wage rises in five provinces on October 1 — here's what actually reaches the bank account
Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and PEI all raise their minimum wage on October 1, 2026. The raises are 1.5% to 2.5% — below inflation — and about a third of each one goes to deductions. Here's the full-time math.
Read the post →How much rent can you actually afford? The 30% rule needs an asterisk
Fall moving season is here, and every listing site quotes the same 30%-of-income rule. Here's where that number comes from, when it breaks, and how to set your own ceiling.
Read the post →Graduated in the spring? Your student loan payments start November 1 — here's the math
The six-month grace period ends for the class of 2026 this fall. What the default payment looks like, why the federal half costs nothing to carry, and the income line that lets you pay $0 without falling behind.
Read the post →The CRA's prescribed rate stays at 3% for Q4 — the spousal loan math, honestly
The CRA confirmed a 3% prescribed rate for October to December 2026, the sixth quarter in a row. Here's how a prescribed-rate loan splits investment income between spouses, what it actually saves, and the January 30 rule that breaks it.
Read the post →Condos listing $100K below what the seller paid: buyer's market or falling knife?
Resale condos are hitting the market well under their 2021 purchase price. You can't time the bottom — but you can check the two things the listing price doesn't tell you: what income the unit really requires, and what the building is hiding.
Read the post →Three EI rules are quietly working in your favour — and they expire October 10
The temporary EI measures for tariff-hit workers waive the waiting week, stop severance from delaying benefits, and add weeks for long-tenured workers. They're set to lapse October 10, 2026, and the date your claim starts is what decides whether you get them.
Read the post →The federal gas tax holiday was supposed to end this week — it just got extended to 2027
The 10-cent federal fuel excise tax stays at zero until January 31, 2027, then comes back in two steps. Here's what the pause is actually worth per fill-up, why the HST makes it slightly bigger, and how to budget for the April 2027 return.
Read the post →$500K by 40 and never save again? The CoastFIRE math for a Canadian couple
The claim: a couple with $500K invested at 40 can stop contributing and let compounding plus CPP and OAS carry them to 65. Here's what that actually buys — and the three assumptions it quietly leans on.
Read the post →Wages grew 2% in August. Inflation is 3%. Here's what that gap costs you
August's Labour Force Survey shows the slowest wage growth since 2017, while CPI sits at 3%. Here's the take-home math on a 2% raise, why lower earners are falling behind fastest, and what to bring to the raise conversation.
Read the post →Inflation is back at 3% — but that number isn't yours
July's CPI came in at 3.0%, driven almost entirely by gasoline. Groceries, shelter and your province each moved differently, and the benefits indexed to inflation follow the national number, not your basket.
Read the post →OAS at 65 vs 70: a 36% raise, and the one group that should never take it
Deferring Old Age Security adds 0.6% a month, up to 36% at age 70. The break-even is your early 80s — but for anyone who'll qualify for GIS, deferring is a straight loss.
Read the post →Counter-tariffs land September 8 — here's what actually gets more expensive
Canada's new 15%, 25% and 50% counter-tariffs on $27.6 billion of U.S. goods take effect September 8. Here's which shelves they touch, how much of the rate reaches the price tag, and what it does to a household budget.
Read the post →Behind on RESP contributions? You can only catch up $1,000 of grant a year
The CESG carry-forward sounds generous until you hit the ceiling: one extra year per year, capped at $1,000 of grant. Here's how many years of backfill you actually have left, and the December 31 deadline that decides it.
Read the post →Fixed at 4.09% or variable at 3.35%? What the gap is actually buying
The Bank of Canada held at 2.25% on September 2, as expected. Variable is currently 74 basis points cheaper than five-year fixed — here's what that's worth in dollars, and what you give up to take it.
Read the post →The old disability tax credit form stops working on September 8
From September 8, the CRA will reject any Form T2201 printed before 2023 — and since July it won't accept applications through 'submit documents' either. Here's how to apply now, and what the DTC actually unlocks.
Read the post →That cheaper renewal offer may have quietly reset your amortization
A renewal quote with a lower payment often isn't a better rate — it's a longer amortization. On a $500,000 balance, going back to 25 years drops the payment $389 a month and leaves you owing $26,000 more at the end of the term.
Read the post →Ontario's 2027 rent increase is capped at 1.9% — check the notice before you pay it
The 2027 guideline is the lowest since 2022, and landlords can start serving notices on October 3. Here's what 1.9% costs, the three tests that make a notice valid, and the exemption that catches a lot of renters.
Read the post →The Home Buyers' Plan repayment cliff starts in 2027 — and 2026 is your cheap year
Pandemic-era buyers got three extra years before HBP repayments began. For anyone who withdrew in 2022, the grace period ends with this year. Here's the bill, and the move that shrinks it before it arrives.
Read the post →The CRA is about to file taxes for a million people — here's who's included
Starting with the 2026 tax year, the CRA will pre-fill and automatically file returns for about one million lower-income Canadians. Why that matters, who qualifies, and why you shouldn't wait for it.
Read the post →The FHSA rewards you for opening it before you need it
First Home Savings Account room only starts counting once the account exists — and unused room carries forward a maximum of $8,000. If a home purchase is even a maybe, the clock argument says open it now.
Read the post →The $50,000 first-time buyer GST rebate is law — and it's retroactive to March 2025
The FTHB GST Rebate wipes the federal GST off a new home up to $1 million. Here's who qualifies, how the phase-out works, why some 2025 buyers can still claim it, and how it stacks with Ontario's new relief.
Read the post →CPP at 60 vs 65: the break-even is age 74, and that's the least useful number
Taking CPP early costs 36% permanently. The nominal break-even lands at 73.9 — but if you'll receive GIS, it moves to nearly 83, and the answer flips.
Read the post →Your paycheque is about to get bigger — and it isn't a raise
Somewhere between August and December, CPP and EI stop coming off your pay. Here's when each ceiling hits at your salary, how much shows up, and why January takes it all back.
Read the post →The Canada Disability Benefit pays up to $204 a month — here's the math that decides your amount
The CDB got its first inflation raise in July, and the next payment lands August 20. What actually determines your amount: the DTC gate, family income, and a clawback that starts lower than you'd think.
Read the post →OSAP just flipped from grant to loan — what fall 2026 actually costs
Ontario's student grant cap dropped from 85% to 25% for study periods starting August 1. Here's what the same OSAP award now looks like as debt, and what it costs to pay back.
Read the post →Your parents offer $100,000 — but you owe them 3.55% a year. Is that a gift?
A six-figure family loan sounds like the answer to a down payment. Here's what it actually buys you, what your lender calls it, and the number most people never run.
Read the post →Quebec pays instalments twice: how the CRA and Revenu Québec systems stack
Quebecers in the instalment system deal with two tax agencies, two thresholds — both $1,800 — and Revenu Québec's extra 10% interest rule that the rest of Canada never sees.
Read the post →How to actually pay CRA instalments (and the account mix-up that causes phantom interest)
Online banking, pre-authorized debit, My Payment, cheque — every way to send the CRA a quarterly instalment, what counts as 'on time', and the wrong-account mistake that makes paid instalments look unpaid.
Read the post →Rent or buy a Toronto condo in a falling market? The math has one hinge
Condo prices are down and rents have softened too. Whether buying beats renting now comes down to a single assumption — here's the break-even math at today's numbers.
Read the post →Back to work in September? What the second income is actually worth after daycare
Between tax, clawed-back benefits, and child-care fees, a second salary can shrink to a fraction of its sticker price. Here's how to run the real math before the school year starts.
Read the post →First year self-employed? Why the CRA hasn't asked you for instalments — yet
No instalment reminder in your first year of self-employment isn't a free pass. It's a delay — and it sets up an April where you owe a full year of tax plus the start of next year's instalments at the same time.
Read the post →The three ways to calculate CRA instalments — and the only one with a guarantee
No-calculation, prior-year, current-year: the CRA lets you pick how much to pay each quarter. One option can never generate interest charges. The other two can save you cash — if your estimate holds up.
Read the post →"Affordable" at $3,125 a month: whose income is that 30% of?
Ottawa's $2.7-billion Toronto rental announcement reopened an old argument about the word affordable. The gap isn't the 30% — it's which income you take 30% of.
Read the post →CRA instalments: who actually has to pay (and who can safely ignore the reminder)
The CRA sends instalment reminders to anyone who crossed a line on a past return. Whether you actually owe quarterly payments comes down to one number — net tax owing — and a two-year test most people have never heard of.
Read the post →GIS: the other retirement clawback — and the one more people actually face
The OAS clawback gets the headlines, but the Guaranteed Income Supplement's 50-cent clawback hits far more retirees. The current maximums, the income test, and why TFSA-first saving protects it.
Read the post →Property tax has brackets too — they're just called classes
You know your marginal income tax rate. You almost certainly don't know your property tax rate, and you may not know it depends on what the property is used for — often by a factor of three.
Read the post →The $115K government job vs the $120K remote offer: what a pension is actually worth
A defined-benefit pension is invisible salary. Here's how to convert it into a number you can compare against a higher private-sector offer — with real 2026 Ontario take-home math.
Read the post →That CRA instalment reminder is real — September 15 is the next deadline
The CRA's August instalment reminders are out, covering the September 15 and December 15 payments. Here's who actually has to pay, what happens if you skip one, and the option that guarantees zero interest.
Read the post →First tuition bill this fall? Get the RESP withdrawal order right
RESP withdrawals aren't one button — there are two kinds of money in the account, and which one you take first can decide whether grant money gets stranded. Here's the order, the $8,000 first-semester limit, and the tax math.
Read the post →The Canada Workers Benefit just reset — and half of it now arrives early
The July 10 advance payment kicked off a new Canada Workers Benefit year, with maximums up to $1,633 for singles and $2,813 for families. Here's who gets it, how the advance works, and the filing deadline that decides everything.
Read the post →Renewing your mortgage in 2026? Here's what the payment math actually says
About 60% of Canadian mortgages renew in 2025–2026, and the Bank of Canada held its rate again in July. What a five-year fixed renewal really costs — and the levers that soften it.
Read the post →OAS just went up — and the clawback math reset with it
The July 2026 quarter brings a 1.2% OAS raise and a new recovery-tax year. Here's the new monthly maximums, the income threshold that matters, and what retirees can still do about it.
Read the post →The GST credit is gone — meet the Groceries and Essentials Benefit
As of July 2026 the GST/HST credit has been replaced by the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit (CGEB), paying 25% more. Here's what changed, the new maximums, and the one thing you have to do.
Read the post →Laid off with a severance package: how long does it actually last?
A severance number is a gross number. After tax — and against a real monthly burn rate — the runway it buys is usually shorter than it looks. Here's how to size it honestly.
Read the post →$400,000 sitting in cash at 65: the two mistakes to avoid
A big cash pile near retirement feels safe, but idle money and a careless drawdown order quietly cost tens of thousands. Here's the decumulation logic that protects it.
Read the post →Check the building, not just the listing, before you sign
A Toronto landlord's fine was just tripled to nearly $1M. The lesson for renters and buyers: a building's enforcement record is public — and it tells you what the listing won't.
Read the post →Co-signing a family mortgage could sink your own homebuying power
When you co-sign, the whole payment lands on your file — and it can cut what you qualify for by more than half. Here's the math nobody runs before signing.
Read the post →The condo 'bailout': would a below-market unit actually be affordable?
Governments are buying unsold condos to resell at or below cost. But 'cheaper' and 'affordable' aren't the same thing — here's the income the math actually demands.
Read the post →The 14% tax bracket is now in full effect — what it actually saves you
2026 is the first full year the lowest federal rate sits at 14%, down from 15%. Here's the real dollar figure it puts back in your pocket — and why it's smaller than the headline.
Read the post →Your Canada Child Benefit resets in July — here's what changes
Every July the CCB is recalculated and re-indexed. For 2026 that means a 2% bump, new maximums, and one thing you have to do to keep the money flowing.
Read the post →The minimum income you need to buy a Toronto condo right now
Condo prices have softened, but the income to qualify is still high — and the sticker price is only half the story. Here's the real number, including the cost everyone forgets.
Read the post →How income percentiles actually work
What it means to be in the 75th percentile, where the numbers come from, and why your province changes the answer.
Read the post →TFSA or RRSP First? A Beginner's Framework for Deciding
Should you max out your RRSP or TFSA first? A plain-language framework built around your marginal tax rate, not rules of thumb.
Read the post →What actually counts as net worth
Net worth is assets minus debts — but the details decide whether your number is honest. Here's what to include, what to leave out, and how to compare it to your age group.
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