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Tag: investing

  • 5 money moves to make before the end of the year – MoneySense

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    1. Revisit your budget

    Budgets are a great tool to help you stay on track with your spending and savings goals, but they need regular updates to maximize their effectiveness. Hopefully, you’ve recorded any changes to your income, expenses, or money objectives throughout the year. If not, now is the time to do a deep update and analyze your progress. 

    If you find evidence of impulse spending, it’s time to make some adjustments. For example, rather than keeping all of your income in an instant-access chequing or savings account, you could tuck some away in an account like EQ Bank’s high-interest no-fee Notice Savings Account. In exchange for giving advance notice of a withdrawal (10 or 30 days), you get a higher interest rate. It’s a win-win for spur-of-the-moment shoppers who want to hold some of their money at arm’s length.

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    EQ Bank Notice Savings Account

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    • Monthly fee: $0
    • Interest rates: 2.60% for 10-day notice, 2.75% for 30-day notice. Read full details on the EQ Bank website.
    • Minimum balance: n/a
    • Eligible for CDIC coverage: Yes

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    2. Simplify your money management

    If you think managing your own spending and saving is a challenge, try doing it with others! For some people—like couples, family members, or even roommates—budgeting can be complicated by shared expenses or joint savings goals. That’s where a joint bank account can make a huge difference. 

    When you open a joint account, all account holders (you and up to three other people) can deposit, withdraw, and save in the same account. Rather than trying to bookkeep separately, everything is in one place. Make easier money management part of your financial resolutions. Pro-tip: Consider a no-monthly-fee, high-interest bank account like EQ Bank’s Joint Account to keep your money growing. 

    3. Top-up your retirement funds and get a tax break

    Registered retirement savings plans (RRSPs) let you save for retirement in a tax-advantaged account, meaning that every dollar you put away can reduce your taxable income for the following year. Every year, you have a certain amount of contribution room for your RRSP and unused room rolls over into subsequent years. 

    Taxes on your RRSP savings are only due once you withdraw. The idea is that you will be retired at that point, so your tax rate will be lower than during your working years. 

    Although the last day to contribute to your RRSP is in March, many Canadians strive to top up earlier. Not only does this give your savings more time to accumulate interest, but it also ensures that your retirement savings don’t end up inadvertently going to holiday expenses.  

    4. If you need it, consider making a withdrawal from your tax-free savings account (TFSA) before Dec. 31

    Similar to the RRSP, a tax-free savings account (TFSA) is a tax-advantaged registered savings account with a certain amount of contribution room added annually. The difference is that when you put money into a TFSA, you don’t get a tax-break on your income tax. Instead, any gains you earn are yours, tax-free. 

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    The annual deadline for TFSA deposits is December 31, and on January 1, you get your new contribution room. What you may not know is that when you withdraw funds from your TFSA, the amount you withdraw is added back to your contribution room the following calendar year. 

    So, if you anticipate needing money soon but still want to make use of your full contribution room next year, making a withdrawal before December 31 is a good time to do it because you’ll get that room back quickly. 

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    EQ Bank TFSA Savings Account

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    • Interest rate: Earn 1.50% on your cash savings. Read full details on the EQ Bank website.
    • Minimum balance: n/a
    • Fees: n/a
    • Eligible for CDIC coverage: Yes, for deposits

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    5. Capitalize on saving for a home

    A first home savings account (FHSA) is a tax-advantaged investment that works in a similar way to an RRSP in that the money you deposit can reduce the amount of your taxable income. And, similar to a TFSA, the money you withdraw is tax-free. Each year’s unused contribution room rolls over to the next year, so if you’ve never contributed but open one now, you could deposit up to $16,000 per person (or double that, for a couple) in 2026. 

    Unlike a TFSA or RRSP, you won’t begin accumulating contribution room until you open the FHSA. So, if you don’t have an FHSA but intend to open one, doing so before Dec. 31 can give you an extra year of contribution room in 2025. 

    On the other hand, if you have some extra cash (perhaps a year-end bonus!) to allocate to savings, contributing to your existing account by the December 31 deadline can reduce your taxable income for 2025.

    Get started on a new year’s financial plan

    Year-end is a great time to review your financial health. By choosing the right banking products and making smart investment decisions, you can build momentum toward lasting security and success.

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    About Keph Senett


    About Keph Senett

    Keph Senett writes about personal finance through a community-building lens. She seeks to make clear and actionable knowledge available to everyone.

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    Keph Senett

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  • Research Reports & Trade Ideas – Yahoo Finance

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    Analyst Report: Deere & Co.

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  • Stock news for investors: Canopy Growth to acquire MTL Cannabis in $125-million deal – MoneySense

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    Canopy Growth chief executive Luc Mongeau says MTL’s cultivation expertise, combined with his company’s scale, positions it to improve product quality, expand supply and accelerate its path to profitable growth.

    Under the terms of the agreement, MTL shareholders will receive 0.32 of a common share of Canopy Growth and 14.4 cents in cash for each MTL share they hold. Canopy shares closed at $2.40 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Friday.

    The deal requires regulatory and MTL shareholder approval. Closing of the transaction is expected to occur before the end of February.

    Source Google

    BlackBerry reports Q3 profit of US$13.7M, up from a loss a year ago

    BlackBerry (TSX:BB)

    Numbers for its third quarter of 2025:

    • Profit: $13.7 million (up from loss of $10.5 million a year ago)
    • Revenue: $141.8 million (down from $143.6 million)

    BlackBerry Ltd. reported a third-quarter profit of US$13.7 million, up from a loss of US$10.5 million during the same period a year earlier. The Waterloo-based software company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, said Thursday that its earnings per share came in at two cents US, flat compared with the prior year quarter. 

    BlackBerry says its revenue reached US$141.8 million for the period ended Nov. 30, down from US$143.6 million during the third quarter last year. 

    John Giamatteo, BlackBerry CEO, says in a press release that the company’s QNX segment reached an all-time high for revenue. QNX segment revenue came in at US$68.7 million, rising 10 per cent from US$62.3 million a year earlier. 

    Giamatteo says the company’s higher-than-expected overall revenue, coupled with ongoing cost discipline efforts, helped it achieve its strongest profitability in nearly four years during the quarter.

    Source Google

    Transat A.T. reports $12.5M Q4 loss compared with $41.2M profit a year ago

    Transat A.T. (TSX:TRZ)

    Numbers for its fourth quarter of 2025:

    • Loss: $12.5 million (down from profit of $41.2 million a year ago)
    • Revenue: $771.6 million (down from $788.8 million)

    Travel company Transat A.T. Inc. reported a loss of $12.5 million in its latest quarter compared with a profit of $41.2 million in the same quarter last year. The company says the loss amounted to 52 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Oct. 31 compared with a profit of $1.05 per diluted share a year earlier.

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    Revenue in what was Transat’s fourth quarter totalled $771.6 million, down from $788.8 million a year ago when it benefited from compensation related to Pratt & Whitney GTF engine issues. Excluding the impact of this lower compensation, Transat says revenue increased by 1.5 per cent compared with a year ago.

    On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost 42 cents per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 81 cents per share in the same quarter last year.

    Last week, Transat narrowly avoided a costly work stoppage when it reached a new tentative contract with its pilots.

    Source Google

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    About The Canadian Press


    About The Canadian Press

    The Canadian Press is Canada’s trusted news source and leader in providing real-time stories. We give Canadians an authentic, unbiased source, driven by truth, accuracy and timeliness.

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  • Should I hold my house in a trust? – MoneySense

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    What is a trust?

    A trust is a legal arrangement where a person called the settlor transfers assets to a trustee to manage for beneficiaries, based on pre-determined rules. The assets are typically investments, real estate, or a business. 

    There are two main types of trusts: an “inter vivos” (living) trust, created while the settlor is alive, and a “testamentary” trust, which is written into a will, which takes effect after death. 

    Related reading: The difference between wills and living trusts

    Use of a trust 

    Trusts can have an income tax motivation, an estate planning benefit, or a practical use to hold assets for a vulnerable beneficiary. That vulnerability could be that the beneficiary is too young, like a minor child, or unable to manage the assets themselves, like someone with an intellectual disability or other impairment. Trusts are also sometimes used to maintain privacy. 

    The most common trust use case never comes to fruition. People with minor children commonly have wills that include testamentary trusts if they die before their kids attain the age of majority. But since most parents do not die while their kids are young, these trusts are never funded. 

    Another common use is for business owners who might sell their business someday. A trust can own shares of their company with family members, including minor children, as beneficiaries. In this way, when the trust sells shares of the company in the future, the trust can allocate the capital gain to multiple people. If the shares qualify for the lifetime capital gains exemption, a trust can multiply the exemptions available rather than having a capital gain taxable to the business owner alone. 

    Principal residence exemption

    Speaking of capital gains, in the context of your question, Silvana, it is important to consider what happens to your principal residence when you die. 

    The principal residence exemption (PRE) allows a taxpayer to claim a tax-free sale for a home that qualifies. You must have ordinarily lived in it during the years you want to claim the exemption. You can only designate one property as your principal residence for each year. However, it can apply to houses, condos, cottages, and similar vacation homes, so does not necessarily need to be the home you primarily live in, nor does it need to be the property where your mail goes. 

    Income Tax Guide for Canadians

    Deadlines, tax tips and more

    When someone dies, they are deemed to sell their assets. One exception is if they leave assets to their spouse or common-law partner, in which case, they can generally roll over tax-free or tax-deferred, depending on the asset.

    So, if you do not have a spouse or common-law partner, when you die, your executor can claim the principal residence exemption for your home so that no tax results, assuming the property qualifies. 

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    As such, a trust will probably not save you any income tax for your principal residence, Silvana. 

    Probate by province

    A trust may save you probate fees or estate administration tax though. This varies by province or territory. These costs are payable to validate a will and permit the executor to distribute assets to the beneficiaries. 

    The lowest probate fees are found in Manitoba and Québec, where there are no probate fees for most estates. Alberta also has relatively low fees, with a flat maximum of just $525 for estates over $250,000. 

    Ontario charges $14,250 on a $1 million estate (1.5% on the value over $50,000). For a $1 million estate in British Columbia, it would be $13,450 (1.4% on amounts over $50,000, plus a small fee on the first $50,000). 

    The wide range in fees means that where you live can have a significant impact on the cost of settling an estate subject to probate. Residents in high-fee jurisdictions may be more motivated to mitigate probate fees. 

    What should you do?

    A trust does not die when you do. So, a trust can be written to distribute assets, like your home, when you pass away. This would not form part of your estate, and would therefore avoid probate.

    In your case, Silvana, my concern is that you might only be trying to save, say, $15,000 on a $1 million estate, depending where you live. The legal fees to set up a trust might be $5,000 or more, and the going accounting costs to file a T3 Trust and Information Return and prepare annual trust minutes could be $1,000 to $2,000 annually, such that costs could easily eclipse the potential savings. 

    Trusts have a place, but there may not be a compelling reason to consider one for your principal residence unless the value is quite significant and you live in a high-probate province or territory. Personalized advice is important when complex tax and estate matters are at play. 

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    Jason Heath, CFP

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  • Unlocking the Annuity Puzzle: Why Canadians avoid what seems to be the perfect retirement vehicle – MoneySense

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    Financial planner Robb Engen recently tackled this puzzle in his Boomer & Echo blog, “Why Canadians avoid one of retirement’s most misunderstood tools.” Engen notes that experts like Finance professor Moshe Milevsky and retired actuary Fred Vettese believe “converting a portion of your savings into guaranteed lifetime income is one of the smartest and most efficient ways to reduce retirement risk.” Vettese has said the math behind an annuity is “pretty compelling,” especially for those without Defined Benefit pensions.

    Milevsky and Alexandra Macqueen coined a great term applicable to annuities when they titled their book about the subject Pensionize Your Nest Egg, which I reviewed in the Financial Post in 2010 under the title ”A cure for pension envy?”

    Engen observes that a life annuity is “the cleanest version of longevity insurance … You hand over a lump sum to an insurer, and they guarantee you monthly income for life. If you live to 100, the insurer pays you. If stock markets collapse, you still get paid. If you’re 87 and never want to look at a portfolio again, the income keeps flowing.”

    In other words, annuities neutralize the two big risks that haunt retirees: longevity risk (the chance of outliving your money) and sequence-of-returns risk, the danger of suffering a stock-market meltdown early in retirement and inflicting irreversible damage on a portfolio. 

    Despite all the seeming positives about annuities, Engen notes that “almost nobody buys one.” He cites a Vettese estimate that only about 5% of those who could buy an annuity actually do so. Engen suggests there is a behavioural hurdle: fear of losing liquidity and control of the underlying assets. He cites research by the National Institute of Ageing’s Bonnie-Jeanne MacDonald on pooled-risk retirement income, where she wrote that such retirees are  “strongly opposed to voluntary annuities, as they want to keep control over their savings.”

    Compare the best RRSP rates in Canada

    A chance to lock in recent portfolio gains?

    Even so, the new Retirement Club created by former Tangerine advisor Dale Roberts earlier this year (see the blog posted on my own site in June) recently featured a guest speaker who extolled the virtues of annuities: Phil Barker of online annuities firm Life Annuities.com Inc. 

    Barker said many clients tell him they’ve done really well in the markets over the last 20 years and now they’d like to lock in some of those gains. They may be looking for fixed-income strategies, and many were delighted with GIC returns when they were a bit higher than they are now (some in the range of 6-7%). But they are less happy with the new rates on GICs now reaching maturity. Meanwhile, annuities have just come off a 20-year high in November 2023 so the time to consider one has never been better, Barker told the Club in August. 

    With annuities, you can lock in a rate for the rest of your life—so if your timing is good, it may make sense to allocate some funds to them.  

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    Related reading: GICs vs. annuities

    Barker said eight life insurance companies offer annuities in Canada: Desjardins, RBC Life Insurance, BMO Life Insurance, Canada Life, Manulife, Sun Life, Equitable Life and Empire Life. All are covered under Assuris, a third-party organization that guarantees 100% of an annuity up to $5,000 per month. So if one of those companies failed, the annuity would be honored by one of the other firms via Assuris. 

    Barker described an annuity as simply a “personal-funded pension.” To set one up you can take registered or non-registered funds and send the capital to an insurance company. In return, they give you an income stream for as long as you live: this is the traditional life annuity. Unlike annuities in the U.S., you cannot add funds to an existing annuity, Barker told the club, nor can you co-mingle funds from for example RRSPs and non-registered funds. 

    However, you can buy a new annuity each time you need to. There is no medical underwriting for annuities, unlike life insurance. Joint annuities for couples are a great value, he said, but the tax slips are sent to the primary annuitant. Nor is income splitting possible under current CRA rules. 

    When annuities shine

    Annuities shine when you are confident about your health and prospects for living a long time. Having $X,000 a month assured income to live on means your other sources of income that fluctuate with stock markets can be weathered, Barker said. “We’re seeing people getting 6.5% to 8.5% a year for the rest of their lives, depending on their age.” 

    As Dale Roberts commented during Barker’s talk, having enough to live on just from the pension bucket (annuities, pensions, CPP/OAS etc.) frees you up to take some risk in other areas, like stocks and equity ETFs.

    Funding by registered vs. non-registered accounts

    Registered funds transfer to an annuity tax-free; that’s because money is not being deregistered, but rather going from one registered environment into another registered environment. It will be fully taxed when it comes out. The monthly income from the annuity is then fully taxable in the year it is received. 

    If you fund with non-registered money, the taxation is considerably different. For one, if your non-registered account has unrealized capital gains you’ll have to realize them and pay tax on them. Other than that, so-called prescribed annuities are relatively tax-efficient. The capital that is used to fund the annuity is not taxed, only the gain is, Barker says. “Therefore, the taxable portion of the annuity income is a very small amount. Prescribed means that the taxation is the same or level for the entire life of the annuity.”

    The Club has also covered other retirement income products that may resemble annuities in some respects: the Vanguard Retirement Income Fund (VRIF) and the Purpose Longevity Fund, both of which I have small chunks in. Dale adds that the Longevity Fund has the potential to be a “nice complement to annuities,” as it “is designed to increase payments quite nicely in the later years thanks to the mortality credits. Those with very long lives are subsidized by those who pass away much earlier.”

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    Technical Assessment: Bullish in the Intermediate-Term

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  • How to tap into AI growth while managing risk – MoneySense

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    The tech sector has seen significant volatility recently, as speculation mounts on whether there’s an AI bubble percolating after a major rally. For young investors looking for a piece of the action, experts say with the right strategy, it’s possible to participate without risking it all.

    Align AI investing with risk tolerance and goals

    Dhanji said he usually begins with the basics—assessing his client’s risk profile and financial goals. “Not everyone can tolerate the risks of AI companies because they are more volatile,”  Dhanji said. 

    Investing in AI no longer has to mean owning shares of big-name tech companies. Nvidia, Meta Platforms, and AMD, among others, have been seen as proxies for the AI sector in recent years, but they are not the only options. Companies across the board have now bet huge sums of money on AI and its productivity promises. 

    If the client’s goals are long-term, such as retirement savings, then having some AI exposure in their portfolio can complement other asset classes, Dhanji said. The volatility of AI stocks makes them unsuitable for short-term financial goals. For example, if you’re saving money to start a business or buy a house, it’s better to keep AI stocks out of the mix.

    Another risk, he said, is that technology is evolving so quickly that what you own today may be outdated in a year’s time. “You have to be careful in terms of what you’re investing in,” Dhanji said. 

    Balanced approach recommended for investing in AI stocks

    Most investors Ryan Lee hears from are aware of the volatility, but they want to buy in anyway. Lee, a certified financial planner and founder of Twain Financial, said picking individual AI stocks to invest in can be an “overly risky” move. He also said it’s important to keep in mind how those AI stocks fit in your long-term investment strategy. 

    Certain index funds in your portfolio might already have exposure to AI companies—such as an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that tracks the Nasdaq. “When you hold a diversified portfolio, you already have exposure,” he said. 

    Lee said it’s difficult nowadays to ignore AI stocks. “There is AI in the future … and there is going to be growth,” Lee said. “But we just don’t know when that growth is going to happen or whether or not that growth is going to be higher than other industries.”

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    Instead of picking individual stocks, some investors might look to AI-centric ETFs, but Dhanji warned against over-concentration. If a young investor has a long-term time horizon, Dhanji recommends 10% to 15% of their portfolio can be allocated to the AI sector. But if the investor is more conservative, Dhanji suggested capping their AI exposure to 5% of the portfolio—or not holding any AI ETFs or stocks at all if that money will be needed in the next three years or so.

    Whatever the financial goal and time horizon may be, Dhanji recommended shying away from AI names that are buzzy social media recommendations. “My advice is to avoid the hype train,” Dhanji said. “I’d rather people focus on the companies themselves, making sure they have strong balance sheets and cash flows.”

    Dhanji said investing in quality companies with strong balance sheets will help your portfolio weather extreme fluctuations in the market long term, if the AI bubble were to burst. “My recommendation is to have that financial plan in place, know what your cash flows look like, and instead of investing a lump sum all at once and timing the market, you can then dollar average into the market over time,” he said.

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    About The Canadian Press


    About The Canadian Press

    The Canadian Press is Canada’s trusted news source and leader in providing real-time stories. We give Canadians an authentic, unbiased source, driven by truth, accuracy and timeliness.

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  • Is Wealthsimple’s new Physical Gold Trading worth it? – MoneySense

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    That guide, however, left out one important new entrant. Wealthsimple has since launched direct physical gold trading, and it arrived with a splash. The rollout included a promotional giveaway featuring a one-kilogram gold bar, 10 one-ounce coins, and 50 one-tenth-ounce coins for eligible clients who deposited funds and completed a survey. The promotion wrapped up on December 5.

    Wealthsimple has a history of shaking up the Canadian financial services landscape. It moved ahead of the big banks on features like zero-commission options trading, direct indexing, and now physical gold access inside a brokerage account. On paper, that combination of simplicity and novelty is appealing.

    The question is whether it holds up beyond the headline hype. Here’s my analysis on how Wealthsimple’s physical gold trading works, and how it stacks up against gold ETPs.

    The best robo-advisors in Canada: Which one tops our list

    Wealthsimple Physical Gold Trading explained

    Wealthsimple’s physical gold offering is not a stock or fund. When you buy it, you are purchasing a fractional, Canadian dollar-denominated digital interest in physical gold reserves. The gold itself is stored at the Royal Canadian Mint and Brinks, and it is held at the “program level on a segregated basis.” In plain terms, your gold is held in trust alongside other Wealthsimple clients’ gold and is kept separate from Wealthsimple’s assets.

    You can access this offering through all of Wealthsimple’s self-directed accounts. That includes registered as well as non-registered, taxable accounts. 

    Trades are executed at CAD spot prices and carry a 1% transaction fee on both buys and sells. That means buying and immediately selling would result in a 2% round-trip cost. However, there is no ongoing storage fee and, like Wealthsimple’s crypto platform, gold trading is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

    Physical redemption is where the constraints and costs become apparent. Redemption for bullion is only available from non-registered accounts, and it is not cheap. Redeeming a one-ounce coin costs 2.25%, while redeeming a one-tenth-ounce coin costs 11%. These fees cover minting, insurance, and delivery, with fulfillment handled through Silver Gold Bull, one of the largest online bullion dealers. If physical delivery is the goal, the economics clearly improve when redeeming larger amounts rather than small denominations.

    Wealthsimple Physical Gold Trading vs. gold ETPs

    Right off the bat, the major gold ETPs are generally cheaper to trade and own over short and medium holding periods. To make the comparison concrete, it helps to look at the three Canadian-listed gold vehicles that actually offer physical redemption: the Purpose Gold Bullion Fund (KILO), the Sprott Physical Gold Trust (PHYS), and Canadian Gold Reserves (MNT).

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    To approximate total cost of ownership, I combine each product’s management expense ratio (MER) with its most recent 30-day median bid-ask spread. This gives a reasonable estimate of the cost of buying and holding the product, assuming no sale.

    KILO is among the most cost-efficient options. It carries a 0.28% MER. At the December 12 market close, it traded with a bid of $61.88 and an ask of $62.00, implying a $0.12 spread, or roughly 0.19%. Compared with Wealthsimple’s 1% upfront fee, KILO remains cheaper for roughly the first three years of holding. Only after that does Wealthsimple’s lack of an ongoing fee begin to offset its higher entry cost.

    PHYS is more expensive. Its MER is 0.39%, and on the same date it showed a bid of $45.18 and an ask of $45.40, a $0.22 spread, or roughly 0.49%. In this case, Wealthsimple’s 1% gold trading fee breaks even sooner, but still only after about 1.3 years of holding. 

    MNT sits in the middle on fees with a 0.35% MER, but its trading costs are meaningfully higher due to poor liquidity. At the December 12 close, MNT had a bid of $64.29 and an ask of $65.00, a $0.71 spread, or roughly 1.10%. In this case, Wealthsimple is cheaper immediately on entry, even before considering MNT’s ongoing MER.

    Putting it all together, Wealthsimple’s physical gold offering is not the low-cost choice for short holding periods. Low-MER products like KILO and PHYS are usually cheaper for investors with shorter or medium-term horizons. Wealthsimple only begins to make economic sense over longer holding periods, where avoiding an annual MER eventually outweighs the higher up-front fee. MNT is the main exception, where wide spreads tilt the comparison in Wealthsimple’s favour almost immediately.

    But what about redemption?

    If your plan is to eventually take possession of your Wealthsimple digital gold, the process is relatively intuitive. You make the request directly through the app, and Wealthsimple states that delivery is handled by insured courier, typically arriving within seven to 10 business days. By comparison, physical redemption of exchange-traded products is far more restrictive. 

    KILO, for example, only allows redemptions in one-kilogram increments. For context, Silver Gold Bull currently prices a one-kilogram bar at roughly $193,631 CAD, which puts redemption well out of reach of most retail investors. 

    PHYS is not much more flexible. Its redemption rules require investors to hold enough shares to correspond to a standard London Good Delivery bar, which weighs around 400 troy ounces. That represents a very large capital commitment.

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    Tony Dong, MSc, CETF

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    Analyst Report: CMS Energy Corporation

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  • The year in money: notable personal finance changes for 2025 – MoneySense

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    Interest rates and inflation

    Price growth steadied this year, allowing the Bank of Canada to push its key interest rate down by a full percentage point in 2025 to 2.25%. But with higher prices already baked-in, an increasing number of consumers struggled with debt. The annual rate of inflation slowed to 2.2% in October, the most recent available data, though pressure remained in key areas. 

    “Essential costs remain elevated as grocery prices rose 3.4% year-over-year, and food costs continue to outpace the general rate of inflation,” said Natasha Macmillan, senior business director of everyday banking at Ratehub.ca, by email. “Add in higher tariffs and supply chain costs, and everyday spending remains a challenge for many households.” 

    The higher costs have also led to more Canadians falling behind on payments. Equifax Canada said the non-mortgage delinquency rate hit 1.63% in the third quarter, up 14% from a year earlier, while average non-mortgage debt was up $511 from the year before to $22,321.

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    Taxes in 2025

    The federal government delivered a 1% income tax cut this year, reducing the lowest marginal rate to 14%. Because the cut went into place midway through the year, the effective rate will be 14.5% this year. The full cut will go into place in 2026. That means savings of about $206 this year, and a $420 tax cut next year, or a potential $840 in savings for a two-income household. “For many households in the middle-income range, this change may provide noticeable after-tax relief,” said Macmillan.

    Prime Minister Mark Carney also cancelled the hike to the capital gains inclusion rate that his predecessor had proposed. The increase would have made two-thirds of capital gains subject to income tax, but instead it remains at half. Proponents had noted that the inclusion rate would have only changed for those with $250,000 or more in capital gains and affect an estimated 0.13% of Canadians, but Carney said that halting the increase should catalyze investment and incentivize entrepreneurs to take risks. 

    For those shopping for a first home, eligibility for a GST rebate on new homes up to $1 million went into place for purchases on or after May 27. The government has still to pass the law that will allow payouts, but the rebate will save first-time buyers up to $50,000. Homes sold between $1 million and $1.5 million receive a partial rebate. 

    Carney also removed the personal carbon tax as of April 1 in his first move as prime minister, saying it had become too divisive. The removal of the carbon tax and related rebate, however, still meant many Canadians came out ahead, especially those who drive less. The government had estimated the net benefit to households was between $157 and $723 last year, depending on the province, with lower-income Canadians generally seeing higher benefits. 

    Banking

    An expanded program to offer low- and no-cost bank accounts went into effect at the start of December. Canadians can now get a bank account for no more than $4 a month from 14 financial institutions with 50% more debit transactions included as part of the fee. 

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    No-fee accounts must be available for students, Canadians 18 and under, beneficiaries of registered disability savings plans, and seniors receiving the guaranteed income supplement, while other groups could also be eligible. Newcomers can access a free account in their first year.

    The government also launched consultations on increasing deposit insurance to cover $150,000, up from $100,000, but it has yet to formally make the change.

    Artificial Intelligence

    AI has been showing up everywhere this year, for better or for worse. On a markets level, it has raised concerns about a massive speculative bubble that threatens to hit retail investors if it pops, though so far the bet on continued growth in AI has largely made them richer. 

    It has also meant some people getting potentially unreliable financial guidance, while also opening up new avenues to those who find it hard to talk about their financial problems with a human. 

    Bruce Sellery, chief executive of Credit Canada, said that while AI has created concerns about fraud and job losses, the non-profit has also seen benefits as it launched its own AI agent called Mariposa. “You can actually complete an entire credit counselling appointment, including a debt assessment, without talking to a human if you don’t want to. It’s genius,” he said by email. 

    Looking ahead to 2026

    Next year, some of the big changes expected include the potential for open banking to finally launch. The system will give Canadians more control of their financial data, allowing them to safely control multiple accounts in one place, among other benefits.

    Trade issues will also still loom as the review of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement approaches. Any further disruptions in trade could threaten jobs in Canada, while also putting more pressure on inflation to force the Bank of Canada to raise rates.

    As it stands, analysts expect the central bank to start to raise rates later next year or at the start of 2027, but as Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem said, the future is especially hard to predict these days. “Uncertainty remains high, and the range of possible outcomes is wider than usual,” Macklem said in a press conference Wednesday.

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  • Research Reports & Trade Ideas – Yahoo Finance

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    Analyst Report: Best Buy Co. Inc.

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    Analyst Report: Oracle Corp.

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    Analyst Report: Royal Bank of Canada

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    December Optimism

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    Technical Assessment: Bullish in the Intermediate-Term

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  • News for investors: Barrick settles Mali dispute and Couche-Tard profit climbs – MoneySense

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    A judge in Mali ordered in June that Barrick’s Loulo-Gounkoto gold complex be placed under provisional administration for six months. 

    Under the deal announced Monday, Barrick says all charges brought against the company, its affiliates, and employees will be dropped and steps for the release of the four detained Barrick employees will be undertaken. It also says that the provisional administration of the Loulo-Gounkoto complex will be terminated and operational control will be handed back to the company. 

    Barrick says its subsidiaries will withdraw the arbitration claims pending before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes.

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    Alimentation Couche-Tard earns US$740.6M in Q2, rising from the previous year

    Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. (TSX:CTD)

    Numbers for its second quarter:

    • Profit: $740.6 million (up from $708.8 million a year ago)
    • Sales: $17.9 billion (up from $17.4 billion)

    Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. says its net earnings attributable to shareholders came in at US$740.6 million during the second quarter, compared with US$708.8 million for the same period a year earlier. This amounted to 79 cents US per share in net earnings attributable to shareholders, rising from 75 cents US during the prior year quarter.  

    The Laval, Que.-based company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says its revenue amounted to US$17.9 billion during the period ended Oct. 12, up 2.6% year-over-year from US$17.4 billion. 

    Total merchandise and service revenues came in at US$4.7 billion during the second quarter, rising 6.6% from the same period a year earlier. 

    Couche-Tard CEO Alex Miller says the company reported same-store sales growth across all of its geographies for the second straight quarter. 

    Filipe Da Silva, Couche-Tard’s chief financial officer, says in a press release that the company bought back nearly US$900 million of its shares during the quarter. 

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    Blue Ant Media Group signs deal to buy Thunderbird Entertainment for $89 million

    Blue Ant Media Corp. has signed a stock-and-cash agreement worth $89 million to buy Thunderbird Entertainment Group Inc. Blue Ant chief executive Michael MacMillan says the acquisition of Thunderbird is expected to add scale and complementary capabilities that strengthen Blue Ant’s studio business and enhance its earnings and cash flow.

    Vancouver-based Thunderbird’s production businesses include Atomic Cartoons and Great Pacific Media.

    Under the deal, Thunderbird shareholders will have the option to receive 0.2165 of a Blue Ant subordinate voting share, $1.77 in cash or a combination both for each Thunderbird share they hold. The maximum amount of cash available under the offer is limited to $40 million.

    The deal, which requires shareholder approval, is also subject to customary closing conditions including court and regulatory approvals. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026.

    Source: Google
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    Brookfield and GIC make offer for Australia’s National Storage REIT

    Canada’s Brookfield and Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC have made a takeover offer for National Storage REIT, an Australian self-storage company, valued at about A$4 billion or the equivalent of roughly C$3.7 billion.

    National Storage confirmed it has received an unsolicited, non-binding, indicative and conditional proposal. The company has about 94,500 residential and commercial customers at more than 270 storage centres across Australia and New Zealand.

    Under terms of the offer, National Storage securityholders would receive A$2.86 cash per stapled security. 

    The offer is being made on the basis that a dividend or distribution of six Australian cents may be paid, in which case, the cash payable per stapled security will be reduced by the same amount.

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    Analyst Report: Boeing Co.

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  • Gold is Making History

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    Gold has just crossed a milestone no asset class has ever reached before—a $30 trillion market cap. That number alone says a lot about where investors are seeking safety and what they expect from the decade ahead. It also reveals something surprising: why many disciplined investors, myself included, see gold’s new height as a signal to stay bullish on Bitcoin. 

    The rotation has begun 
    Over the past several years, investors have been steadily rotating out of traditional U.S. bonds and into harder assets with gold, silver, and Bitcoin among them. Ray Dalio, one of the most respected hedge fund managers in history, suggested a 15 percent portfolio allocation in gold. When that kind of institutional voice underscores diversification as a core principle, it’s worth paying attention. 

    When I launched a digital asset fund in 2022, gold’s total market cap was over $10 trillion, and Bitcoin’s hovered near $1 trillion. Today, gold has tripled, while Bitcoin’s market cap is roughly $2 trillion. The ratio between those two assets—the original and the digital store of value—has widened dramatically. Historically, such divergences don’t last forever. 

    Read the market’s rhythm 
    Markets move in cycles. Crypto has followed a four-year rhythm: 2013, 2017, 2021, and now 2025. Each cycle brought an early crash, consolidation, and then a steep recovery that eventually set new highs. This year’s volatility feels familiar. The sudden downturns and sharp rebounds look a lot like 2020–2021, what I call “manufactured flushes,” driven by macro headlines, election speculation, and social-media-fueled anxiety. 

    It’s tempting to see each dip as the end of the story. But if past cycles hold, we may only be in the middle chapters. Gold’s surge to $30 trillion underscores a broader truth: The global appetite for hard, finite assets hasn’t peaked.  

    Why this matters to entrepreneurs 
    Even if you’re not in finance, this moment carries key lessons for anyone running a business.  

    Every cycle—whether it’s commodities, technology, or public sentiment—tests our ability to adapt. The leaders who thrive aren’t the ones who predict every move. They’re the ones who position early, stay diversified, and refuse to anchor themselves to the latest trend. 

    Gold’s milestone is a reminder that “safe” and “static” are not the same thing. What once felt stable—the bond market, the dollar, the corporate ladder—looks much different now. Today’s investors and founders are redefining stability as agility: the capacity to shift resources quickly toward what holds value next is the key. 

    For entrepreneurs, that means balancing our proven revenue streams with experiments in new markets or technologies. For investors, it means pairing traditional holdings with selective exposure to emerging assets that have asymmetric upside. In both cases, the principle is the same: Resilience comes from diversification, not devotion. We’ve seen evidence of this in the past weeks and days. In the moments when gold has faltered or taken big drops, Bitcoin has rallied. We can see the rotation happening, and those who’ve diversified into both arenas remain safe.  

    A broader rebalancing 
    When capital moves from paper to tangible or verifiable scarcity, it’s more than an investment trend. Now it becomes a cultural signal. People are asking where value truly lives. Is it in institutions, in algorithms, or in the productive work of builders and creators?  

    The answer will shape how we allocate not only our money but also our trust. 

    I believe gold’s record valuation will one day be viewed as a turning point. This may be the moment where investors are acknowledging that “hard assets” now include digital ones.  

    Whether Bitcoin fulfills that role completely remains to be seen. But the pattern is clear: The world is looking for assets that are transparent, finite, and globally accessible. 

    In my opinion, this is the key takeaway for anyone leading a company or a team. We’re operating in a market that rewards clarity, scarcity, and authenticity—the very traits that define leadership in uncertain times.  

    Gold is glittering at $30 trillion; however, the real measure of value lies in how we adapt as the rules of value creation continue to change. 

    The final deadline for the 2026 Inc. Regionals Awards is Friday, December 12, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply now.

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  • How cash ETFs keep your money working – MoneySense

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    Chris Merrick, founder and owner of Merrick Financial, said there are a few different kinds of cash ETFs, but many work by essentially taking positions in high-interest savings accounts at large banks. Others invest in low-risk debt securities like bonds, known as money market ETFs. He highlighted that cash ETFs provide the ability to preserve capital while offering liquidity, unlike guaranteed investment certificates, which lock in the money for a specified period of time. “The liquidity is good. You get the interest income, which is better than a bank savings account. And often they’re kept for short-term goals,” he said.

    Merrick said cash ETFs pay monthly interest based on current borrowing rates set by the Bank of Canada. “When the rates go down, unfortunately like now, the interest rates are dropping for cash ETFs,” Merrick said.

    Erika Toth, director and head of ETF and portfolio consulting at BMO Global Asset Management, said that despite the comparatively lower yields, one of BMO’s top-selling ETFs over the past year has been one of its money market ETFs. Toth said they can offer advantages like “the ability to de-risk a portfolio if an investor wants to move out of equities or bonds,” since cash ETFs are a more conservative asset compared with more volatile stocks.

    Liquidity and returns without market exposure

    Cash ETFs can also help investors navigate times of transition.

    As investors age, Toth said the need for cash flow rises, leading some to look for safer assets to put their money into, but young clients find them useful when saving for certain financial goals. “Even younger clients—saving up to buy homes or saving up for renovations or for children’s education, it’s still a good way to make sure you’re getting paid something on your cash and the funds are readily available.” Toth said cash ETFs could help someone who recently got out of the market and wants the cash they have on the sidelines to be productive.

    Philip Petursson, chief investment strategist at IG Wealth Management, said cash ETFs can be a good option for any investors looking to earn a yield while maintaining liquidity of their cash holdings. “I think any time an investor has a requirement where they need the cash within 12 months and they don’t want to be subject to any market volatility at all, I think this would be a good place to be putting your money,” he said.

    Over the long term though, Petursson said cash can be a drag on a portfolio because of its lower returns, meaning investors will miss out on higher growth opportunities. He added that holding around 5% of a portfolio in a cash ETF can help an investor deploy into the market during periods of volatility.  

    Merrick noted one of the downsides is that they are not covered by the Canada Deposit Insurance Corp., which guarantees money in Canadian bank accounts of up to $100,000 per account type at a financial institution. He said that for some people, the security afforded by CDIC protection matters, while others are indifferent. “As the saying goes, liquidity and security don’t matter until they are everything. But I feel that the chances of needing this are fairly low,” Merrick said. 

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    About The Canadian Press


    About The Canadian Press

    The Canadian Press is Canada’s trusted news source and leader in providing real-time stories. We give Canadians an authentic, unbiased source, driven by truth, accuracy and timeliness.

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