The decade’s most ignorable piece of financial advice: You’ve heard this warning a hundred times, you ignored it and rates held steady at historic lows. Now, the Bank of Canada is signalling that borrowing costs could rise if economic conditions keeps improving. Here are 10 reasons not to tune out this time around: 1. Rates […]

17 April 2012 Contact: Jeremy Harrison 613 782-8782 Ottawa, Ontario – The Bank of Canada today announced that it is maintaining its target for the overnight rate at 1 per cent. The Bank Rate is correspondingly 1 1/4 per cent and the deposit rate is 3/4 per cent. The profile for global economic growth has […]

The Bank of Canada today paints a troubling picture of what has become a vicious circle where consumer debt is concerned, and amid weak underwriting standards on some home equity lines of credit. The central bank unveiled its Monetary Policy Report, which puts more flesh on the bare bones statement it unveiled yesterday when it […]

Depreciation Report Summary – excerpted from article prepared by Mike Mangan B.A., LL.B. On December 13, 2011, the provincial government changed several important strata requirements. The changes mainly concern depreciation reports and contributions to a strata corporation’s contingency reserve fund (CRF). Some changes are immediate, while others come into effect at different times over the […]

Government tightens stated income mortgage lending The Department of Finance tightened lending rules in two sets of changes 2010 and 2011. In a continuing effort to control lending practices, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OFSFI) is increasingly worried about business for self underwriting practices at the country’s big banks. These practices include […]

To help support workers and communities in B.C. that depend on residential recreational development, purchasers of new secondary vacation or recreational homes outside the Greater Vancouver and Capital regional districts priced up to $850,000 will now be eligible to claim a provincial grant of up to $42,500 effective April 1, 2012. B.C.’s portion of the […]

Thanks to our friends at Spagnuolo and Company for this important information THE B.C. FIRST-TIME NEW HOME BUYERS’ BONUS [ 1 ] THE B.C. FIRST-TIME NEW HOME BUYERS’ BONUS Subject to approval by the legislature, the B.C. government intends to implement a temporary BC First-Time New Home Buyers’ Bonus. Effective February 21, 2012, to March […]

Analysis suggests Canadians becoming hesitant to take on debt The latest report of non-mortgage debt in Canada by TransUnion credit shows average credit up 1.4% in th quarter to $25,960. In the most recently reported data from Statistics Canada, households now carry about 153 per cent more in debt than their annual disposable income, with […]

The federal government will make it tougher for many homebuyers to get mortgages this year as it grapples with an overheated property market, according to analysts in a Reuters poll, who also ruled out the prospect that prices could suddenly crash. Ten of 14 economists and strategists surveyed last week in Reuters’ first poll on […]

Find out more about the federal income tax credit for weekly or longer duration public transit passes and electronic payment cards, and how the Government of Canada is encouraging the use of public transit to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. http://www.transitpass.ca/about_e.asp What is the tax credit for public transit? On July 1, 2006, […]