CSI Blog & Newsroom

Photographer: Soroush Karimi

“The share of immigrants in Canada has reached its highest level in almost a century, according to 2016 census figures released Wednesday,” wrote Éric Grenier for CBC News on October 25, 2017.

Grenier continued, “The Statistics Canada data also shows the Indigenous population is growing at more than four times the rate of the non-Indigenous population, reaching nearly 1.7 million in 2016.

These are some of the findings of the latest data set from the 2016 census, focusing on the population related to immigration, ethnocultural diversity, housing and Indigenous people.

The numbers come just days before the annual immigration levels are set to be tabled in the House of Commons by the Liberal government. The levels were set at 300,000 per year in 2017.

The census figures show 21.9 per cent of Canadians report being or having been an immigrant or permanent resident, nearly matching the high of 22.3 per cent in 1921 and up from 19.8 per cent in 2006. The number was slightly higher than 21.9 per cent in 1931 too.”

Read the full article here. 

Photographer: Brian Babb

“Canada’s top banking regulator has published the final version of its new mortgage rules, which include a requirement to “stress test” borrowers with uninsured loans to ensure they could withstand higher interest rates,” wrote Pete Evans for CBC News on October 17, 2017.

Evans continued, “The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) released new guidelines for the mortgage industry on Tuesday. The regulator floated a similar version of these rules earlier this summer in draft form, but Tuesday’s release makes them official as of Jan. 1. 

Among the major new rules is a requirement to stress test uninsured borrowers. Previously, only insured borrowers had to undergo such a test.

By law, borrowers with a down payment of under 20 per cent for a home must purchase mortgage insurance. Borrowers pay an insurance premium, but the beneficiary is actually the lender, because the insurance protects the loan giver in the event the borrower defaults on the loan.”

Read the full article here. 

Photographer: Matthew Henry

“The national revenue minister says she is not looking to target the country’s retail workers, even after the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) issued guidelines to business owners that could pave the way for new taxes on merchandise purchased with an employee discount,” wrote John Paul Tasker and Karina Roman for CBC News on October 10, 2017.

Tasker and Roman continued, “The CRA said in a document posted on its website that discounts for merchandise should be treated as a taxable benefit. The tax collector said that when an employee receives a discount on merchandise — as a benefit of their employment — the value of the discount should be included in the employee’s income at tax time.

“However, no amount is included in the employee’s income if the discount is also available to the general public or to specific public groups,” CRA said in its “folio,” a document written in plain language and disseminated to employers to help them interpret the tax code.

The onus would largely be on the employer to keep track of how much an employee saved with discounts in a given year, as they typically file T4s (a statement of remuneration paid) with the CRA for each of their workers.”

Read the full article here. 

Photographer: Rawpixel.com

“Finance Minister Bill Morneau received an earful on the Liberals’ proposed tax changes and was often drowned out by a largely critical crowd during a town hall meeting in Oakville, Ont., on Friday morning,” wrote CBC News on September 29, 2017.

CBC News continued, “The so-called “listening tour” event, which was moderated by the Democratic Institutions Minister and Burlington MP Karina Gould, was the last town hall event before the consultation period over the tax reforms ends Monday.

The event got off to a rocky start when Morneau was cut off during his opening remarks.

“You kept us waiting half an hour,” yelled one man.”

Read the full article here.