Will Canada's new tax cut change your life, or just cover your coffee? Here's what you'll save

According to a new report released Wednesday(June 18) by the Parliamentary Budget Officer(PBO), the Liberal government's promised
income tax
cut is expected to save the average Canadian family $280 next year. However, while the savings may offer some relief, critics, especially those from the Conservative Party, argue that the benefit is too small to make a real difference.
The tax cut was first proposed during Prime Minister
Mark Carney
's election campaign this spring, lowering the rate on the first $57,375 of taxable income from 15 percent to 14.5 percent, starting July 1, and then to 14 percent next year.
For some families, the tax break could help ease everyday costs. But for many Canadians already facing soaring rents, food prices, and interest rates, a few hundred dollars a year may not feel like enough. As one Winnipeg senior told CBC, 'It's something, but it won't change my life.'
Relief for the middle class
Carney pitched the plan as a
middle-class relief
measure, estimating potential savings of up to $825 per year for dual-income families. Finance Canada later pegged the maximum savings at $840 per couple.
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However, PBO Yves Giroux offered a more sobering view. Because the tax cut takes effect midway through 2025, the average filer will save only $90 this year, rising to $190 in 2026.
A closer look at the numbers reveals how unevenly the benefits are distributed
A two-income couple with a child in the second income bracket will likely save about $750.
A high-earning single Canadian might see $350 back.
A single parent in the lowest tax bracket is estimated to save $140.
A single senior in the same bracket? Just $50.
Minimal impact for low-income Canadians
For many low-income Canadians, the impact will be minimal as their taxable income is already offset by credits, and the tax cut brings little change. The PBO noted:
"
The lower an individual's income, the less they can expect to save."
That prompted a sharp rebuke from
Pierre Poilievre
's Conservatives, who issued a statement saying, 'This tax cut won't even buy a breakfast sandwich a month for a low-income senior.' They slammed Carney for offering Canadians 'mere cents a day,' calling the move marginal and insufficient.
Conservatives still in favour of the tax cut
Despite the criticism, the Conservatives said they will vote in favour of the tax cut, but are pushing for more. Their campaign had promised a deeper 2.25-point tax cut, to be phased in over four years.
Meanwhile, the fiscal cost of the Liberal plan is significant. The PBO estimates the gross cost at $64 billion over five years, with a net cost of $28 billion once reduced credits are factored in. Finance Canada places that closer to $27 billion.
The legislation was introduced via a 'ways and means' motion last month and is set to take effect July 1, though it still awaits final passage in Parliament.

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First Post

an hour ago

• First Post

Canada's Carney seeks to mend ties, but Khalistan issue requires India to be cautious

Unlike other Canadian leaders such as Justin Trudeau and Pierre Poilievre, Prime Minister Mark Carney understands the importance of India as a country whose global influence is growing by the day, but Delhi must not lower its guard on the Khalistan issue read more In this season of geopolitical flare-ups, it seems at least one relationship is back on track. Years after the Justin Trudeau administration played sinister games with India trying to appease its domestic Khalistani vote bank, the India-Canada equation under newly elected Prime Minister Mark Carney is now becoming friendlier with each passing day. A good example of this was on display during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Canada last week for the G7 summit. Earlier India had downgraded its diplomatic ties with the country and had even recalled its diplomats after a controversy had broken out during the previous administration when then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had accused Indian agents of the assassination of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil. But now on the sidelines of the G7 summit, both PM Modi and Carney have not only agreed to the reinstatement of High Commissioners between India and Canada, but they have also decided to resume the long-stalled trade talks between the two countries. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD While speaking to media on the occasion of the G7 summit, PM Carney was all praises for PM Modi's leadership, calling his meeting with him a 'great honour' in addition to asserting how Modi has become a permanent invitee to the summit since the year 2018 and would also likely make an appearance at the next summit scheduled to be held in France. While the conciliatory notes extended by Carney towards India are a significant break from the past, what is also important to note is that the whole Canadian dispensation seems to be undergoing a shift of position towards India even on the much-controversial Khalistan issue as well. Around the same time that Carney and Modi held a meeting on the sidelines of the summit, an interesting report was released by the country's top intelligence agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS). While the report has again made an unsubstantiated assertion over alleged Indian foreign interference in Canada, in a big break from the Trudeau era, the report has also conclusively noted that Khalistanis are indeed using Canadian soil to 'promote, fundraise and plan' violent activities primarily targeting India since the mid-1980s. This has to be the first time that a Canadian agency has made such an open and honest admission of Canada serving as a base for the Khalistani terrorists for almost four decades now. Looking at the changing tunes in Canada, one really wonders if the future of India-Canada ties will be bright now onwards, with the biggest irritant of extending state support to Khalistanis by Canada a thing of the past? Well, the truth is that it will be a constant cost-benefit analysis that will determine Canada's attitude towards India in the long run, no matter how friendly and favourable the Carney government seems at the moment. One may say that unlike the Trudeau government, which was at the mercy of noted Khalistani Jagdeep Singh's New Democratic Party (NDP), this time the Liberal Party government faces no such compulsions. NDP is now a politically spent force and Jagmeet a practical nobody in the Canadian political scene, allowing Carney to dictate terms more freely. This explains why, for the first time, a Canadian intelligence report has so openly indicted the Khalistanis for targeting India using Canada as a base. The last time an attempt towards this was made, the Trudeau administration had made sure to redact those portions. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD In addition to the reduced political dependence on the K-factor, Carney, unlike Trudeau, is a pragmatic leader who is choosing to see the big picture when it comes to the India-Canada relationship instead of pandering to the Khalistanis. This signalling was impossible to miss on the eve of the G7 summit when Khalistani groups were threatening to disrupt PM Modi's visit with charged-up protests taking place in Calgary, but Carney refused to budge to the threats and went ahead with his plans to host PM Modi. Carney's logic was simple: his predecessor had thrown an important diplomatic relationship to the wolves due to his political myopia, and G7 was a great opportunity to reset ties with India, a dynamic emerging economy. Maybe this is why Carney's dissociation with Khalistan was early to spot, as not even a single campaign rally of his had allowed the separatists to wield their flag or raise their cause. In comparison, opposition leader Pierre Poilievre had pandered fully to the Sikh separatists. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Unlike other Canadian leaders such as Trudeau and Poilievre, Carney understands the importance of India as a country whose global influence is growing each passing day. In a press query, he noted India's leadership on the world stage and called his meeting with PM Modi a 'foundational' necessary first step towards much-needed repair of bilateral ties. As per him, India is the fifth largest economy in the world and the most populous country, which is also central to the global economic flow by being at the heart of crucial supply chains. Carney's own recognition of India's economic significance was also driven by the diplomatic pressure that his administration faced from the other G7 countries. In an interview with a Canadian network, Vina Nadjibulla from the Asia-Pacific Foundation of Canada noted that there was a strong push from other countries to invite India to the G7 summit, leaving Canada with little choice. Now that Carney has finally embraced a friendlier approach towards India as a sign of his political maturity, Canada stands to benefit a lot from the relationship. India, after all, is Canada's tenth largest trading partner with an emerging market of 1.4 billion people for its agriculture, hi-tech and educational services offerings. There is also a two-million-strong Indian diaspora in Canada, of which the Khalistanis are just a small fringe. At a time when even big players in the West are looking to court India, Trudeau's alienation of India was a strategic suicide. It seems Carney for now has done a great job in mending the bridges. But will the Khalistan issue disappear from the Canadian political landscape and also become irrelevant in the India-Canada bilateral relationship? STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Well, hardly so because the Western countries, especially their deep states, have carefully nurtured the K-elements as an asset to balance a rising India. Whenever India will not follow their preferred course of diplomatic action, they will not take a moment to deploy the Khalistani separatists. On this matter, even Carney would not be any different from Trudeau. Not to forget that Khalistanis not only remain a strongly funded cause in Canada, but their activities to canvass support domestically are still continuing in the garb of freedom of speech even today. For now, the Canadian leadership seems to have understood the importance of India as a key partner, so we should make the most of it. But India's own efforts to keep the Khalistanis in check in the Western societies, including Canada, must go on without an iota of hesitancy. The author is a New Delhi-based commentator on geopolitics and foreign policy. She holds a PhD from the Department of International Relations, South Asian University. She tweets @TrulyMonica. The views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost's views. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD

Deccan Herald

5 hours ago

• Deccan Herald

Of old friendships and cold shoulders

Good morning readers and welcome to another edition of DH's political theatre. This week a heavy silence hung above the country as families of those who perished in the tragic crash of AI171 waited in sorrow to receive the remains of their family members. There were many among this crowd who had tinges of hope that those who were termed 'missing' will be found somewhere out there. Sadly, this wasn't the case for many as DNA testing proved that the worst had come true. The aftermath of the crash saw an outpouring of grief and rage at the cruel tragedy which snatched the lives of more than 200 people in a single devastating moment. As India grapples with the calamity that had befallen, let's also turn our attention to events that dominated the political arena this week:.C-ing the world in 4 days .This week Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarked on an expedition beginning with Cyprus. In his meeting with President Nikos Christodoulides, he promised to uphold Cyprus' independence. By promising their recognition, and Canada ignited by the murder of Khalistani Sikh extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, both the countries have decided to respect each other and rebuild their relationship. In line with this, they have decided to return Indian and Canadian High Commissioners to Ottawa and New Delhi, respectively. Unfortunately, not all relationships are working. There seems to be a bit of snag in his burgeoning relationship with US President Donald Trump who too had come to attend the summit. But more on that attending the G7 summit, Modi made history by becoming the first Indian prime minister to visit Croatia. Here as well, the Indian prime minister held talks with Croatia's leadership and aimed to boost ties. .Frosty relations up North .PM Modi and Donald Trump's warm relationship, which many believed was achieved due to the Indian Premier's huglomacy, has taken a bit of a tumble. While India made amends with one country in North America, icy winds slowly shifted to the other. Modi and Trump were supposed to meet on the sidelines of G7, but the US president decided to leave the summit early due to the conflict in the Middle East. Moreover, a very interesting guest was making an appearance at the White House: Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir. But prior to this meeting, Modi had dialled Trump and reiterated that India has never accepted and will never accept mediation by any third party to settle issues with Pakistan. Unfortunately, Trump didn't give any heed to Modi's clarification and once again stated that he being a 'harbinger' of peace had brought forth a ceasefire between the two 'warring' while meeting Pakistan's latest Field Marshall, Trump expressed his desire to do trade with the country. This meeting has come as a huge blow to PM Modi as earlier the United States of America had publicly claimed that Pakistan was a 'safe haven for terrorists' and now it seems they are making some sort of an 'alliance', leaving India alone to tackle with its notorious neighbour and leaving Modi sans a home, the Congress party wasted no time in pointing out Modi's flaws and criticising the 'fantastic man' (a term Trump recently called Modi). They said that Trump's lunch with Munir was a "huge blow" to Indian English egos and Hindi sparks a political debate—which can percolate to the masses— quite like language, and this week stands testimony to that. The week began with a controversial move by the Maharashtra government to make 'Hindi' a mandatory 3rd language in schools. But, after receiving intense backlash from both the opposition and literary bodies, the government 'amended' its order by saying that Hindi will "generally" be the third language. Amongst the people involved in the backlash was Raj Thackeray, who was leading the chant. He asked what was the need to "impose" Hindi on students and appealed to schools in Maharashtra to foil the government's "hidden agenda to deliberately create a language divide".While Maharashtra was grappling with such issues, Union Minister Amit Shah too dabbled in language politics, albeit with his own 'dialect'. Maybe in a bid to appease the masses, the home minister made a contentious statement which left many people puzzled at a book launch event. He said 'the time is not far that those speaking English in the country will start to feel ashamed'.This statement invoked a backlash from the opposition, with many saying it showcases a "restrictive and narrow-minded" political view. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi too retaliated and said that BJP-RSS doesn't want the poor to learn English as it empowers them to ask questions. .Tharoor's coup d'état? Tussle with Congress carries on .While Congress was busy packing a punch at the BJP, they too got a shock when one of their own made it to the limelight for openly defying the leadership. Shashi Tharoor, the man who recently led a delegation to the US and several other countries in the Americas, admitted that he doesn't toe the line of the ringmasters and does have a 'difference of opinion' with some colleagues in the party. This reaction comes on the heels of the Thiruvananthapuram MP claiming that his invitation got lost in the mail for the campaign at Nilambur by-poll in Kerala..'We were never apart': Bharat milap .Maharashtra isn't the only state privy to old family reunions. After Uddhav and Raj Thackeray's possible reunification, politicians from Rajasthan too followed suit. In a peculiar turn of events, Congress leaders Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot have decided to let go of their feud and mend their differences Later on, Gehlot even feigned surprise and said, 'When were we apart? We were never apart.' .BJP, Congress at each other's throats, a move which BJP labelled as 'minority appeasement', the Karnataka government hiked the minority reservation in housing schemes from 10 to 15%. The party defended themselves against the naysayers by retailing, 'Why do you smell political motives?' But the BJP didn't back down and said that Congress was snatching the rights of SCs, STs, OBCs and EWS. In other news, the Tamil Nadu CM is at loggerheads with the Centre. M K Stalin made sharp remarks at the government for demanding additional evidence from archaeologist K Amarnath Ramakrishna on the Sangam Era site of Keeladi. Ramakrishna was relieved from his role as Director (Antiquity) in the ASI and transferred to Greater Noida. This comes in the wake of him being asked to rework on his report of the first two phases of excavation in Keeladi. DMK and the BJP are currently engaged in a tussle over the interpretation of findings from Keeladi excavation. Stalin remarked that demanding of more information is a 'blatant attack' on Tamil puts Israel's Iron dome to test.A week after Israel launched a barrage of missiles at Iran and eliminated its military top brass along with many of its scientists who were involved with the country's nuclear programme, Iran decided it had had the stewardship of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the West Asian country appointed a new league of leaders and began retaliating with more missiles, including the Fattah-1 hypersonic ballistic missile, at its Jewish neighbour. These missiles were able to pose a challenge to Israel's Iron dome system and also succeeded in striking a hospital in Beersheba. This attack on the hospital came as a grave insult to Israel who vowed to eliminate Khamenei at all this midst of all this tension, India too had its worries. Many people who were stranded in the two 'warring' nations had to brought home, which led PM Modi to launch Operation of peace mulling to join the war .If we turn our attention to the North American superpower, the president of that country seems to be in a fix. During the initial days, Trump called for Iran's unconditional surrender, but Iran, in turn, retaliated by saying, 'US military intervention will have irreparable damage'. Moreover, it also emphasised that it would not discuss the future of its nuclear programme while under attack by Israel. Now the man, who claims to be the harbinger of peace, is himself mulling whether he should join the war or not. .That's all for this week, we will be back with more next week. Till then, stay safe and stay tuned to DH to catch all the breaking news and latest Stage Left,DH Newsletters Team

Fibre2Fashion

6 hours ago

• Fibre2Fashion

92% respondents in North America intentional with purchases: Report

About 92 per cent of respondents consider themselves at least somewhat intentional with their purchases, while 40 per cent say they are very intentional, revealed new data from Lightspeed Commerce's survey of 2,000 consumers across the US and Canada. Today's shoppers aren't just buying products—they're also buying into values. Nearly half (45 per cent) say brand values will play a bigger role in future purchases, signalling a clear shift toward mindful, purpose-driven consumption—what Lightspeed calls Valuespending. While price (78 per cent) and quality (67 per cent) remain key priorities, more consumers (62 per cent) now say it's important that their purchases align with their personal values or identity. A Lightspeed Commerce survey has revealed that 92 per cent of North American consumers shop intentionally, with 40 per cent being highly intentional. Values like sustainability, identity, and national pride now influence 62 per cent of shoppers, especially Gen Z. Social media drives brand discovery, while Canadians show stronger local loyalty. 'Consumers today are balancing cost with conscience,' said Dax Dasilva, CEO and founder of Lightspeed . 'It's not always about the lowest price—it's about choosing brands that reflect their values. And when those values align, loyalty can follow more easily. This new era of intentional spending—Valuespending—is reshaping retail and pushing businesses to be more transparent and authentic.' For 32 per cent of shoppers who report making values-based buying decisions, this is a new behaviour. Driving this shift are a stronger belief that their spending has more impact than before (50 per cent), a sense of living in a more divided world (45 per cent), and influence from social media (23 per cent), as per the survey. Younger shoppers are leading the movement. An impressive 96 per cent of Gen Z consumers say they shop intentionally, with 66 per cent noting that it's important their purchases reflect their values. For this cohort, sustainability (37 per cent), national pride (29 per cent), and cultural alignment (26 per cent) top the list of decision drivers. More than half (51 per cent) say their most recent purchases were made with thought and intention Social media plays a major role—61 per cent of Gen Z discover value-aligned brands online, far more than other generations. Notably, 32 per cent of Gen Z shoppers say they fear being judged for buying from the 'wrong' brands—highlighting a generational mix of purpose and peer pressure reshaping the retail space. Canadian consumers are taking principled spending even further. While just 16 per cent of US respondents say they've made purchases in the past six months based on local or national campaigns like 'Buy American,' that number jumps to 38 per cent in Canada. Similarly, 45 per cent of Canadian consumers say supporting local businesses best reflects their values, compared to 36 per cent of US shoppers. This trend points to a growing sense of national alignment at the checkout—especially in the context of trade tensions. 'These insights show us that consumer expectations are evolving,' Dasilva added. 'From sustainability to social impact, the brands that listen, adapt, and 'walk the talk' can thrive in this age of Valuespending.' Fibre2Fashion News Desk (RR)