In the 2023 Federal Budget, the Canadian federal government expressed its intention to reduce the criminal rate of interest currently set out in the Criminal Code[1] to protect financially vulnerable Canadians from predatory lending practices.[2] Generally, predatory lending involves certain lenders taking advantage of borrowers by imposing unfair loan terms  ..read more

Every year, reporting issuers are faced with the task of tailoring the disclosure for their annual general meeting to an ever-evolving list of changes in corporate and securities laws, updates to stock exchange rules, new guidance from proxy advisors and regulators and developing corporate governance trends. This checklist and overview of certain matters relevant to the 2024 proxy season is intended to help reporting issuers in Canada prepare for their upcoming annual meetings by identifying relevant developments in disclosure rules and governance practices over the past year. Please download ..read more

In a previous blog post, we discussed the recently enacted Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act, also known as the Modern Slavery Act (the “Act”). As a reminder, for those entities to whom the Act applies, the deadline for filing their first annual report under the Act is fast approaching – May 31, 2024. To help you navigate this new  ..read more

Retroactive changes to the Provincial Sales Tax Act (British Columbia) (the “PSTA”) were announced February 22 by the BC Government in its 2024 budget. Should the enacting legislation[1] receive royal assent, the changes will be effective as of April 1, 2013. The most impactful changes would be: A retroactive expansion of the applicability of the PSTA that imposes a requirement on purchasers to pay PST on the purchase price of software acquired for use in BC; and An expanded definition of “software” for purposes of the PSTA. The BC Government’s stated purpose for the above changes is clarifi ..read more

In November 2023, a justice of the B.C. Supreme Court made an order declaring that an unsigned will was valid despite it not being signed as it was found to represent the deceased’s testamentary intentions. On April 16, 2022, James Christopher Salisbury (“Mr. Salisbury”) passed away, leaving behind his wife, Hiedi Salisbury (“Mrs. Salisbury”), and five  ..read more

The past two federal budgets introduced various new refundable investment tax credits (“Refundable ITCs”) to encourage and promote the increased adoption of alternative or renewable energy.  In the words of the Federal Government, the “transformational new big five Clean Investment Tax Credit…will help produce, manufacture, or transition to clean energy in  ..read more

Federal corporations take notice – the federal government is amending the Canada Business Corporations Act (“CBCA”) in an effort to increase transparency regarding the ownership of Canadian corporations. Bill C-42, An Act to amend the Canada Business Corporations Act, which has been passed but is not yet in force, will introduce several amendments to the CBCA  ..read more

The Canadian Securities Administrators have published proposed amendments to National Instrument 44-102 — Shelf Distributions and related amendments to certain policies and rules (collectively, the “Proposed Amendments”) that would supersede blanket orders that have been in place since early 2022 (“Blanket Orders”) and establish a permanent  ..read more

The federal government has announced they are removing the Goods and Services Tax/Harmonized Sales Tax (GST/HST) on all new qualifying rental housing constructions to help with the rising cost of living. This is effective September 14, 2023, subject to the passage of the related legislation. The removal will be by way of an enhanced GST/HST Rental Rebate, available on new  ..read more

Background Canada has a series of bilateral tax treaties. These have evolved over time to include various anti-avoidance, and anti-treaty shopping rules. These rules include limitation on benefits provisions and purpose tests. The treaty between Canada and Hong Kong had one of the broadest rules. Many countries, including Canada and Hong Kong, are now signatories to the  ..read more