How to fund accessible home renovations in Canada

My house, as I told my insurance broker recently, is the Canadian housing equivalent of ancient. Built in the 1910s in Saskatoon, this house has many foibles. To hang pictures, I have to use wood screws lest regular nails bounce off of the layers and layers of paint. My basement is a little more than a horror movie-esque concrete box. Perhaps its most damning feature until last year was its lack of a wheelchair lift. One grant, and more than $20,000 later, that has been rectified. The administra

When it comes to building wealth, most people focus on investments, debt levels, or market performance. But what if the real threat to your financial future isn’t any of those? According to Co-authors of Money Together, Heather and Douglas Boneparth, the biggest risk is hiding in plain sight: the conversations couples aren’t having about money.Today, financial decisions are intertwined with daily life, relationships, and long-term goals. The ability to communicate openly about money

Should you consider adding bitcoin (BTC), ethereum (ETH), or other cryptocurrencies to your investment portfolio? For long-term investors who can tolerate significant volatility, a small allocation—sometimes around 5%—is increasingly part of the conversation.Crypto’s appeal lies in its growth potential and its ability to diversify a portfolio, but it comes with sharp price swings and uncertain long-term outcomes. The key question isn’t just whether it might boost returns,

The Canadian exchange-traded fund (ETF) industry’s growth has been substantial and is picking up steam. According to the Canadian ETF Association, Canadian-listed ETFs collectively managed approximately $790 billion in assets as of March 31, 2026. At that time, there were 1,526 ETFs offered by 49 different sponsors listed on Canadian exchanges.But not every ETF will survive. ETF providers are businesses, and ETFs themselves are products. The goal of launching an ETF is ultimately to gather

Nobody moves to Canada excited about price matching. When my family immigrated in 2019, I expected to spend countless hours learning about taxes, credit scores, saving plans and all the other financial building blocks that make this country unique. I knew there would be a learning curve, and I was ready for it. Those were the things I assumed would shape my financial life here. Price matching never once crossed my mind.Like many newcomers, I spent my first few months trying to make sense of a fi

One of the biggest fears consumers have is losing a credit card, but a lost card is usually detected quickly and the account frozen. A bigger danger may lie in using your credit card to make payments online—especially if you are unfamiliar with the vendor or using a public Wi-Fi network that can be hacked. In those situations, your credit card information could be intercepted or stolen without you realizing it.Fortunately, there are simple tools that can enhance the security around credit

If you’re someone near or at retirement, has a column like the one you’re now reading ever “finfluenced” any of your financial decisions? Increasingly, many Canadian investors are turning to a new generation of voices online, a trend that regulators are starting to watch more closely. A finfluencer is simply a financial influencer, a contraction similar to my own “findependence” for financial independence. And while I’m tooting my own horn here, let

When you buy a bond, there’s a chance the borrower might not be able to pay you back, but bonds also carry a different kind of risk. 
Duration, or interest rate risk, is related to a bond’s sensitivity to changes in interest rates. When interest rates go up, you won’t be able to sell a bond for the price you paid, says Will Gornall, an associate professor at UBC’s Sauder School of Business. “Because they’re traded, if you have a 3% bond and now the g

An unincorporated sole proprietor must contribute to the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) when they file their personal tax return. These contributions can be up to $9,292.90 for 2026. Some taxpayers may not even notice this, but line 42100 on a T1 tax return is CPP Contributions Payable on Self-Employment Income and Other Earnings. Contributions are calculated on Schedule 8 or Form RC381, whichever applies.Most self-employed individuals must pay CPP contributions, but there may be alternatives. W

As destination weddings rise in popularity, guests face a financial dilemma: how to celebrate loved ones without derailing their own financial futures. When the wedding invitation arrives with a picture of a tropical beach or a European castle, it carries an unspoken price tag that can often reach $3,000 or more. For many, especially younger adults who might be juggling multiple invitations in a single year, the question isn’t just whether they want to attend, it’s whether they can a

The rise and fall of BlackBerry was so dramatic that they made a movie about it. But moviegoers would be mistaken to leave the Waterloo, Ont.-based smartphone pioneer for dead. To the contrary, BlackBerry was the top-performing mid- to large-capitalization stock on the Toronto Stock Exchange over the second quarter of 2026, posting a 90-day gain of 268%.Of course, BlackBerry is no longer in the handset business. It develops software for cars and mobile security and has a growing artificial intel

An inheritance can raise questions about taxes, family law, and how to manage the money. This article focuses on the income tax considerations for married and common-law couples who invest inherited funds.Taxation of an inheritanceFirst off, the receipt of an inheritance is generally not taxable. Most or all tax is paid by the estate of the deceased, and the after-tax proceeds are distributed to the beneficiaries. There can be exceptions. If you inherit real estate and sell it later, subseq

Zena Amundsen didn’t realize how tight finances could be for a single-income household after she and her husband welcomed their first baby. She quickly had to learn to keep track of every dollar, recalled Amundsen, a Regina-based certified financial planner at Astra Financial Services.For the first seven years as a parent in the mid-90s, Amundsen stayed home to raise two young children while her husband became the sole provider for the household. About 30 years later, she still draws

At long last, the FIFA World Cup has kicked off in cities across North America. If you’re not fazed by single-ticket prices in the four figures, may we offer a word of caution: stalwart footy fans are not the only ones attracted to events like this. So are scam artists. Cyber-criminals love big-ticket, high-demand events, whether it be between national soccer teams or a Taylor Swift concert. When people think this is their chance to have a once-in-a-lifetime experience, their decision

For many Canadians relocating to the United States, one of the first financial questions that surfaces is whether they should convert their Canadian investments into U.S. dollars. The answer is usually no, and acting too quickly can cost you more than you might expect.The instinct to “go American” makes sense but can be expensiveWhen London accepted a new job opportunity in Seattle, he assumed one of the first things he would need to do was convert his Canadian investment portfolio i

Here’s a round-up of news for Canadian investors this week.
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Each year, more than half a million Canadians take out student loans to cover tuition, books, and living costs. But according to some recent research, including a study from Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), many students are unprepared for how these loans work and how to manage repayment.Understanding your options now can help you graduate with a much stronger financial foundation.Student loans in CanadaIn Canada, you generally have two paths for borrowing: government programs or private financial in

Condos are a popular choice for many first-time homebuyers owing to their lower price point and access to amenities such as gyms and pools. But as well as a mortgage, condo owners are responsible for monthly maintenance fees that support operating costs for the building, among other aspects, and it’s important to factor that into your purchase and monthly budget.Condo fees generally cover a lot of what homeowners would spend out of pocket, such as property insurance and general maintenance

There is a squirrel that works the patch of grass outside my car most mornings. I see it during the 20 quiet minutes I keep for myself before the day begins, coffee in hand. For weeks, I’ve watched it do the same thing over and over: burying something, pausing, then darting off to bury the next one a few feet away. It looked like the most diligent creature alive.What I did not know until I read about it later is that squirrels forget. They bury far more than they ever dig back up, and many

The past two months have been a rollercoaster of hope and disappointment for bitcoin (BTC) investors. In late February of 2026, BTC touched a low of about $63,000 (all figures in U.S. dollars unless otherwise specified), which was a fall of close to 50% from its October 2025 high of about $123,000. If you read this column regularly you’ll know that this itself was not surprising for two reasons. First, BTC cyclical tops are often at the end of the year following the BTC halving (2024

“I wish I had reached out sooner.” It’s one of the most common things that credit counsellors hear from people struggling with debt.Debt problems rarely appear overnight. They tend to develop gradually through a series of well-intentioned decisions made while trying to stay afloat: a credit card is used to cover an unexpected expense; a savings account is tapped to make a payment; a tax refund is expected to solve the problem next month. Each decision can seem reasonable in iso

Even the most financially disciplined person might catch themselves chasing rewards from a credit card or loyalty rewards program. It’s not just you or a lack of willpower; credit card issuers and retailers design rewards programs to tap into the psychology of spending.Research shows that people tend to spend more when using credit cards, make more impulse purchases, and even leave larger tips. Rewards programs can reinforce those habits since each purchase feels like a step towards someth