Sharing an apartment? How to split bills and avoid roommate conflicts

Nudging your roommates about money owed every time you see them in the kitchen or living room can get increasingly awkward. And it gets worse when you run out of ideas on how to remind them without being curt.For many young adults, sharing an apartment can help divide the responsibilities and keep a lid on expenses. But that can turn into a burden if roommates slack on bill payments or don’t respect common spaces.While hiccups in shared homes are inevitable, experts say setting bounda

Foreign nationals have been blocked from buying homes in Canada since January 2023, but unless the government takes action the policy will expire this coming January 2027.The ban means people living overseas cannot buy residential property. It also extends to foreign companies, as well as Canadian private companies where more than 10% is foreign-owned. It was first introduced by the Justin Trudeau-led government with the remit to help ‘stabilize’ the housing market.While the ban was

After a painful slump from October 2025 to July 2026, Bitcoin (BTC) is finally seeing a resurgence. As of Sept. 30th, 2026, BTC—the most well known and largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization—has jumped over 42% from its July 2026 low of about $58,000 (all figures in US dollars unless otherwise specified).Here’s what the BTC price movement has looked like since the October 2025 high.Source: Google Finance BTC-USD price chart as of Sept. 30, 2026.Are BTC investors making

After a painful slump from October 2025 to July 2026, Bitcoin (BTC) is finally seeing a resurgence. As of Sept. 30th, 2026, BTC—the most well known and largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization—has jumped over 42% from its July 2026 low of about $58,000 (all figures in US dollars unless otherwise specified). Here’s what the BTC price movement has looked like since the October 2025 high.Source: Google Finance BTC-USD price chart as of Sept. 30, 2026.Are BTC investors makin

In a quarter that saw stock markets generally rein in their torrid pace of appreciation, mining and metals producers bulldozed their rivals aside among top-performing Canadian stocks. The materials sector took all top 10 spots among the fastest-growing mid- to large-capitalization stocks in the country.While artificial intelligence (AI) remained the most talked-about theme globally, nine of Canada’s top 10 performers with at least $2 billion in market capitalization were miners and mineral

In a quarter that saw stock markets generally rein in their torrid pace of appreciation, mining and metals producers bulldozed their rivals aside among top-performing Canadian stocks. The materials sector took all top 10 spots among the fastest-growing mid- to large-capitalization stocks in the country.While artificial intelligence (AI) remained the most talked-about theme globally, nine of Canada’s top 10 performers with at least $2 billion in market capitalization were miners and mineral

If you’re like many Canadians, you may have a sense that housing is eating up a bigger share of your budget than it should. But do you actually know how much you spend each month?Credit Canada, a non-profit credit counselling organization, partnered with Harris Poll Canada to survey more than 1,500 Canadians about their housing costs, budgets, and financial awareness. We spoke with Credit Canada CEO Bruce Sellery about what the results reveal about how Canadians are managing one of their b

Can I contribute to both a spousal RRSP and RRSP or does it have to be one or the other? Does the same RRSP deduction apply to the spousal RRSP and the RRSP? For example, if I have $10,000 in RRSP contribution room can I contribute $10,000 to my Spousal RRSP and $10,000 to my RRSP? Please clarify this for me. 
—DougHi Doug. Yes, you can contribute to your registered retirement savings plan (RRSP), your spouse’s RRSP, or any combination of the two, but no, you can’t double

Ever wonder how your mobile phone serves up targeted ads related to sites you may have browsed or conversations you may have had? The fact is a great many players on the internet, legitimate and not, are gathering and using information about you. Every device and internet service account you have uses a unique internet protocol (IP) address that identifies where you are and, increasingly, collects information on what you’ve been doing. Your internet service provider (ISP) may even leg

Most Canadians know they should have a will, yet fewer stop to consider whether their Canadian estate documents will work as intended when U.S. real estate, retirement accounts, or other cross-border assets enter the picture.Consider Matt and Sandra, a retired Ontario couple who bought a vacation home in Arizona 15 years ago. Matt also has an IRA from a period spent working in the United States. Their Canadian wills were updated when they retired, but the beneficiary designation on Matt’s

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is set to issue the second regular quarterly payment of the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit (CGEB) on October 5, 2026.Eligible recipients who already have direct deposit set up should see the money in their bank account. Cheques, however, can take longer to arrive by mail.What is the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit?The CGEB is the federal government’s rebranded and enhanced version of the GST/HST credit.According to the government, the GST/HS

In today’s economy with the cost of home ownership increasingly out of reach for many younger Canadians, parents are finding different ways to help their children get into the housing market. For some, that means contributing to a down payment. But what if you already own a property and want to sell it directly to your children? You may be tempted to simply sell it to them for much less than they could get on the open market.You can agree to whatever price makes sense for your family, but

Canadians today view the growing ubiquity of digital fraud with a mixture of alarm and exhausted resignation. More than a quarter of respondents to Equifax Canada’s most recent Fraud Survey, conducted in February 2026, said they feel numb to suspicious messages and simply delete them without taking further precautions. More than a quarter (28%) characterized the volume of fraud attempts as a “manageable annoyance,” 16% said they felt “anxious and tired” trying to so

Last March turned out to be one of the worst months for corporate data breaches in Canadian history. First, grocery retailer Loblaw disclosed that a third party had illegally gained access to customer information including names, phone numbers, and email addresses. Then, Telus Digital revealed it had been attacked by a hacker group known as ShinyHunters, which obtained more sensitive information such as customer support records and financial data. Finally, at month’s end, Toronto fintech c

In Canada, interest on money borrowed to purchase your principal residence is generally not tax-deductible. There is, however, an elaborate personal-finance strategy designed to gradually convert that non-deductible mortgage debt into potentially tax-deductible investment debt. It’s called the Smith Manoeuvre. You start with a readvanceable mortgage, which combines a conventional mortgage with a home equity line of credit (HELOC). As you make each regular mortgage payment and red

Some Canadians will receive a payment from Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) on Monday, September 28, 2026.The governmental department provides tax-free financial support to Canadian Armed Forces members and veterans, current or former RCMP members, and certain Second World War or Korean War veterans (including Merchant Navy veterans) who have a health condition related to their service. This benefit is called Veteran Disability Pension.There are two main forms this support can take today: Pain and

From second-hand Billy bookcases to cheaper meals, Ikea is leaning into its low-cost roots as cash-strapped Canadians look for more affordable ways to furnish their homes and feed their families. The Swedish retailer says it’s doubling down on affordability by expanding its used-furniture business, keeping restaurant prices low, and wringing savings from sustainable product design and supply chain efficiencies. Two of Ikea’s top executives sat down with The Canadian Press to dis

Investor rights advocate FAIR Canada says the existing restrictions on prediction market contracts should remain unless broader access is shown to benefit investors and serve the public interest.Prediction market trading lets customers make wagers on the outcome of real-world events, though in Canada it is limited by securities regulators to economic, financial, or climate matters.FAIR Canada CEO Jean-Paul Bureaud said in a news release Thursday that an event contract may legally be considered a

Kelley Keehn recalls a financial mistake she made in her 20s, when she bought a Mercedes sports car that was out of her budget. “I was doing well financially, but not well enough to try to keep up with my wealthy clients. And quite frankly, I had no idea what I was doing,” said Keehn, the CEO of Money Wise Institute.She said things might have been different if she had a financial mentor in her life at the time, who would have encouraged her to examine why she was making some of

I came across a report from RBC recently that found 51% of Canadian parents with adult children between 18 and 40 had provided them with financial support in the past year. The average was just over $6,000, largely going toward everyday expenses like groceries, rent, and utilities. Even among parents whose kids were 35 to 40, more than a third were still writing cheques.My first thought was that financial independence had gotten harder to achieve, and that is an undeniable fact. But then I wonde

I think I may have found the answer to why you have a gym membership but rarely go. But I wasn’t thinking about gym memberships when I stumbled onto the reason; I was thinking about something that recently happened at work.I was on a call with a client, and the subject was how to get their customers to complete the onboarding process for services they had already signed up for. It turns out the struggle begins soon after people swipe their credit cards.What makes this particularly interest

Stock markets get all the attention with daily updates and constant analysis. The total value of the Canadian bond market is about 20% larger than the stock market but you rarely hear about it. Despite this, Canadian bond yields influence stock market returns, fixed mortgage rates, and have other broader financial implications. What is a bond’s yield?A bond represents a loan by an investor to a government or company. It is not dissimilar to a guaranteed investment certificate (GIC).On

If you’re retired or nearing it, by definition you’re in the retirement risk zone. After half a lifetime or so of prudent saving and investing, you’re now living in part on your accumulated capital and with luck some pensions and/or annuities provided by some combination of the government and past employers. While it’s nice to have some kind of retirement nest egg, the chances of a major stock market correction are an ever-present source of anxiety for many retirees,