1. Cost of Living in
Canada – May 2021
Paul Young CPA CGA
June 16, 2021
2. Paul Young - Bio
• CPA, CGA
• Academia (PF1, FA4, FN2, MU1. and MS2)
• SME – Risk Management
• SME – Close, Consolidate and Reporting
• SME – Public Policy
• SME – Emerging Technology
• SME – Business Process Change
• SME – Financial Solutions
• SME – Macro/Micro Indicators
• SME – Supply Chain Management
• SME – Data, AI, Security, and Platform
• SME – Internal Controls and Auditing
Contact information: Paul_Young_CGA@hotmail.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-young-055632b/
SlideShare - https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga
3. Agenda
• Consumer Price Index
• Housing Price Index
• Housing Prices
• Household Debt to Income
• Carbon Taxation
• Broadband Costs
• Food Prices
• Transit (Tax Credits vs Carbon Tax Credit)
• 80% of the Middle Class is paying higher taxes
• Cdns above the average wage
• The wealthiest are paying less of the federal taxes
• Household Spending
• Child Tax Benefit / After Tax income
• Poverty
• Principal Residency / Speculator tax
• Cable and Satellite Pricing Index
• Lumber Prices
• Fuel Prices
• Hydro Rates
• Farmer Prices
• Summary
4. Introduction
• The liberal ran on a platform saying they would make things more
affordable. This presentation discuss key policy changes as part of
people assessing did the Liberals make lives either more affordable
or less affordable
7. Housing Price Index
• - cost of materials
• - availability of land
• - urban vs rural strategy
• - cost of living
• - Wage growth
•
• The average house in Canada is now over $721K.
• Wage’s growth is not keeping pace with the cost
of housing.
• Canada housing prices are overvalued. There is
a risk of the bubble bursting!
• https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/hous
ing-cost-of-home-ownership-canada-and-the-usa-
march-2021
(Revised April 20, 2021)
Source - https://tradingeconomics.com/canada/housing-index
8. Consumer Price Index
Source - https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/190717/dq190717a-eng.htm or
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/210519/dq210519a-eng.htm
• The Liberals pushed a carbon tax onto
taxpayers by adding a carbon tax to price
of a liter.
• Inflation on average is about 1.9% which is
consistent with the past 17+ years
• Wage growth has at times not kept pace
with inflation –
• Government does set policies that impact
inflation
• Payroll taxes
• Income tax rates
• Regulations
• Hydro rates
• Carbon tax moving to $170/ton by 2030 -
https://www2.slideshare.net/paulyoungc
ga/truth-carbon-emissions-and-carbon-
taxes-canada
• There are many factors that impact
inflation that are outside of government
control
• Commodity Prices
• Wage increases (Private Sector)
9. Broadband
This is another reason why @JustinTrudeau does not get it about cell and internet rates. Capital is required to
upgrade and maintain the network.
1. Teksavvy hikes rates - https://www.itworldcanada.com/article/teksavvy-hikes-prices-for-all-residential-
internet-subscribers-and-says-it-may-need-to-do-it-again/429063
2. Cost to expand 5G networks - https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/whats-next-for-5g-networks
3. More people working from home - https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/canadian-telecoms-say-covid-19-causing-
surge-in-demand-for-services-1.1436844
4. Capital Investment - https://www.canadianmanufacturing.com/financing/bell-big-cable-networks-ask-
government-to-overrule-crtc-on-wholesale-rates-242328/
5. Rogers - https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/rogers-earnings-1.1377765 “The Toronto-based company -- owner of one of
Canada's biggest wireless and internet businesses -- issued 2020 guidance that includes an estimate of between $2.7 billion
and $2.9 billion of capital expenditures this year. But that is assuming there is no negative changes to the regulatory
environment. "If the regulatory rules change, we will cut our investment. We will have no choice," Rogers chief executive
Joe Natale said in an interview.”
11. Household Costs / Carbon Pricing CAN environmental ranking has dropped one position under
your watch
No where do you mentioned either the dumping of sewage into
waterways or the impact of cruise ships.
No where do you mentioned that carbon tax hurts family
$1K+/yr (ex-tax credit)
https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/2019-election-
environment-climate-change-issues-and-concerns-canada-
september-2019
@cathmckenna
You allow sewage into waterways
Cruise ship have emissions issues
Oil is going by rail
Canada already taxed pollution way before your carbon tax
https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/2019-election-
environment-climate-change-issues-and-concerns-canada-
september-2019
12. Tax Impact I like to know @justintrudeau why he
thinks carbon tax refund $300 is better
than the transit tax credit ($400-675)
under Harper.
You would think the transit tax credit
encourage people to use transit which it
did when you look at ridership
Trudeau said people were no using the
tax credit and/or ridership was not
going up.
http://cutaactu.ca/en/news-
media/latest-news/transit-ridership-
growing-canada “2017 saw a 1.5%
increase in Canadian transit trips
over the previous year, according to
new data released by CUTA. ”
Source - https://globalnews.ca/news/5368001/canada-average-carbon-tax-
rebates/beta/?utm_expid=.kz0UD5JkQOCo6yMqxGqECg.1&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F or https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-
14. Liberals voted against a motion to stop rising cost of fuel and
food
Source - https://www.spencerfernando.com/2018/05/08/trudeau-liberals-vote-against-motion-to-lower-gas-grocery-prices/#respond
http://business.financialpost.com/pmn/business-pmn/newsalert-statistics-canada-says-cpi-in-march-up-2-3-from-year-ago-2
• Liberals said they would make things
affordable for Canadians -
https://www.liberal.ca/trudeau-unveils-
liberal-platform-for-a-strong-middle-class/
• 80% of Canadians are paying higher
taxes -
https://globalnews.ca/news/3769136/t
axes-middle-class-liberals/
• Carbon Taxes are regressive as they hurt
the low to middle class more in terms of
costs -
https://twitter.com/LindaFrum/status/
989957835692957696
• CPP hikes mean less after tax income
• https://www.slideshare.net/paulyo
ungcga/2019-election-retirement-
payroll-tax-cpp-canada-august-2019
• Jobs in goods producing sector lag
service sector -
https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungc
ga/2019-election-job-quality-and-
employment-canada-june-2019
Bottom line:
• Trudeau is not making things more affordable!
15. Average Wages / Canada
@Ms_Michelle_Roy You may want to educate yourself on
existing levels of social assistance like EI or income support or
other programs. UBI has been tried in many areas with little or
no success including improved employment outcomes.
https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/wages-and-
employment-canada-february-2021
16. Wealthiest Who do you trust to more when it comes to taxing
the Top !%
@justinTrudeau who refuses to go after tax havens
and/or loss moneys during his so called tax hike -
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-
high-income-earners-paid-46-billion-less-in-taxes-in-
2016-despite/
@Andrewscheer who was part of a government that
brought in more tax fairness -
https://globalnews.ca/news/1356467/tax-cuts-since-
2005-net-canadians-30b-pbo/
https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/2019-
election-top-1-wealthiest-canada-june-2019
17. Wealth Tax
@theJagmeetSingh you want to drive out investment and people, then push a wealth tax. BTW: You may want
to stop wearing 4,000+ suits before you start preaching you are for the little guy
https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/are-wealth-tax-a-good-idea
*** Wealth Tax have failed in the past
18. Household Spending
Thomas, low employment means nothing if you do
not look at all aspects, i.e. wages, household costs,
etc. It must be nice to grab articles without looking
at all issues. You do this all the time with your
tweets, why?
https://www2.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/cost-
of-living-canada-december-2020
19. Poverty
• Liberal tout only one policy (Child Tax benefit). The problem is other policies like carbon taxation have had a
large impact on the poor
• Food bank usage continues to be on the rise - http://enfieldweeklypress.com/2019/08/24/food-bank-usage-
at-a-critical-level/
• Low income depend on public transit. Public transit has been impacted by carbon taxation -
https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/election-2019-transit-canada-june-2019 (Majority of buses and
trains are still supply by diesel
22. Canada net worth
Source - https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-626-x/11-626-x2019003-eng.htm or https://business.financialpost.com/news/economy/canadians-average-net-worth-shrinks-for-first-time-in-a-decade-amid-bank-
of-canada-rate-hikes or https://environicsanalytics.com/en-ca/resources/blogs/ea-blog/2019/09/18/wealthscapes-2019-report-canadians-display-financial-prudence
Harper 2015 Net worth
Trudeau seen the first
drop in net worth in
more than a decade
Turns out that Harper
Policies help with the
net worth for people
23. Blog – Taxation and After Tax
Who would be better for the middle class?
@justintrudeau who increase taxes on the middle class
https://www.fraserinstitute.org/article/trudeau-government-continues-to-spread-
misinformation-about-middle-class-tax-burden
@andrewscheer who was part of previous governments that led to Canada having one of the
best middle class in the world.
https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/opinion-story/9581143-andrew-scheer-in-his-own-
words-young-families-are-the-future-of-our-country-/?fbclid=iwar0tvoaxeqkbsp2ooe-
l7dszpqvetxwpxcfgke5ofmeozh1yrierlxag0ku
https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/2019-election-middle-class-canada-august-2019
24. Speculator Principal Capital Gain Tax
Adam Vaughan tax on principal residency is really call a speculator tax. Here are what people need to know about the speculator
tax:
• There have been many people that buy a condo before it is built. These people put down a down payment. The condo gets
built then these people sell it at the market value. CRA calls these people Condo Flippers “
https://business.financialpost.com/personal-finance/taxes/condo-flippers-beware-the-taxman-is-watching-you-and-has-new-
tools-at-his-disposal-to-take-action
• Starting with 2016 it was mandatory to report your principal residency on your tax return.
https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/individuals/topics/about-your-tax-return/tax-return/completing-a-
tax-return/personal-income/line-127-capital-gains/principal-residence-other-real-estate/sale-your-principal-residence.html
• Many properties are held for longer period of times as such this speculator tax would not apply to them. However, there is
nothing stopping another government reviewing the capital gain exemption as part of future tax policies.
• This one-off policy will not fix the issues with supply and demand including urban vs rural strategy.
https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/2019-election-rural-areas-and-affairs-canada or
https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/urban-planning-issues-facing-urban-planners-april-2019
• This policy will not fix houses that need major repairs. Many people are not doing the maintenance of their houses as such
future owners could be on the hook for housing improvement costs - https://globalnews.ca/news/3766695/homeownership-
costs-canadians-forget/
•
• Here is my presentation on affordable housing - https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/2019-election-who-do-you-trust-
more-to-make-housing-more-affordable
27. GDP per capita
Source – Stats Canada and https://www.ceicdata.com/en/indicator/canada/gdp-per-capita or
https://calgaryherald.com/opinion/columnists/opinion-economic-underperformance-excessive-indebtedness-and-our-constrained-future
28. Lumber Cost
Source - https://www.canadianmanufacturing.com/operations/new-record-wood-product-prices-boost-shares-and-estimates-for-canadian-producers-259279/ or
https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/forestry-management-environment-sustainable-practices or https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/what-is-next-for-the-forestry-sector-243761063
@EvanLSolomon are you going to call this out @MarkJCarney
https://www.nationalnewswatch.com/2021/04/12/canadas-greenhouse-gas-emissions-increased-slightly-in-2019-
report/#.YHRyvT8pDQz
https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/what-is-next-for-the-forestry-sector-january-2021
Global Forest Watch found that the world’s forests sequestered about 2x as much CO2 as they emitted between '01 &
'19.
CAN has 9% of the total forest as such this would mean CAN is a carbon sink.
30. Hydro Price Index
CAN produce nearly 84% of its electricity needs from clean sources.
More innovation is being deployed to the power grid that reduces the CO2 footprint when it comes to electricity
production & distribution.
AI is playing role prevention of outages!
Local politicians and phasing out natural gas - https://theenergymix.com/2021/03/12/toronto-city-council-calls-for-ontario-
gas-phaseout/
https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/electricity-production-and-distribution-analysis-january-2021
31. Blog – Household Debt
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/rising-rates-could-trigger-massive-mortgage-default-jarislowsky-1.1576244
• You do realize there have been issues with household debt for years, right?
• Oct/16 - https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/real-estate-trends-and-analysis-canada-october-2016
• Feb/21 - https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/housing-real-estate-market-canada-and-the-united-states-january-
2021
•
@TOAdamVaughan @SeanFraserMP blame @stephenharper in 2015 for the high household debt, right?
32. Affordability
• Canada is still struggling with both equality (https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/has-canada-
reduced-gender-equality-issues and poverty (https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/why-has-
poverty-still-exist-around-the-world
• Canada has some highest broadband costs in the world -
https://mobilesyrup.com/2019/12/18/canada-top-five-highest-costs-100mbps-internet/ (Where is the
relief promise by Trudeau)
• Canada needs to re-think its economic and tax policies -
https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/scorecard-government-and-economic-performance-
november-2015-to-april-2020
• GDP / Canada - https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/scorecard-and-gdp-canada-december-
2020-and-november-2020
• Trudeau’s housing reforms have done little for both supply and affordability. More work on policies is
required including urban planning and 3-D housing
• Building codes need to revamp to deal with 3-D housing -
https://www.forbes.com/sites/pikeresearch/2019/11/20/3d-printed-homes-quietly-gain-traction/#74899cc763bd
• All levels government need to look at proper land management - https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/why-
do-politicians-play-games-with-the-environment
33. Other Sources
• If you like to learn
more about trade
and/or other
subjects as part of
your professional
learning, and
development then
feel free to review
my material on
https://www.udem
y.com/ (search Paul
Young CPA CGA
34. What’s next
• Removing the carbon tax
• All levels of government need to stop looking for ways to tax people
and start fixing issues with the tax code as well as finding better
ways to deliver government -
https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/2019-election-fiscally-
responsible-government-canada-september-2019 or
https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/2019-election-tax-
reforms-and-fairness-canada-september-2019
• Fixing policies that will ensure Canada is more competitive when it
comes to attracting FDI -
https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/2019-election-canada-
competitivenes-september-2019
• All governments along with the private sector need to fix the
systemic issues with housing -
https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/2019-election-housing-
affordability-canada-june-2019
• All levels of government along with private sector need to work
together as part of address the skill gap issues -
https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/2019-election-human-
capital-and-skills-management-canada-september-2019
• Post-Covid19 - https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/whats-
next-for-canada-post-covid19
• Fixing issues plaguing the goods-producing sector -
https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/how-to-address-issues-
facing-getting-goods-to-market
• Circular Economy - https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/how-
to-best-support-a-circular-economy
Editor's Notes
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/201021/dq201021a-eng.htm or https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/201118/dq201118a-eng.htm or
BMO - https://economics.bmo.com/en/publications/detail/dbaeaed8-5ba3-487b-a861-f55441015d49/
Source - https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-626-x/11-626-x2019003-eng.htm or https://business.financialpost.com/news/economy/canadians-average-net-worth-shrinks-for-first-time-in-a-decade-amid-bank-of-canada-rate-hikes or https://environicsanalytics.com/en-ca/resources/blogs/ea-blog/2019/09/18/wealthscapes-2019-report-canadians-display-financial-prudence
or https://environicsanalytics.com/en-ca/resources/media-room/press-releases/2016/09/07/wealthscapes-2016-reveals-continuing-improvement-in-canadians-finances
Source - https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/Canada/gasoline_prices/ or https://tradingeconomics.com/canada/gasoline-prices or https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/Canada/gasoline_prices/