Voyageur 50
A new immigration law that changes everything, and a retirement number that keeps climbing.
News for residents of the “11th province”: Canadians abroad.
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Ottawa's Sweeping Immigration Bill Is About to Become Law
Bill C-12 is on the verge of passing the Senate, and it would hand the federal cabinet enormous new powers over Canada's immigration system. We're talking the ability to cancel, suspend, or vary work permits, study permits, and permanent resident visas - plus the power to stop processing applications entirely - whenever it's deemed to be in "the public interest."
The House of Commons did add some guardrails back in December, limiting that phrase to cases involving fraud, public health, public safety, national security, or administrative errors. The immigration minister also has to table a report to Parliament justifying each order. But the core powers remain broad.
The bill also rewrites asylum rules. Anyone who entered Canada after June 2020 and waited more than a year to claim refugee status would be ineligible. Same for anyone who crossed the Canada-US border outside a port of entry. A secondary Senate committee recommended gutting nearly all of these provisions, but the primary committee sent it through with no amendments. Third reading was scheduled for Thursday.
Read more: CIC News
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Canadians Now Think They Need $1.7 Million to Retire
The number keeps climbing. BMO's annual retirement survey found that Canadians believe they need an average of $1.7 million to retire comfortably, up from $1.54 million last year. That's a $160,000 jump in twelve months.
The regional spread tells its own story. British Columbia came in highest at $2.2 million. Ontario was $1.92 million. Atlantic Canada, at $928,000, was the lowest. And confidence is falling - 36 per cent of respondents said they don't expect to hit their target, up from 29 per cent a year ago.
Almost one in seven Canadians say they don't plan to retire at all. Among Boomers who haven't retired yet, that figure is 27 per cent. Whether that's by choice or necessity is left to the reader. Only 21 per cent of Canadians save more than 10 per cent of their income, which is typically the minimum benchmark financial planners recommend.
Read more: National Post