The Bank of Canada today held its target for the overnight rate at 5%, with the Bank Rate at 5¼% and the deposit rate at 5%. The Bank is continuing its policy of quantitative tightening.

The Bank expects the global economy to continue growing at a rate of about 3%, with inflation in most advanced economies easing gradually. The US economy has again proven stronger than anticipated, buoyed by resilient consumption and robust business and government spending. US GDP growth is expected to slow in the second half of this year, but remain stronger than forecast in January. The euro area is projected to gradually recover from current weak growth. Global oil prices have moved up, averaging about $5 higher than assumed in the January Monetary Policy Report (MPR). Since January, bond yields have increased but, with narrower corporate credit spreads and sharply higher equity markets, overall financial conditions have eased.

The Bank has revised up its forecast for global GDP growth to 2¾% in 2024 and about 3% in 2025 and 2026. Inflation continues to slow across most advanced economies, although progress will likely be bumpy. Inflation rates are projected to reach central bank targets in 2025.

In Canada, economic growth stalled in the second half of last year and the economy moved into excess supply. A broad range of indicators suggest that labour market conditions continue to ease. Employment has been growing more slowly than the working-age population and the unemployment rate has risen gradually, reaching 6.1% in March. There are some recent signs that wage pressures are moderating.

Economic growth is forecast to pick up in 2024. This largely reflects both strong population growth and a recovery in spending by households. Residential investment is strengthening, responding to continued robust demand for housing. The contribution to growth from spending by governments has also increased. Business investment is projected to recover gradually after considerable weakness in the second half of last year. The Bank expects exports to continue to grow solidly through 2024.

Overall, the Bank forecasts GDP growth of 1.5% in 2024, 2.2% in 2025, and 1.9% in 2026. The strengthening economy will gradually absorb excess supply through 2025 and into 2026.

CPI inflation slowed to 2.8% in February, with easing in price pressures becoming more broad-based across goods and services. However, shelter price inflation is still very elevated, driven by growth in rent and mortgage interest costs. Core measures of inflation, which had been running around 3½%, slowed to just over 3% in February, and 3-month annualized rates are suggesting downward momentum. The Bank expects CPI inflation to be close to 3% during the first half of this year, move below 2½% in the second half, and reach the 2% inflation target in 2025.

Based on the outlook, Governing Council decided to hold the policy rate at 5% and to continue to normalize the Bank’s balance sheet. While inflation is still too high and risks remain, CPI and core inflation have eased further in recent months. The Council will be looking for evidence that this downward momentum is sustained. Governing Council is particularly watching the evolution of core inflation, and continues to focus on the balance between demand and supply in the economy, inflation expectations, wage growth, and corporate pricing behaviour. The Bank remains resolute in its commitment to restoring price stability for Canadians.

Information note

The next scheduled date for announcing the overnight rate target is June 5, 2024. The Bank will publish its next full outlook for the economy and inflation, including risks to the projection, in the MPR on July 24, 2024.

Tax on rental income

By IG Wealth Management • March 2024 • 9 min

TAX

According to a recent Stats Canada report, almost 1.4 million Canadian households reported having property rental income. That’s a significant portion of the population.

However, there are a lot of tax implications to consider when deciding to rent out a property, particularly one that used to be your primary residence. How much income tax will you pay on rental income? What tax deductions on rental property are available? And how does capital gains tax on rental property work? Knowing the answers to these questions is important so you don’t fall foul of the CRA, and also so that you can get a good idea of the margins of profitability involved in renting out properties.

How is rental income taxed in Canada?

On the whole, you’ll need to pay income tax on rental income. The tax rate on rental income in Canada is the same as your marginal tax rate (the tax rate you pay on your next dollar of income), since your net rental income would be in addition to your other sources of income (such as your salary, business income and investment income).

If you own the property with someone else, the income is split among each owner, depending on their share of ownership, and each person will pay tax according to their own marginal tax rate. If the property is owned with your spouse, the split in net rental income will be proportional to how much each spouse contributed to the purchase of the property.

If your rental property is held by a corporation that you own, tax on rental income gets a little more complex. We’ll discuss that further on in this article. 

Tax deductions on rental property

Before you pay income tax on rental income, you’ll be able to claim certain expenses to lower the amount of taxable rental income you have to report on your tax return (this amount is then called your net rental income). It’s important to know all of the expenses you can include to reduce the amount of tax paid as much as possible. These are some of the most common tax deductions on rental property:

Utilities: If you, rather than your tenants, are responsible for paying for gas, hydro, oil, water and/or cable, you can deduct these expenses.

Property taxes: These can be deducted for the time period your property was rented out or available for rent.

Insurance: You can deduct your insurance premiums for the rental property, but if you paid for several years’ worth of premiums all at once, you can only claim the amount that pays for the current year’s coverage.

Repairs/maintenance: The costs of any minor repairs or ongoing maintenance (both for the building and land), can be claimed as deductions against rental income. However, in the current year, you can’t deduct the costs of repairs that exend the useful life of the property or improve it beyond its original condition. These would be considered capital costs (see the capital cost section below).

Professional fees: These include legal services related to renting out the property (like preparing leases and collecting overdue rent), however it doesn’t include legal fees you paid when you bought the property (these are added to the capital cost of the property itself).

Advertising: Expenses for advertising the property to find tenants can be deducted, for either digital or traditional media.

Management and administration fees: If you hire a company to manage your property, collect rent and find tenants, their fees are a deductible expense.

Salaries, wages, benefits: If you employ people to help look after your rental property, such as a superintendent, etc., these expenses can all be deducted. You cannot, however, deduct the value of your own labour.

Understanding capital cost allowance

Your buildings, equipment and furniture are classified as depreciable property. The initial cost of these properties can’t be deducted all at once when calculating net rental income, but you can deduct a portion of the cost each year, over a period of several years. This is called capital cost allowance. The amount of capital cost allowance that can be deducted annually depends on each type of depreciable property.

Tax implications of turning a principal residence into a rental property

When you sell a home that was only ever used as your principal residence, you won’t have to pay tax on the capital gains if you sell it for more than you paid (as long as you didn’t claim the principal residence exemption against another personal use property while you owned it). This is not the case for rental properties, however, which are subject to tax on capital gains when you sell them and which are not eligible for the principal residence exemption.

Therefore, if you change the status of the entire property you own from your principal residence to a rental property (or vice versa), there is a set of complex tax rules that comes into play. From a tax perspective, the property is deemed to have been “sold” at its current market value, at the time of the change in use. This market value becomes its new tax cost base (also known as adjusted cost base). This is the value of the property that will be used to calculate potential capital gains or losses, going forward. You would have to report your property’s deemed disposition (change in status) on your tax return.

When you turn your principal residence into a rental property, you might be able to take advantage of a special tax election which would avoid the deemed dispositon at market value at the time of the change in use. The cost base of the property would remain unchanged (so it would not be reset to the market value at the time of the change in use).

The election would also allow you to designate the property as your principal residence for up to four more years, even if you don’t live there, but you can’t claim another property as your principal residence during that time. If you then move back into your home within four years, you won’t be required to pay any immediate capital gains tax for this second change in use.

You won’t be able to claim any capital cost allowance, however, and you would still need to declare net rental income.

If, on the other hand, you convert a rental property into your personal home, you can choose to make a similar tax election to defer tax on the unrealized capital gains until you sell the property (which defers the tax bill, it does not eliminate it). This option is only available if you haven’t previously claimed capital cost allowance on the property.

Tax implications of renting out part of your principal residence

You may be subject to the change of use rules, as outlined above, if you start renting out part of your home, however there are some circumstances in which you might not need to do this.

To avoid the deemed dispositon at market value of the converted portion of the property, there are some conditions you’ll need to meet. You can’t change your property structurally or claim capital cost allowance on the newly rented portion, nor can the rental part of the building be considered a separate unit. If these conditions are met, you won’t be subject to the partial change in use rules.

If these conditions are not met, you would have to declare a partial change of use for tax purposes and pay tax on capital gains on the part of your home that you start to rent out (usually calculated using the rented square footage as a percentage of the home’s overall size or on the number of rooms used for each purpose, as long as the split is reasonable).

Alternatively, you could file a tax election (as above) so that the deemed disposition that normally arises on the partial change in use does not apply, deferring the realization of the gain until a later sale.

Capital gains tax on rental property

When you sell a rental property, there will likely be either a capital gain or loss, plus any previously claimed capital cost allowance could be recaptured. While a capital gain is only 50% taxable, recapture of capital cost allowance is fully taxable.

The capital gain (or loss) will be the sum of the selling price (proceeds minus the costs to sell your property, such as realtor and legal fees), minus the capital cost of the property when you originally bought it.

Recapture will be the lesser of the cost of the depreciable property, including capital improvements (of the building, not the land) and the proceeds, minus the undepreciated capital cost. Here’s an example:

Lizette sells her rental property for $500,000 ($300,000 for the land and $200,000 for the building).
She bought it for $250,000 ($150,000 for the land and $100,000 for the building) 10 years ago. She made $50,000 of capital improvements over the years, for a total capital cost of $150,000 for the land and $150,000 for the building.
The undepreciated capital cost at the time of sale is $75,000.
It cost her $20,000 to sell it.
Capital gain = $500,000 - $20,000 - $300,000 = $180,000.
Taxable capital gain (50%) = $90,000.
Recapture of capital cost allowance = ($100,000 + $50,000) - $75,000 = $75,000
Tax owing when property sold (at Lizette’s tax rate of 40%) = ($90,000 + $75,000) X 40% = $66,000

As with all tax situations, you should consult with your accountant or tax specialist.

Does it make sense to own a rental property inside a corporation?

While incorporating an active business can often make sense from a tax perspective, it would rarely be advisable in this case, even if you own several properties. Rental property is considered passive, rather than active income, so you could actually end up paying more tax on rental income overall (by the time the after-tax net rental income is paid to you personally).

Is renting out a property the right choice for you?

If you’re considering renting out a property you own, or buying a property to rent, it makes sense to discuss your plans with your IG Advisor first. They’ll be able to help you work out the best way to finance the purchase, the tax consequences involved and how it would fit in with your overall financial plan. If you don’t have an IG Advisor, you can find one here.

Written and published by IG Wealth Management as a general source of information only. Not intended as a solicitation to buy or sell specific investments, or to provide tax, legal or investment advice. Seek advice on your specific circumstances from an IG Wealth Management Consultant.