Advertisement
Advertisement

Canada’s Senate passes budget, greenlighting measures on housing, Russian assets

By:
Reuters
Published: Jun 23, 2022, 21:23 GMT+00:00

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's Senate on Thursday passed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's budget, adopting a long list of measures including a two-year ban on foreign home buyers and the power to confiscate and sell assets seized in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada’s Senate on Thursday passed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s budget, adopting a long list of measures including a two-year ban on foreign home buyers and the power to confiscate and sell assets seized in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The 450-page Bill C-19 passed the upper chamber 56-to-16 without any changes, and will become law after Royal Ascent, a formality.

The Liberal government laid out a budget in April geared at boosting affordability of housing with fresh funding and a promise to ban foreign investors from buying Canadian homes for two years, among other measures.

In addition to the housing measures, the legislation would make changes to the country’s tax laws, criminal code as well as immigration rules. Budget spending remains expansive, though less so than the previous two years, even as inflation spikes.

For a Factbox on some of the bill’s measures, click

It lists over a dozen changes to the country’s income tax laws which were described by the Senate’s finance committee as “highly technical” and “seriously difficult for Canadians, including tax experts, to understand.”

The committee also recommended that the government conduct a study on the impact of a proposal to introduce a luxury tax on the sale of new luxury cars, aircraft and boats. Industry bodies say the tax will hurt them and could result in job losses.

(Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa; Editing by Matthew Lewis)

About the Author

Reuterscontributor

Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world’s largest international multimedia news provider reaching more than one billion people every day. Reuters provides trusted business, financial, national, and international news to professionals via Thomson Reuters desktops, the world's media organizations, and directly to consumers at Reuters.com and via Reuters TV. Learn more about Thomson Reuters products:

Advertisement