Do wealthy Canadians pay enough taxes? That depends how we define 'fair share'

When the federal government announced an increase in capital gains taxes in its recent budget, the hike was defended, in part, as a way to ensure the wealthiest Canadians pay their fair share.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland unveiled the government's 2024 federal budget, with spending targeted at young voters and a plan to raise capital gains taxes for some of the wealthiest Canadians.

The federal government unveiled billions in spending in its 2024 budget, and to help pay for it all, it’s proposing changes to how capital gains are taxed.

Still, Allison Christians, the H. Heward Stikeman Chair in the Law of Taxation at McGill University, said some of those numbers are skewed because some top earners can shelter their income through creative tax planning.

But according to Small Business Minister Rechie Valdez, most Canadians won't be impacted by that change — and it's a move to create fairness.

Nocos referred to a recent Statistics Canada report showing thatthe wealthiest 20 per cent of Canadians account for more than two-thirds of the total net wealth.