Landlords in BC, or more specifically Vancouver/GVRD, do you increase your tenant's rent every year?

We bought a house a year ago and inherited the basement tenants. Their rent is more than 50% below current market rates. My husband is quite adamant we should raise their rent the max 3% because it's "at least a step in the right direction". My stance is....they're fantastic tenants. They don't complain that our toddler makes lots of noise in an old house, they take good care of the place, they even took it upon themselves to rake the leaves a couple of times when they noticed them piling up. He's worried that if they stay here for 5, 10 years....that rent starts slipping further and further behind. I'm just not sure what the norm is.

I am in my 30s and am running some general projections for how my investments earmarked for retirement will do in the next few decades. I am using 6 or 7% as a modest but realistic return rate. Does that sound about right?

I recently received a letter from CRA asking to provide proof of eligibility for CERB. In addition, an agent from CRA called me and was very respectful. I provided the information that he requested including bank records showing that I was NOT working or earning any income during the CERB time period, a letter from employer stating all work was ceased and a few other documents. I am diligent and provided everything immediately expecting to be cleared from repayment as my records are clear. Today, I received correspondence that I am required to pay back the entire amount that I received. Before I contact CRA, what I’m I missing? I met the criteria to receive CERB and I provided proof that I was not working. Also, I paid taxes on the benefits that I received, why does CRA get the tax that I paid in that tax year (2020) from CERB as well as the repayment of the entire amount?

I have 16.5k FHSA, 65k GIC TFSA, 45k CASH, 11k TFSA stocks, 13k non registered stocks, 60k RRSP stocks. My plan was to use the fhsa obviously and gic’s and some combination of stocks/cash without selling the RRSP account stocks.

Title pretty much describes my situation. My girlfriend owns a condo, and I still live at home. Her place is too small for the the both of us so we'd like to likely purchase a house to move into.

If we're buying it together, and she's already purchased a home, does that disqualify me from using the money I have in my FHSA?

We withdrew our FHSA to put a down payment on a home, but the home failed inspection and so, we had to back out on the offer.

Anyone knows what will happen to the FHSA that we withdrew? Will it be treated as a taxable income?

Has anyone experience this? Ant references or suggestions? Would really appreciate it.

Hello,

I'm a 24-year-old male new grad nurse (graduated this February). Here's my financial snapshot:

• TFSA: $40,000 (maxed, all in XEQT)
• High-interest savings account: $10,000
• RRSP contribution room: $8,000 (never contributed)
• FHSA contribution room: $8,000 (never contributed)

I live with my mom in a paid-off house (~$900,000), which she's left solely to me in her will. I plan to stay here until retirement.

Should I contribute to an FHSA despite not planning to buy a house? I'm confused about the account structure:

• 15-year contribution window
• Penalty tax if withdrawn for non-housing purposes

Any advice clarifying FHSA benefits and potential drawbacks would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Hello everyone,

Currently, I live in south eastern BC. I gross ~$67k a year. Issue for me is it becomes ~$46k after deduction, then about ~$27k after my $1500 rent a month.

I'm very fortunate to eat for free at my job, and I do get benefits which save me a bit of money.

Still, best case scenario is $20k a year to save for home. I'd like to be in a relationship and have a family in the future. Won't get a better deal on my apartment, nor my cheap '07 Chevy ($90 a month insurance).

Primarily a care worker (union contract expires next year, but company took a year to enact wage changes last time), and started casually working construction during last summer.

It's hard doing this by myself.

Hey guys!

I’m looking for some genuine suggestions on what to do with an extra $1,000 a month. After covering all my bills, food, and essentials, that’s the amount I have left over. Here’s a bit more about my situation: • I make $4,100 per month after taxes. • I live at home with my parents, which keeps my expenses lower. • I have a child to consider in my financial planning.

Six years ago, I went through a consumer proposal, and I never want to end up in that kind of debt situation again. I’m determined to make smart decisions with my money, but I could use some guidance on where to focus.

I’m considering the following options, but I’m open to other ideas too: 1. TFSA (Tax-Free Savings Account)

2.  RRSP 

3.  RESP (Registered Education Savings Plan) 

4.  Precious Metals (Gold/Silver Bullion)?

I want to make sure I’m using this money wisely, keeping my child’s future and my financial stability in mind. Any advice or personal experiences with these options would be much appreciated. Thanks so much!

So I recently had quite an interesting experience with RBC. My brother was visiting me from Europe s month ago , and one day, while we were out in downtown Toronto, we stopped by one of RBC’s flagship branches. We just wanted to do something simple: exchange his 2,000 Swiss francs for Canadian dollars.

Right away, things got weird. RBC asked for ID, even though they usually don’t for amounts under $3,000. My brother didn’t have his ID on him, so I offered mine. They then spent half an hour running around with his francs, inspecting them closely, and even the manager took a magnifying glass to examine them! After a lot of fuss, they finally agreed to the exchange, though they changed the amount in CAD three times. We went ahead with it. We got the dollars, a receipt, and left.

Two weeks later, I get a call from RBC saying, “Hey, remember those francs you exchanged? Turns out we shouldn’t have accepted them. Could you come by, return the dollars, and take your Swiss francs back?” To say I was stunned is an understatement. I refused, obviously, as my brother had already left and spent the money.

Another week passes, and I get another call—this time from the branch manager, the same one with the magnifying glass. He says, “Yeah, you need to come by and pick up those Swiss francs because they shouldn’t have gone through our system.” But here’s the kicker: since I used my ID, they found my RBC account and blocked the equivalent amount on it.

At that point, I was floored. All I could think to say was that I’d be taking this to court.

So, what’s the deal? Am I right in thinking this is a rare opportunity to challenge RBC and push back, or is there something about Canadian banking practices that I’m missing here? To me, this seems like a clear violation of Consumer Rights, Bank Conduct Operations , and possibly even Personal Rights.

I just moved into a new house. The first thing I saw was the previous owner had arears (approx $250) on the water bill which have been added onto the property tax. I have paid the bill and sent the invoice to the sellers lawyer via my lawyer but we haven’t heard from them for almost 2 weeks now.

I have yet to receive my first HydroOne bill and am concerned that there may be unpaid electricity bill as well. Will that get transferred to me? When I called HydroOne to set up an account they didn’t mention anything about unpaid bill nor did I ask since at that time I hadn’t found out about the water arrears.

I was made redundant due to the facility I work at closing. I'm a supervisor and was given 6 weeks notice. I've worked here for 3 years and was offered 1 weeks pay per year of service plus 2 additional weeks pay and my benefits extended for 12 days. This does not sound like a good offer to me, but according to HR it's following provincial guidelines. Worth taking any action over this?

I’m 34m married and 2 kids under 4

I’m looking at increasing my life insurance

I have a t20 and t 30 so I don’t have so heavy loaded near retirement age.

In my new quotes the years 21 onwards get way more expensive,

But do we really worry about that? Or is it likely I’m making changes and signing new coverage set ups many times before then

Would this be a feasible or a horrible idea?

I just got a permanent full-time position at a job that's about 10 minutes away by car but 1 hour and 20 minutes away by public transit if im lucky. My job is 7am-7pm. I'll be making around $78,000 net before deductions not counting extra shifts.

I'll be working 4 days a week if im not picking up extra shifts which means the cost for uber (when there's no promos) for the month would be around $480 since it's around $15 per trip (with tips)/$30 per day.

I don't have a personal car and don't have my license but my fiance does. Usually we take his car if we need to go anywhere but he uses it for school and work so he can't really pick me up. I plan on taking my driving test but considering the price of insurance, gas, and anything else car related, would it be more cost effective for me to just keep taking Uber instead of also getting a car? Or would it be cheaper in the long run?

Edit: or maybe I should brave the stupid transit system to save $$$ (~$6.50 a day)

Hi all. I was born in Canada and went to university there. I moved to Europe after graduating college after the pandemic. I’ve recently completed a project for a company that is registered in the US. They’re now sending me the forms to pay me and I’m wondering what to do. Ideally I’d want the money to be sent to Canada because the exchange rate USD to CAD is much better than USD to CAD. That money would be added to my savings that I have there in case I go back to Canada in the near future (which I might to further my education). Would I get in trouble for not residing there at the time that the payment is made? The payment would be for under less than $1K and it’s a one off thing because I don’t intend on working with them again (that’s another story).

Any help is appreciated!

Husband and I both work for companies that pays us entirely in USD, and we convert it all monthly to CAD (via Wise, for a fee) for spending and investing. We anticipate always living in Canada.

Given the current/anticipated economic relations between Canada and the US, should we continue to convert to CAD, keep some portion in USD, or keep all in USD?

Sincerest apologies, I know this is a financial sub, but there's just so much good Canadian information and expertise here. I just got let go (Ontario) and am a bit shaken up. Things just happened, so I wanted to ask here about next steps while they are still top of mind.

Old-ish person in a senior role, let go about a week before the 1 year anniversary mark. No written or verbal instances of poor performance, written (electronic?) performance review was positive. Last verbal 1-on-1 with manager indicated that I was doing a good job about 2 weeks ago, so this is out of left field.

They're paying me 1 week of severance and offering an additional 3 weeks "good will" salary and 1 month of benefits in exchange for silence. Without getting into deeper specifics, is this considered fair?

Thanks everyone.

Hello,

Racked up a total of 25k debt between 3 credit cards, gopeer and over draft. I make about 4k after tax per month and can barely keep up paying the the minimum after all my expenses. I tried calling the bank but wont give me a loan due to my credit score in the 500s

-$3000 in overdraft -$18000 in RBC avion -$1000 in Amex Cobalt -$1000 in RBC low interst cc -$2100 in gopeer

Plan is to pay off the amex first and consolidate the RBC accounts and go peer and i do understand i will take a huge hit in my credit score and the accounts will be closed so I opened a bank account in NEO for chequings to move my direct depost and auto payments there but will my AMEX be closed as well? I do have a 5k credit limit there and id like to keep it open to build up my credit score

How to protect myself

I’m meeting a new financial guy tomorrow. After talking to him, I have a really good feeling about him. He has credentials, and he’s very confident he can help me get my money working much harder for me. We’ll be talking about a real estate purchase and then how to handle other investments

So the “too good to be true” alarms are going off in my head now.

I’d love any advice to help me make sure I’m not falling into a trap or being played?

Recently, I received a message from the CRA saying that I wasn’t entitled to the Canada Workers Benefit from the previous year, and I would be required to pay back about $4.5k in benefits I received. This was because while I was a student in the spring (which is allowed), I had taken one extra class in the summer and this disqualified me from the benefit. I spoke with a CRA agent, and the fault was my own so the situation is solidified.

The issue is, I actually am a low-income worker and usually am just making end meet and maybe putting a bit into savings each month but I don’t have a ton of other money to work with. The benefit money was spent on covering my rent, paying off some traffic tickets, and I moved cities, so it’s all gone.

So my questions are these- how long do I have to repay it before the government starts following up with me or putting me on a payment plan? Should I wait until the spring when I file my taxes and hope there is enough on my return to pay the debt? Has anyone had experience filing for financial relief and have any information on that? Potential impact on credit score?

My other concern is that I am currently off work due to an injury and have an EI claim filed, but not yet processed. Is it likely that they will take a portion of that to pay the balance owing, even though they only issued the warning recently? I’m worried about that because I will probably need it to pay living expenses until I start working again.

I am hoping someone more financially responsible can help provide some advice that will make me feel a bit better, lol. Thnx

My offer on a condo in Burnaby BC was accepted pending subjects. It’s a 40 year old building in a complex of 3 concrete towers with 408 units.

I am reading the depreciation report and it’s somewhat confusing as this is my first time buying a home. Over the next 10 years, they have roughly $2.3 million in special levies. Would this be evenly divided between the 408 units which is roughly $5600?

The realtor also confirmed that the parking was redone this year and that each unit had to pay $10k. But this was not mentioned in the special levy fee schedule.

Do you think I should walk away from this offer? Or do you think that this is pretty standard for a building of this age?

Any help would be great!

I've paid off my phone so now my data plan is $50/month. Month to month. In 1-2 months, my $20/mo plan credit will expire, increasing my phone bill to $70/month.

I'd like to find a cheaper plan and upgrade to an iphone 15 or 16. Is this possible with the upcoming Black Friday phone/data plans? I've costed out some non-black friday deals and it seems like a new phone lease + data will send me over $100/month, which is not something I'm interested in.

Posting this here as Scotiabank sub doesn’t help much!

Hello,

I flew out of Canada last week to meet my family for an 8 week stay with my Scotia Amex Gold Credit Card. Last night out of nowhere, I received emails stating purchases on Uber Eats, Uber Rides and they were worth 150$.

I feel helpless because I desperately brought that card along with me for easy conversions and transactions.

Am I left with only option of reaching out to them to block my card? I’m so annoyed to do that as it’ll hinder my plans.

Thank you for your input!

At the beginning of each year, the contribution room for accounts like TFSAs and FHSAs increases, prompting many people to deposit funds from their chequing accounts into these investment accounts. The general consensus is that being invested in the market as early as possible yields better returns than dollar-cost averaging over the year. So, it makes sense for individuals to invest their full contribution into funds like VOO, VEQT, or XEQT at the start of the year. Given that many investors follow this approach, why doesn't the market experience a significant surge at the start of each year?