Report
Unfortunately, new federal government policies are taking us backwards on tax fairness. The government recently eliminated the consumer carbon tax, which returned more money to most low-income families than they paid. A few days later, it cancelled the partial closure of the capital gains loophole, one of the features of our tax system that most benefits the ultra-wealthy. The first bill the new government introduced lowered the marginal tax rate on the first income bracket, which returns more dollars to higher-income earners than to lower-income earners.
Transferring more money to the wealthy will not solve the multiple, intersecting crises Canada faces. We will need a collective approach to use available resources to fund a green transition and affordable housing. Getting this done is not a matter of feasibility—it’s just a matter of political will. Billionaire wealth in Canada increased by $309 million every day in 2024. Because of myriad loopholes and tax planning mechanisms, increasing billionaire wealth is typically taxed at a lower rate than the income of an average earner in Canada. When all taxes are considered, the top one per cent of earners paid 23.6 per cent of their income in tax in 2022, while the average earner paid 36.7 per cent of their income in tax.
The outcome of a system that increasingly concentrates income, wealth and power among a select few can be seen south of the border right now. Canadians made clear in the 2025 federal election that they do not want to go down that path. Building a sustainable democratic society in which we can all thrive will require mobilizing Canada’s vast resources. The tax system is a powerful tool that can be used to free up Canada’s resources to fund the important projects laid out in the rest of this platform.
The entire taxation chapter of the CCPA's Alternative Federal Budget can be found here.
