ASSINIBOIA — When the calendar rolled into the new year, your wallet may have shuddered a little. That’s because changes that affect our household finances are incoming.
The good: Increased Registered Retirement Savings Plan thresholds. Canadians have until March 3 to contribute with the threshold going go up to $32,490 in 2025 from $31,560 in 2024, as well as any available contribution room left over from previous tax years.
The tax-free savings account (TFSA) contribution limit will stay the same at $7,000, following two consecutive years of increases.
Ottawa has extended the time that taxpayers will have to make charitable donations to Feb. 28, 2025. This extension is intended to mitigate the impact of the four-week Canada Post strike
The GST holiday continues until Feb. 15 on specific goods and clothing items.
The bad: Increasing Canada Pension Plan contributions. Some Canadian workers will notice a little more is taken off their paycheques due to increases in the mandatory CPP contribution.
Property taxes are increasing in Saskatoon. People in Regina will learn their property tax change later in the year when the full city budget is passed.
Meanwhile, homes are up for revaluation. That means property taxes could further go up or down based on the new valuations.
The ugly: Average SaskPower residential customer bill to increase by $26 per year, with the average farm customer seeing an increase of $75 per year. At December’s end, SaskPower announced they would be increasing the Federal Carbon Tax Rate Rider by 2.9 per cent.
April first will also see increasing energy costs on gasoline, diesel and natural gas as a result of carbon tax increases.
A percentage of government revenue from the carbon tax is returned to households through a rebate program.
The average Saskatchewan family can expect CTR ever quarter with the first cheques arriving mid January. Since January 2024, Saskatchewan has not collected carbon tax on home heating, but residents are still scheduled to receive full carbon rebate payments.
The 2025 Canada's Food Price Report, released in December, says food prices in Saskatchewan rose by 2.8 per cent in 2024. They will likely rise again in 2025, though below the national average. According to the report, a typical family four in Canada is expected to spend $16,833.67 on food in 2025. That's an increase of $801.56 from 2024.
