The new budget law rewrites tax rules advisors use for business sales and CPP
A budget bill that became law June 18 makes permanent the capital gains exemption for owners selling businesses to employee ownership trusts.
Bill C-30, the Spring Economic Update 2026 Implementation Act, received royal assent that day after clearing the House of Commons and moving through all three Senate readings in a single sitting. Sponsored by the Minister of Finance and National Revenue, it now sits on the books as Statutes of Canada 2026, chapter 22. For advisors who guide business owners through succession, the headline change is that the capital gains exemption tied to sales to an employee ownership trust or a worker co-operative is now permanent.
That is not the only tax item worth a client conversation. The bill reduces the Canada Pension Plan contribution rate beginning in 2027, with Schedule 1 setting the rate at 4.75 percent for employees, 4.75 percent for employers and 9.5 percent for the self-employed. It extends the repayment grace period under the Home Buyers' Plan, and it raises the annual deductible limit under the Labour Mobility Deduction for eligible tradespeople to $10,000 while easing the distance threshold for eligibility.
There is relief on the consumption side too. Part 2 temporarily sets the excise tax on gasoline, aviation gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel to $0.00 for the period from April 20 to September 7, 2026, and extends a 2 percent cap on the annual alcohol excise duty inflation adjustment.
For those tracking banking and payments, Part 3 carries the most structural changes. It amends the Bank of Canada Act to create a fee-assessment framework covering entities the Bank now oversees - registered payment service providers, stablecoin issuers, clearing houses and accredited third-party service providers among them - tied to its work administering the Consumer-Driven Banking Act, the Retail Payment Activities Act and the Stablecoin Act. A separate division provides that the Investment Canada Act will not apply to certain transactions by foreign banks already subject to approval under the Bank Act, the Trust and Loan Companies Act or the Insurance Companies Act; that change takes effect on the 120th day after royal assent. The Canadian Payments Act is amended to give the Canadian Payments Association civil immunity for actions taken in good faith.
The bill amends a dozen federal statutes in all, from the Income Tax Act to the Pest Control Products Act.
The full text of Bill C-30 is available at https://www.parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/45-1/bill/C-30/royal-assent.
