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While Ottawa can’t dictate what you see on any given cash register, the prime minister says his government can put money in our pockets.
“The past few years have been challenging,” Justin Trudeau said in a statement released on Thursday. “It feels like the price of everything has gone up. And while inflation is cooling and interest rates are dropping, we know that Canadians aren’t feeling that in their household budgets yet.”
To help Canadians “buy the things they need and save for the things they want,” the Liberal government is going to introduce legislation to facilitate delivery of a new $250 Working Canadians Rebate to 18.7 million Canadians in the spring.
“With the Working Canadians Rebate, we are putting money directly into the pockets of the middle-class – those who have worked hard to beat inflation,” said Trudeau about the rebate.
Federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland wrote about the rebate on X yesterday: “While inflation and interest rates are coming down, we know that Canadians aren’t feeling that yet. This spring, Canadian workers making less than $150,000/year will receive a $250 rebate. We’re making life a bit easier, so you have a little more money in your pockets.”
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According to the Fraser Institute, the $250 rebate is “perhaps the worst element of the Trudeau government’s announcement.”
In a comment on the Institute’s blog, authors Jake Eisen and Jack Fuss write: “One-time tax rebates are a terrible way to provide tax relief. When you cut income tax rates, you improve incentives for people to work and invest because they get to keep a larger share of their earnings (and help grow the economy). One-time rebates that you get regardless of the economic choices you make has no similar effect. This means that the rebate with its $4.7 billion price tag won’t help Canada’s poor growth performance.”
The Green Party of Canada criticizes the rebate for an entirely different reason. Calling the move “vote-buying” and “a band-aid solution,” its leader, Elizabeth May, says the party “strongly condemns the exclusion of people with disabilities who are unable to work from receiving the proposed $250 Working Canadians Rebate.”
What is the income threshold for receiving the $250?
Most Canadians who worked in 2023 and earned less than $150,000 in individual net income are eligible for the tax-free rebate. They simply need to have:
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- filed their 2023 tax return by December 31, 2024
- claimed the tax credit for Canada Pension Plan or Quebec Pension Plan contributions on employment or self-employment earnings
- claimed the tax credit for Employment Insurance or Quebec Parental Insurance Plan premiums on employment or self-employment earnings
- reported income from EI or QPIP benefits
Other eligibility requirements
They must also be a resident of Canada on March 31, 2025.
Prisoners are out of luck if they have been incarcerated for 90 days immediately before April 1, 2025.
Must Last, but not least, a potential recipient can’t be dead on April 1, 2025.
Ottawa says the the Canada Revenue Agency is already working to deliver the $250 Working Canadians Rebate in early spring 2025. Canadians will receive it as a direct deposit or cheque.
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