Supporting Vulnerable Seniors and Strengthening Canada’s Economy Act (S.C. 2011, c. 15)
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Assented to 2011-06-26
Supporting Vulnerable Seniors and Strengthening Canada’s Economy Act
S.C. 2011, c. 15
Assented to 2011-06-26
An Act to implement certain provisions of the 2011 budget as updated on June 6, 2011
SUMMARY
Part 1 of this enactment implements income tax measures and related measures proposed in the 2011 budget, and income tax measures referred to in that budget that were previously announced. In particular, it
(a) amends the Income Tax Act and related legislation to allow beneficiaries of Registered Disability Savings Plans who have shortened life expectancies to withdraw more of their plan savings by permitting annual withdrawals without triggering the 10-year repayment rule, subject to specified limits and certain conditions; and
(b) amends the Income Tax Act to ensure that individuals have the legal authority in all circumstances to appeal a determination concerning their eligibility for the disability tax credit.
Part 2 amends the Excise Tax Act to introduce a 100% rebate of the goods and services tax and the harmonized sales tax paid by the Royal Canadian Legion on acquisitions of Remembrance Day poppies and wreaths. Part 2 also amends the Excise Act, 2001 and the Excise Tax Act to allow the sharing of information obtained under these statutes with countries or jurisdictions with which Canada has entered into a tax information exchange agreement.
Part 3 amends the Old Age Security Act to allow an amount to be added to the amount of benefits payable to certain low-income beneficiaries.
Part 4 authorizes payments to be made out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund for various purposes.
Part 5 amends the Auditor General Act to repeal a provision that provides for mandatory retirement.
Part 6 amends the Canada Student Financial Assistance Act to change the rules concerning interest paid by part-time students.
Part 7 enacts the Protection of Residential Mortgage or Hypothecary Insurance Act, which is designed to support the efficient functioning of the housing finance market and the stability of the financial system in Canada by authorizing the Minister of Finance to provide protection in respect of certain mortgage or hypothecary insurance contracts. It also makes consequential amendments to the National Housing Act and the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions Act and repeals Part 9 of the Budget Implementation Act, 2006.
Part 8 amends the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act to authorize additional payments to certain provinces in respect of major transfers.
Part 9 amends the Insurance Companies Act to prohibit a federal mutual company from distributing its property or other benefits to policyholders and shareholders, until the Minister of Finance has approved a conversion proposal made in accordance with the regulations.
Part 10 amends the Assessment of Financial Institutions Regulations, 2001 to modify the assessment of financial institutions and validates amounts assessed after May 31, 2001.
Part 11 amends the Financial Administration Act to permit departments to enter into agreements respecting the provision of internal support services. It also authorizes the transfer of money when a power, duty or function or the control or supervision of a portion of the federal public administration, is transferred under section 2 or 3 of the Public Service Rearrangement and Transfer of Duties Act.
Part 12 amends the Canada Shipping Act, 2001 to allow the Governor in Council to make regulations exempting vessels, and authorizing the Minister of Transport to temporarily exempt vessels, from the registration requirements in Part 2 of that Act. This Part also amends the Act to allow for the registration of a group of vessels as a fleet in the small vessel register, under a single certificate of registry and single official number.
Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:
SHORT TITLE
Marginal note:Short title
1. This Act may be cited as the Supporting Vulnerable Seniors and Strengthening Canada’s Economy Act.
PART 1AMENDMENTS TO THE INCOME TAX ACT, A RELATED ACT AND A RELATED REGULATION
R.S., c. 1 (5th Supp.)Income Tax Act
2. (1) The definition “specified year” in subsection 146.4(1) of the Income Tax Act is replaced by the following:
“specified year”
« année déterminée »
“specified year” for a disability savings plan of a beneficiary means the particular calendar year in which a medical doctor licensed to practise under the laws of a province (or of the place where the beneficiary resides) certifies in writing that the beneficiary’s state of health is such that, in the professional opinion of the medical doctor, the beneficiary is not likely to survive more than five years and
(a) if the plan is a specified disability savings plan, each subsequent calendar year, but does not include any calendar year prior to the calendar year in which the certification is provided to the issuer of the plan; or
(b) in any other case, each of the five calendar years following the particular calendar year, but does not include any calendar year prior to the calendar year in which the certification is provided to the issuer of the plan.
(2) Section 146.4 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (1):
Marginal note:Specified disability savings plan
(1.1) If, in respect of a beneficiary under a registered disability savings plan, a medical doctor licensed to practise under the laws of a province (or of the place where the beneficiary resides) certifies in writing that the beneficiary’s state of health is such that, in the professional opinion of the medical doctor, the beneficiary is not likely to survive more than five years, the holder of the plan elects in prescribed form and provides the election and the medical certification in respect of the beneficiary to the issuer of the plan, and the issuer notifies the specified Minister of the election in a manner and format acceptable to the specified Minister, then the plan becomes a specified disability savings plan at the time the notification is received by the specified Minister.
Marginal note:Ceasing to be a specified disability savings plan
(1.2) A plan ceases to be a specified disability savings plan at the earliest of the following times:
(a) the time that the specified Minister receives a notification, in a manner and format acceptable to the specified Minister, from the issuer of the plan that the holder elects that the plan is to cease to be a specified disability savings plan;
(b) the time that is immediately before the earliest time in a calendar year when the total disability assistance payments, other than non-taxable portions, made from the plan in the year and while it was a specified disability savings plan exceeds $10,000 (or, in the case of a plan to which paragraph (f) applies, such greater amount as is required to satisfy the condition in that paragraph);
(c) the time that is immediately before the time that
(i) a contribution is made to the plan, or
(ii) an amount described in paragraph (a) or (b) of the definition “contribution” in subsection (1) is paid into the plan;
(d) the time that is immediately before the time that
(i) the plan is terminated, or
(ii) the plan ceases to be a registered disability savings plan as a result of the application of paragraph (10)(a);
(e) if lifetime disability assistance payments have not begun to be paid before the end of the particular calendar year following the year in which the plan last became a specified disability savings plan, the time immediately following the end of that particular calendar year; and
(f) if in a calendar year the plan is a plan to which paragraph (4)(n) applies and the total amount of disability assistance payments made from the plan to the beneficiary in the calendar year is less than the amount determined by the formula set out in paragraph (4)(l) in respect of the plan for the calendar year (or such lesser amount as is supported by the property of the plan), the time immediately following the end of that calendar year.
Marginal note:Waiting period
(1.3) If at any time, a plan has ceased to be a specified disability savings plan because of subsection (1.2), then the holder of the plan may not make an election under subsection (1.1) until 24 months after that time.
Marginal note:Waiver
(1.4) The Minister may waive the application of subsections (1.2) or (1.3) if it is just and equitable to do so.
(3) Subsections (1) and (2) apply to the 2011 and subsequent taxation years, except that
(a) no election may be made under subsection 146.4(1.1) of the Act, as enacted by subsection (2), before this Act receives royal assent; and
(b) for a specified disability savings plan in respect of which the required medical certification is obtained before 2012, paragraph 146.4(1.2)(b) of the Act, as enacted by subsection (2), is, for 2012, to be read as follows:
(b) the time that is immediately before the earliest time in a calendar year when the total disability assistance payments, other than non-taxable portions, made from the plan and while it was a specified disability savings plan exceeds $20,000 (or, in the case of a plan to which paragraph (f) applies, such greater amount as is required to satisfy the condition in that paragraph);
3. (1) Section 152 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (1):
Marginal note:Determination of disability tax credit eligibility
(1.01) The Minister shall, if an individual requests by prescribed form, determine with all due dispatch whether an amount is deductible, or would if this Act were read without reference to paragraph 118.3(1)(c) be deductible, under section 118.3 in computing the individual’s tax payable under this Part for a taxation year and send a notice of the determination to the individual.
(2) The portion of subsection 152(1.2) of the Act before paragraph (b) is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Provisions applicable
(1.2) Paragraphs 56(1)(l) and 60(o), this Division and Division J, as they relate to an assessment or a reassessment and to assessing or reassessing tax, apply, with any modifications that the circumstances require, to a determination or redetermination under subsection (1.01) and to a determination or redetermination of an amount under this Division or an amount deemed under section 122.61 to be an overpayment on account of a taxpayer’s liability under this Part, except that
(a) subsections (1) and (2) do not apply to determinations made under subsections (1.01), (1.1) and (1.11);
(3) Subject to subsection (4), subsections (1) and (2) apply to taxation years that end after 2009 in respect of forms filed with the Minister of National Revenue after the day on which this Act is assented to (referred to as the “application day” in this section).
(4) If an individual, on or before the application day, has filed for a taxation year that ends after 2007 and before 2012 the certificate described in paragraph 118.3(1)(a.2) or (a.3) of the Act and, for that year, the Minister of National Revenue has issued a notice that no tax is payable, then
(a) in respect of the individual, the reference in subsection (3) to “2009” is to be read as a reference to “2007”;
(b) the Minister is deemed to have issued a notice of determination to the individual on the later of the application day or the actual day the notice is issued; and
(c) subparagraph 165(1)(a)(ii) of the Act shall in respect of the determination be read as follows:
(ii) the day that is 180 days after the day that the Minister is deemed to have issued a notice of determination; and
2007, c. 35, s. 136Canada Disability Savings Act
Marginal note:2010, c. 25, s. 166
4. Paragraph 2(2)(b) of the Canada Disability Savings Act is replaced by the following:
(b) the expressions “contribution”, “designated provincial program”, “DTC-eligible individual”, “holder”, “issuer”, “registered disability savings plan”, “specified year” and “specified disability savings plan” have the same meanings as in section 146.4 of that Act; and
Marginal note:2010, c. 25, s. 167(1)
5. The portion of subsection 6(2.2) of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Allocation of contribution
(2.2) The Minister may allocate a contribution made to the beneficiary’s registered disability savings plan in a year after 2010, in parts — to the year in which it is actually made and to each of the previous 10 years that is after 2007 and in which the plan was not a specified disability savings plan (other than a year in which the plan became a specified disability savings plan) — in the following order:
6. Section 8 of the Act is amended by striking out “and” at the end of paragraph (a), by adding “and” at the end of paragraph (b) and by adding the following after paragraph (b):
(c) the plan is not a specified disability savings plan, in the case of a Canada Disability Savings Grant, at the time the contribution to the plan is made and, in the case of a Canada Disability Savings Bond, immediately before the payment is made.
SOR/2008-186Canada Disability Savings Regulations
7. The definition “assistance holdback amount” in section 1 of the Canada Disability Savings Regulations is replaced by the following:
- “assistance holdback amount”
“assistance holdback amount” means, at a particular time,
(a) in the case of an RDSP that is, at the particular time, a specified disability savings plan, nil; and
(b) in any other case, the total amount of bonds and grants paid into an RDSP within the 10-year period before the particular time, less any amount of bond or grant paid in that 10-year period that has been repaid to the Minister. (montant de retenue)
8. Section 5 of the Regulations is amended by adding the following after subsection (2):
(3) Despite subsections (1) and (2), if the beneficiary of an RDSP that is a specified disability savings plan dies or ceases to be a DTC-eligible individual, the issuer of the RDSP shall repay to the Minister, within the period set out in the issuer agreement, any portion of an amount paid into the RDSP as a grant or bond within the 10-year period preceding the time of the death or cessation that remains in the RDSP at that time.
PART 2MEASURES RELATING TO EXCISE DUTIES AND SALES AND EXCISE TAXES
2002, c. 22Excise Act, 2001
Marginal note:2007, c. 18, s. 67(4)
9. The definition “listed international agreement” in section 2 of the Excise Act, 2001 is replaced by the following:
“listed international agreement”
« accord international désigné »
“listed international agreement” means
(a) the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, concluded at Strasbourg on January 25, 1988, as amended from time to time by a protocol, or other international instrument, as ratified by Canada; or
(b) a comprehensive tax information exchange agreement that Canada has entered into and that has effect, in respect of another country or jurisdiction.
R.S., c. E-15Excise Tax Act
Marginal note:2007, c. 18, s. 64
10. The definition “listed international agreement” in subsection 2(1) of the Excise Tax Act is replaced by the following:
“listed international agreement”
« accord international désigné »
“listed international agreement” means
(a) the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, concluded at Strasbourg on January 25, 1988, as amended from time to time by a protocol, or other international instrument, as ratified by Canada, or
(b) a comprehensive tax information exchange agreement that Canada has entered into and that has effect, in respect of another country or jurisdiction;
Marginal note:2007, c. 18, s. 2(6)
11. The definition “listed international agreement” in subsection 123(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:
“listed international agreement”
« accord international désigné »
“listed international agreement” means
(a) the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, concluded at Strasbourg on January 25, 1988, as amended from time to time by a protocol, or other international instrument, as ratified by Canada, or
(b) a comprehensive tax information exchange agreement that Canada has entered into and that has effect, in respect of another country or jurisdiction;
12. (1) The Act is amended by adding the following after section 259.1:
Marginal note:Definitions
259.2 (1) The following definitions apply in this section.
“claim period”
« période de demande »
“claim period” has the same meaning as in subsection 259(1).
“Legion entity”
« entité de la Légion »
“Legion entity” means the Dominion Command or any provincial command or branch of the Royal Canadian Legion.
Marginal note:Rebate for poppies and wreaths
(2) If a Legion entity acquires, imports or brings into a participating province property that is a poppy or wreath, the Minister shall, subject to subsection (3), pay a rebate to the Legion entity equal to the amount of tax that becomes payable, or is paid without having become payable, by the Legion entity during a claim period of the Legion entity in respect of the acquisition, importation or bringing in.
Marginal note:Application for rebate
(3) A rebate shall not be paid under subsection (2) in respect of tax that becomes payable, or is paid without having become payable, by a Legion entity during a claim period of the Legion entity unless the Legion entity files an application for the rebate within four years after the last day of the claim period.
Marginal note:Limitation
(4) A Legion entity must not make more than one application for rebates under this section for any claim period of the Legion entity.
(2) Subsection (1) applies in respect of tax that becomes payable, or is paid without having become payable, after 2009.
(3) If, in the absence of this subsection, an application for a rebate under subsection 259.2(2) of the Act, as enacted by subsection (1), in respect of tax would have to be filed by a Legion entity before the day that is four years after the day on which this Act receives royal assent in order for the rebate to be paid to the Legion entity, the reference in subsection 259.2(3) of the Act, as enacted by subsection (1), to “last day of the claim period” is to be read as a reference to “day on which the Act enacting this section receives royal assent”.
PART 3R.S., c. O-9OLD AGE SECURITY ACT
13. The Old Age Security Act is amended by adding the following after section 12:
Marginal note:Additional amount — paragraph 12(1)(a)
12.1 (1) The amount that may be added to the amount of the supplement that may be paid under section 12 to a pensioner referred to in paragraph 12(1)(a) for any month in a payment quarter beginning after June 30, 2011 is the amount determined by the formula
A × B – C/4
where
- A
- is $50;
- B
- is the pensioner’s special qualifying factor for the month; and
- C
- is
(a) in the case of a pensioner who has no spouse or common-law partner, 1/12 of the pensioner’s income for the base calendar year in excess of $2,000 rounded, if it is not a multiple of four dollars, to the next lower multiple of four dollars, and
(b) in the case of a pensioner who, on the day immediately before the current payment period, had a spouse or common-law partner to whom no benefit may be paid for any month in the current payment period, 1/24 of the aggregate of the income of the pensioner and his or her spouse or common-law partner for the base calendar year in excess of $4,000 rounded, if it is not a multiple of four dollars, to the next lower multiple of four dollars.
Marginal note:Additional amount — paragraph 12(1)(b)
(2) The amount that may be added to the amount of the supplement that may be paid under section 12 to a pensioner referred to in paragraph 12(1)(b) for any month in a payment quarter beginning after June 30, 2011 is the amount determined by the formula
A × B – C/4
where
- A
- is
(a) in the case of a pensioner referred to in subparagraph 12(1)(b)(i), $50, and
(b) in the case of a pensioner referred to in subparagraph 12(1)(b)(ii), $35;
- B
- is the pensioner’s special qualifying factor for the month; and
- C
- is 1/24 of the aggregate of the income of the pensioner and his or her spouse or common-law partner for the base calendar year in excess of $4,000 rounded, if it is not a multiple of four dollars, to the next lower multiple of four dollars.
Marginal note:Indexation
(3) For the purpose of calculating the amount payable under subsection (1) or (2) for any month in a payment quarter beginning after September 30, 2011, the amount to be determined for A in that subsection is the amount obtained by multiplying
(a) the amount determined for A for any month in the three-month period immediately before that payment quarter
by
(b) the ratio that the Consumer Price Index for the first adjustment quarter that relates to that payment quarter bears to the Consumer Price Index for the second adjustment quarter that relates to that payment quarter.
Marginal note:No decrease
(4) Despite subsection (3), the amount determined for A for any month in a payment quarter shall not be less than the amount determined for A for any month in the three-month period immediately before that payment quarter.
Marginal note:Effect of reduction in Consumer Price Index
(5) If, in relation to any payment quarter, the Consumer Price Index for the first adjustment quarter is lower than the Consumer Price Index for the second adjustment quarter,
(a) no adjustment to the amount determined for A shall be made under subsection (3) in respect of that payment quarter; and
(b) no adjustment to the amount determined for A shall be made under subsection (3) in respect of any subsequent payment quarter until, in relation to a subsequent payment quarter, the Consumer Price Index for the first adjustment quarter that relates to that subsequent payment quarter is higher than the Consumer Price Index for the second adjustment quarter that relates to the payment quarter referred to in paragraph (a), in which case the second adjustment quarter that relates to the payment quarter referred to in that paragraph is deemed to be the second adjustment quarter that relates to that subsequent payment quarter.
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