What problem is Pierre Poilievre trying to solve with his TFSA proposal? | Toronto Star
March 30, 2025 | Professor听Jennifer Robson is the 2024-25 McConnell Visiting Scholar.听For the last 20 years, there has been no limit to how much you can invest outside of Canada in tax-preferred savings accounts like TFSAs and RRSPs. In a largely stable, rules-based, and tightly-integrated global market, that probably made sense for an open economy like ours (Canada).听
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Poilievre鈥檚 plan takes the longest and thorniest route around this problem. His proposal would create something like a 鈥渟ub account鈥� of up to $5,000 of new contribution room in a TFSA that can be accessed by those who hit the current annual contribution limit ($7,000), but only so long as they conduct at least one transaction to invest in a Canadian business. "Maybe Poilievre is really looking to find a way to help the already comfortable earn more tax-free investment income in the businesses they already own. Given the many challenges we face right now, it should be obvious that this is not the kind of transformative economic change that Canada needs," explained Robson.
