Budget 2026: Key tax measures for employers

Budget 2026 proposes new Canada Growth Incentive, introduction of RRSPs for Life, and other tax measures

On November 5, 2026, Canada’s Minister of Finance and National Revenue, François-Philippe Champagne, tabled the Liberal Government’s second budget, Masters of our Destiny, in the House of Commons (Budget 2026).

Budget 2026 announced several tax measures relevant to employers and retirement planning, including the following:

• introducing the Canada Growth Incentive, consisting of (a) a new capital gains exemption for qualifying Canadian-resident individuals (other than trusts) on up to $15 million in capital gains realized on the disposition of qualifying shares, and (b) an enhanced small business rollover to provide for a deferral on capital gains realized on the sale of shares of qualifying Canadian businesses if the sale proceeds are reinvested in another Canadian small business;
• changing rules relating to registered pension plans (RPPs), including to
  • set out the tax consequences of revoking the registration of an RPP,
  • expand the definition of “individual pension plan” (IPP),
  • extend the advantage rules, non-qualified investment rules and prohibited investment rules applicable to other registered plans to IPPs, and
  • impose a condition for maintaining RPP registration for IPPs related to excessive surplus; and
• combining key features of the registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) and registered retirement income fund rules into a single “RRSP for life”, together with a consultation on further changes intended to improve and modernize the RRSP rules.

For a discussion of these tax measures and others in Budget 2026, please see our 2026 Canadian Federal Budget Commentary – Tax Initiatives.