Immigration has become a hot topic in Canada as the country grapples with housing shortages in several regions and a need for workers in many sectors. Some social media posts allege the federal government is planning to tackle the issue by charging a departure penalty that is meant to discourage ºÃÉ«tvs from leaving. This is false. Government officials say no new fee is being considered and the posts misrepresent capital gains charges for people who move abroad.
The posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, claim Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is exploring "significant" measures to deter people from leaving Canada. The posts say allege a proposed plan he is mulling "includes a $25,000 departure penalty along with a doubling of the existing departure tax for those seeking to relocate approach."
"The discussions are still confidential, with details yet to be publicly confirmed, as the government explores options to maintain its population and stabilize the country's situation," says , @TDLeaker, which claims to be posting from Toronto.
Rating: False
Navpreet Chhatwal, a communications adviser in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, denounced the claims in the X posts.
"Any allegation that the Government of Canada is imposing a fine on ºÃÉ«tvs seeking to leave Canada is false," Chhatwal said in an email to The ºÃÉ«tv Press.
TD Leaker did not respond to a direct message seeking more information on their posts or on the Executive Dish, which is where TD Leaker said the claim originated.
ºÃÉ«tvwas unable to find any traces of the Executive Dish online, but defending their original claim said it is "an expensive insider membership email briefing for c-levels" – referring to executive-level business leaders – that operates out of the public view.
Unravelling emigration policies
Some of of a Government of Canada web page with an entry on a departure tax.
The entry says people who leave the country are considered to have sold some kinds of property at their fair market value — even if they have not put any of them up for sale — and immediately reacquired them for the same amount. The government calls this a "deemed disposition" and says it may result in people having to report capital gains.
Capital gains are the difference between what you paid for an asset and what it sold for. Governments tend to charge taxes when capital gains have been realized. One of the most common instances of capital gains taxes having to be paid comes when people sell real estate.
The government web page says the deemed dispositions regulations in its emigrants policy are often applied to shares, jewelry, paintings and collections.
The federal government's latest budget tabled in April includes the proportion of capital gain earnings on which businesses pay income tax, to two-thirds from one half.
The hike would also be applied to individuals for capital gains earnings above $250,000 in a year.
The Liberal government has positioned the move as only affecting Canada's wealthiest 0.13 per cent and has said it will generate about $19.3 billion in revenue over the next five years.
Asking the expert
Paul Carenza, a tax partner for Gowling WLG law firm in Toronto, also debunked the claims in the X posts.
"I’ve not heard anything of the sort," he said in a statement.
"The proposed increase to the capital gains inclusion rate will impact ºÃÉ«tv residents seeking to emigrate (and who cease to be ºÃÉ«tv tax residents) but I have not heard of a penalty or of a doubling of the rate of tax."
Sources
Claim can be found on X () and ()
TD Leaker followup posts on the Executive Dish () and screenshot from departure tax government page ()
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Freeland says capital gains proposal will be tabled before summer break – The ºÃÉ«tv Press ()
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