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2020 Economic Response Plan summary

On March 18, 2020, the Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, announced an $82 billion package with new economic and tax measures as part of the Government of Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan. This will provide $27 billion of direct supports to Canadian individuals and businesses and $55 billion to help businesses with tax deferrals to maintain liquidity. We have highlighted the key tax measures in this response plan.

The government is proposing the following measures to help individuals that may be impacted by COVID-19:

Retirees:

Reducing the requirement for minimum withdrawals from Registered Retirement Income Funds (“RRIFs”) by 25% for 2020, in recognition of volatile market conditions and the impact on seniors’ retirement savings. Similar rules would apply to individuals receiving variable benefit payments under a defined contribution Registered Pension Plan.