In light of recent U.S. tariff changes and the resulting financial strain on Canadian businesses, the federal government has introduced a set of tax relief initiatives to help mitigate the impact. Prime Minister Mark Carney unveiled a relief package aimed at providing both federal and provincial indirect tax support to affected companies.
Federal Tax Deferrals
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) will implement an automatic deferral of GST/HST payments due between April 2 and June 30, 2025, including:
Provincial Measures include:
Manitoba:
Manitoba is allowing a deferral of Retail Sales Tax (RST) payments until June 20, 2025, with no penalties or interest. This applies to both monthly and quarterly filers, including returns due on April 22, 2025. Manitoba also announced that all businesses will be eligible for an optional deferral of health and post-secondary education tax levy (payroll tax) remittances until 15 June 2025, without interest or penalties.
Ontario:
Ontario businesses may delay the remittance of certain provincially administered taxes between April 1 and October 1, 2025. The specific taxes covered include Employer health tax; Insurance premium tax; Gasoline tax; Fuel tax; International fuel tax agreement; Mining tax; Tobacco tax; Beer, wine and spirits tax; Retail sales tax on insurance contracts and benefit plans; and Race Track tax. The deferral period begins on 1 April 2025 and ends on 1 October 2025. All deferred taxes must be paid by 1 October 2025. The Ontario Ministry of Finance has confirmed that businesses must still file returns on time for the affected taxes during the deferral period.
Quebec:
Quebec will mirror the federal approach by deferring QST (Quebec Sales Tax) obligations under the same terms as the CRA. Businesses will benefit from automatic relief and interest-free payments during the designated period.
Coordinated Government Response
These tax relief initiatives are a joint effort by federal and provincial governments to offer temporary support to Canadian companies facing external trade-related challenges. By allowing payment deferrals without interest or additional paperwork, the measures aim to ease short-term cash flow constraints for impacted businesses.
Companies are advised to monitor further updates from provincial authorities and continue submitting tax filings on schedule to take full advantage of the relief programs.
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