Tag: Federal government

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Mobile Syrup

Federal government considering standard charger, right-to-repair in 2023 budget

OTTAWA, CANADA – NOVEMBER 10, 2018: Canada Wordmark, the official logo of the Canadian government, on an administrative building next to a Canadian flag waiving

Canada might follow the EU and standardize chargers for electronic devices and, if we’re lucky, implement right-to-repair rules.

CTV News spotted a small detail tucked away in the 2023 federal budget released on March 28th: the Liberals plan to look at implementing a standard charging port across Canada. The goal? To save Canadians money and reduce waste.

“Every time Canadians purchase new devices, they need to buy new chargers to go along with them, which drives up costs and increases electronic waste,” the budget says.

Unfortunately, details remain scarce beyond that the government plans to work with international partners and other stakeholders.

The move comes after the EU caused a stir in the fall when it passed legislation mandating the use of USB-C on some electronic devices, including smartphones. Though the EU rules won’t come into effect until late 2024, it’s already making waves with signs pointing to Apple’s 2023 iPhone (likely the iPhone 15 Pro), including a USB-C port.

The EU regulation will eventually apply to laptops as well, though it’s not clear if Canada will consider going that far.

While consolidating smartphones and other devices to one type of charger could definitely help cut down on electronic waste (e-waste), it’s unlikely it will save Canadians money. The reality is most companies will simply pass the cost on to Canadians or stop including chargers altogether without reducing prices. (There’s an argument for not including chargers but in my experience, most Canadians aren’t fans of the idea).

Unless the government does something to prevent that reality (and I don’t see that happening), the only way this will save Canadians money is by reducing the number of chargers they need. If everything works off USB-C, then you really only need one USB-C charger instead of a handful of different cables and bricks.

Right-to-repair for Canadians?

Another part of the budget addresses right-to-repair rules. For those unfamiliar with the term, it generally refers to regulations that enable people to repair their own electronics.

This stems from the fact that the majority of electronics, including laptops and smartphones, are designed to limit repairability. For example, the use of custom screws and tools, glues and adhesives, and other techniques can make it extremely difficult or impossible to repair tech. This in turn, forces people to either purchase new technology when existing tech breaks or pay hefty fees to manufacturers to repair their tech.

“When it comes to broken appliances or devices, high repair fees and a lack of access to specific parts often mean Canadians are pushed to buy new products rather than repairing the ones they have,” the 2023 budget says.

It goes on to note that the government “will work to implement a right to repair, with the aim of introducing a targeted framework for home appliances and electronics in 2024.”

The government plans to launch public consultations on the matter in the summer and work closely with provinces and territories to advance the implementation.

Rounding out tech-related highlights from the 2023 budget includes a plan to crack down on “junk fees” like roaming charges.

You can read the budget in full here.

Umage credit: Shutterstock

Source: Federal Budget 2023 Via: CTV News

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Cottage Life

Federal government pledges $11.7 million to Ontario wetland, grassland, and forest conservation

Photo by Shutterstock/Wildnerdpix

Ontario’s conservation efforts are getting a major boost from the federal government.

Earlier this month, Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Steven Guilbeault, announced that his ministry would be providing more than $11.7 million to support the Ontario Land Trust Alliance’s (OLTA) efforts to conserve the province’s wetlands, grasslands, and forests.

“Canada—and Ontario—matter in the global fight to conserve and protect biodiversity. Our country is home to 24 per cent of the world’s wetlands, 25 per cent of temperate rainforest areas, and 28 per cent of remaining boreal forests. These ecosystems are globally significant as they absorb carbon, mitigate against the impacts of climate change, and protect biodiversity,” Guilbeault said in a statement.

The funding is provided through the ministry’s Nature Smart Climate Solutions Fund (NSCSF). The goal of the fund is to reduce two to four megatons of greenhouse gas emissions per year by supporting projects that conserve, restore, and enhance wetlands, peatlands, and grasslands to store and capture carbon. The fund stands at $1.4 billion and will be doled out by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) over the next 10 years.

The ministry selected the OLTA as a funding recipient because of its advocacy work for groups committed to the long-term protection and conservation of natural and cultural heritage sites across the province. “We are really grateful to Environment and Climate Change Canada for this significant support. It’s the biggest funding program that we’ve received in our lifetime,” said Alison Howson, the executive director of the OLTA.

The alliance coordinates, educates, and provides grants to land trusts around Ontario. Land trusts are charitable groups that act as custodians of significant plots of land. The OLTA works with over 33 land trust members, including the Haliburton Highlands Land Trust, Couchiching Conservancy, and the Muskoka Conservancy.

The OLTA trains members on topics such as habitat restoration, species-at-risk conservation, and climate solutions. “We don’t have any land that we hold ourselves, but we provide a whole suite of different supports to the other organizations to do the activities on the ground,” Howson said.

The funding provided by the ECCC will go towards a new program that the OLTA has started. It’s working with 10 land trust members to secure high carbon lands across the province. “The key focus is on securing lands that have good carbon sequestration and storage,” Howson said, such as wetlands, peatlands, and grasslands. “But the lands will have other benefits as well. They will have high biodiversity value. And we’re focusing on restoration of habitat, so conserving land that can be restored for particular species at risk.”

Land trusts tend to be more flexible than the federal or provincial government and are better equipped to protect small parcels of significant land, especially in southern Ontario where the land tends to be fragmented. “The federal or provincial governments aren’t necessarily interested in or are able to leverage protection of smaller parcels for a protected area,” Howson said. “But we’re able to do that through working with private landowners who are interested in donating, or in some cases, selling their properties to land trust charities, and then the charities will hold those lands.”

Already the OLTA has secured parcels of significant land near the Ganaraska Forest, northwest of Oshawa, and Thunder Bay. “We’re protecting those types of projects from other use, such as logging operations,” Howson said. “They’re really significant wetland and forested swamp areas.”

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Cottage Life

Federal government offers grant to upgrade from oil to electric heat pumps

Photo by Shutterstock/charnsitr

The federal government is offering a $5,000 grant to eligible Canadian homeowners willing to make the switch from oil to electric heat pumps.

During a press conference last week, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser unveiled the $250 million Oil to Heat Pump Affordability (OHPA) grant, a new program designed to transition thousands of Canadians from heating their households with oil to electric heat pumps.

“By transitioning away from oil heating, homeowners can save thousands of dollars in their annual heating bills, putting more money back in peoples’ pockets while also reducing pollution and creating new jobs across the country,” Fraser said.

The OHPA grant builds on the government’s Low Carbon Economy Fund (LCEF), another $250 million grant announced in September, primarily aimed at converting Atlantic Canada households from oil to electric heat pumps.

The OHPA grant is targeting low to middle-income households, providing $5,000 to be used towards purchasing and installing an electric heat pump, safely removing a household’s oil tank, and electrical upgrades required for the new electric heat pump.

To help homeowners carry the costs, the $5,000 will be provided up front, rather than after the installation. The government estimates that switching from oil to an electric heat pump could save a household between $1,500 and $4,700 per year on home energy bills.

To be eligible for the OHPA grant, a household’s after-tax income must be at or below the median household after-tax income defined in Statistics Canada’s Low Income Measure Threshold—approximately $53,140 for a family of four. The household must be oil heated as of January 2023, demonstrated through copies of oil fuel bills from the preceding 12 months. And it must be the owner’s primary residence. This mean secondary properties, such as cottages, are not eligible for the grant.

The Ministry of Natural Resources said that it will be thoroughly vetting each applicant to ensure the grant money is being used as prescribed. The homeowner will have to submit required documents to the ministry, including oil fuel bills and tax forms, to prove they’re eligible. The government will then provide the homeowner with the funding. After the installation is complete, the homeowner will have to submit receipts and invoices to the government.

The reason the government is pushing greener home initiatives, such as the OHPA grant, is its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40 to 45 per cent by 2030. Heating a home with oil produces more greenhouse gas emissions than gas or electricity. The widespread installation of electric heat pumps is predicted to significantly lower harmful emissions.

Despite the name, electric heat pumps can both heat and cool a home, and have been used for decades in Canada.  Depending on the size of the electric heat pump, installation costs could range from $3,000 to $15,000.

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Mobile Syrup

Federal government to pause advertising on Twitter indefinitely

OTTAWA, CANADA – NOVEMBER 10, 2018: Canada Wordmark, the official logo of the Canadian government, on an administrative building next to a Canadian flag waiving

Mass layoffs at Twitter aren’t just losing the company private advertisers, but also large-scale Federal ones.

According to the CBC, a media and marketing agency that works with the federal government to plan and buy ads, has advised federal departments to “pause activity on Twitter,” citing mass layoffs at the newly taken over company as the primary reason.

The government’s media and marketing agency is Quebec City-based Cosette, and according to the CBC, the agency asked the government to “pause activity [on Twitter] immediately and monitor the situation over the weekend due to unknown continuity plans for moderation and a heightened risk of brand safety.”

According to Cosette, large-scale layoffs at the company increased concerns about the platform’s ability to moderate content and achieve brand safety.

However, Twitter’s head of safety and Integrity, Yoel Roth, said that the reduction in Twitter’s workforce affected only about 15 percent of the company’s trust and safety organization, compared to a general 50 percent company-wide cut. “More than 80 percent of our incoming content moderation volume was completely unaffected by this access change,” said Roth. “The daily volume of moderation actions we take stayed steady through this period.”

It’s worth noting that hate speech on the platform, including racist and derogatory slurs, soared in the initial days of the Musk acquisition, though that appears to have settled down for now.

Cossette is also reportedly wary about the upcoming U.S. midterm election, and how it might result in “a lot of focus on the platform for abuse.”

According to the CBC, the federal government spent over $3 million on Twitter ads through Cossette from 2020 to 2021.

Other companies that have paused advertising on Twitter include General Motors, Pfizer, Volkswagen, General Mills, Mondelez International, Nintendo and more.

The latest news on Twitter and Musk can be found here.

Source: CBC

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Mobile Syrup

ArriveCan cost $80,000 to make, but the government spent millions more

Following reports about federal government spending on the controversial ArriveCan app growing to $54 million, a new cost breakdown revealed it cost $80,000 to develop the app.

Per the Globe and Mail, the majority of the expenses can be traced to other related aspects of ArriveCan, just as updating the app, data management, cloud-hosting services and Service Canada call-centre time. The total breakdown is listed below:

  • New releases of ArriveCan (over 70 updates since launch): $8.8 million
  • Service Canada call-centre time: $7.5 million
  • Data management: $5.2 million
  • Indirect costs (like employee benefits and accommodations): $4.9 million
  • Identification of vaccinations: $4.6 million
  • Cloud hosting services: $4.6 million
  • IT systems: $4.5 million
  • Technical support: $4.5 million
  • Contingency: $3.8 million
  • Cyber security: $2.3 million
  • Website accessibility: $1.7 million
  • Internal project management: $1.6 million

The Globe got the figures after a parliamentary committee ordered federal departments to hand over key contracting documents related to ArriveCan by the end of the month. Moreover, the committee will hold at least two meetings about the app and hear from witnesses, including public servants and individuals from GCstrategies, the company that received the majority of federal spending related to work on the app.

This comes after a report earlier this month detailed $42 million in government spending on the app, with another $12.5 million approved to be spent throughout the rest of the year.

The high cost of the app is one of many concerns about ArriveCan, with privacy, the app’s mandatory nature, and ease of use also being top critiques.

Image credit: Shutterstock

Source: The Globe and Mail

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Cottage Life

As a cottager do I have to pay the Underused Housing Tax?

Photo by Shutterstock/Victor Merino

On June 9, 2022, the Underused Housing Tax (UHT), a new bill that levies an annual one per cent tax on foreign-owned residential properties considered underused, received royal assent.

Similar to B.C.’s Speculation and Vacancy Tax, the UHT is designed to prevent non-Canadian residents from buying Canadian real estate and driving up housing costs without actually living there.

When the tax was first proposed in August 2021, the Federation of Ontario Cottagers’ Associations (FOCA) was concerned that secondary property owners, such as cottagers, might be unintentionally caught in the crosshairs. If cottages fell under the definition of underused properties, owners would have to pay the tax.

“Without absolute clarity (being worked out currently in Committee hearings for Bill C-8) there was the fear that absentee [and] part-time, non-Canadian cottage residents would be subjected to a tax that was actually intended to address urban affordability and housing shortages,” said Terry Rees, president of FOCA.

The UHT legislation clarifies that the tax doesn’t apply to any Canadian residents, regardless of the number of properties they own within the country. The tax only applies to foreign owners. This means the bill could still impact Americans who own cottages in Canada.

However, when defining a “residential property,” the legislation’s language specifically targets detached homes, duplexes, triplexes, semi-detached homes, rowhouse units, and residential condos. It doesn’t mention cottages or recreational properties. Read the final version of the bill here.

The bill also exempts properties that aren’t suitable for year-round use. This means that if a cottage is zone residential but not winterized and can only be used for a portion of the year, it is exempt from the tax. Properties being rented out to someone on a long-term basis at a “fair rent” price are also exempt. Otherwise, the owner is expected to occupy the property for a minimum of six months a year.

For foreign owners who are required to pay the tax, an annual declaration for each residential property owned must be filed by April 30. The first filing would happen on April 30, 2023. The tax is then calculated as one per cent of the property’s taxable value.

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Cottage Life

How the federal government’s affordable housing strategies will affect buyers and sellers

Photo by Shutterstock/Colin Temple

On April 7, the federal government released its 2022 budget, which included strategies designed to tackle Canada’s housing crisis, including the lack of affordable housing. Low inventory combined with high demand has driven up housing prices across the country, says a Royal LePage report. In the first quarter of 2022, the price of a single-family home in Canada increased by 25.1 per cent to $856,900.

The cottage market has seen similar effects. In 2021, the national aggregate price of a single-family waterfront home jumped 21.5 per cent to $976,000, according to a Royal LePage report.

“Young people cannot imagine being able to afford the house they grew up in,” reads the 2022 budget. “Foreign investors and speculators are buying up homes that should be for Canadians to own. Rents in our major cities continue to climb, pushing people further and further away from where they work.”

To fill the housing demand, Finance Canada and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation estimate that the country will need to build 3.5 million new homes by 2031. To achieve this goal, the federal government has committed $72 billion in financial support over the next six years towards its affordable housing plan.

The plan’s strategies range from a Home Buyers’ Bill of Rights to tax credits for first-time home buyers. But not everyone’s convinced these strategies will accomplish the federal government’s goal of making housing more affordable.

“[The plan] will not lower housing prices,” says Frank Clayton, a professor at the Toronto Metropolitan University’s Centre for Urban Research and Land Development, in an email. “The best they can do is to slow down price growth over a longer term.”

Clayton does, however, say that he thinks the budget’s Housing Accelerator Fund could be effective. The fund commits $4 billion over the next five years to support the housing development needs of municipalities. How municipalities use the money is flexible, but the goal of the fund is to create 100,000 new housing units over the next five years.

The budget includes a long list of other strategies. To get a better understanding of how the government’s plan will affect buyers and sellers, here’s a breakdown of the key strategies:

A tax-free first home savings account

The budget will introduce a tax-free savings account to help Canadians with the down payment on their first home and ultimately create a more affordable housing strategy. The account will function similar to an RRSP with tax-deductible contributions, and, similar to a TFSA, withdrawals will be non-taxable.

Prospective first-time home buyers will be able to save up to $40,000, with an $8,000 maximum annual deposit. The federal government says it plans to launch the Tax-Free First Home Savings Account in 2023.

Doubling the First-Time Home Buyers’ Tax Credit

On top of the tax-free savings account, the federal government has doubled the First-Time Home Buyers’ Tax Credit to $10,000 in an effort to assist with the significant closing costs associated with buying a home. The tax credit applies to homes bought on or after January 1, 2022.

Creating a Home Buyers’ Bill of Rights

The federal government has pledged to create a Home Buyers’ Bill of Rights to eliminate real estate practices it feels are driving up prices. This includes cottage real estate, not just homes. The two practices the government is targeting are buyers having to forgo property inspections to make their offers more desirable and blind bidding.

The federal government says it will work with provinces and territories to make home inspections a legal right while phasing out blind bidding altogether. Blind bidding is the default practice real estate agents use across Canada when they engage in a multi-offer scenario. It requires buyers to bid for a property without knowing the size of competing offers. In certain circumstances, it can cause a buyer to significantly overbid, inflating the property’s selling price.

But Katie Steinfeld, broker of record for real estate agency On The Block, says that eliminating blind bidding might actually drive up real estate prices. “A lot of buyers, their argument is when they’re in a blind bidding situation, they don’t want to go up any higher because they don’t know what the next highest offer is. They don’t want to overpay,” she says. “But if they know what they need to pay in order to get the home, that can push them up even higher.”

Steinfeld sides with professor Frank Clayton, saying that many of the federal government’s housing policies don’t speak to one another. If Canada wants to see affordable housing, it needs a lot more new inventory than what was proposed in the 2022 budget, she says, especially since the government has opened up its immigration policy and is planning to welcome over 400,000 new immigrants each year.

A two-year ban on foreign investment in Canadian housing

While foreign investment doesn’t play a major role in cottage country, the federal government has argued that it is pricing Canadians out of homes in urban centres, such as Vancouver and Toronto. That’s why the 2022 budget proposes a regulation that would prohibit all foreign commercial enterprises and non-permanent residents from buying residential property for two years. It has yet to be announced when this regulation would go into effect.

Steinfeld, however, argues that the federal government is aiming its restrictions at the wrong group. According to the Canadian Housing Statistics Program, 2.2 per cent of residential properties in Ontario were owned by non-residents in 2020, and 3.1 per cent in B.C. Whereas multiple-property owning Canadians made up 31 per cent of Ontario’s residential real estate market in 2020 and 29 per cent in B.C., with many of the properties used as rentals.

“That is much more significant than the foreign investment piece,” Steinfeld says. “I think that if they would have created policies to require increased down payment from [multiple-property owning Canadians], perhaps that might have had more of an impact versus just banning foreign buyers altogether.”

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Mobile Syrup

Federal government invests millions to help Manitoba’s heavy vehicle sector reduce emissions

The federal government wants to help Manitoba’s heavy vehicle and equipment sector go green with a $2.9 million investment.

The funding will go towards the Vehicle Technology Centre (VTC). The non-profit organization works with several leading companies to support technological advancements in the industry. The money is coming from a Prairies Economic Development Canada program.

Companies with the VTC will use the funding for research and development, helping manufacturers to move toward zero-emission propulsion.

“Manitoba has a proud history of manufacturing large, on and off-road vehicles and equipment that are exported all over the world. These urban, highway and agricultural products are designed, developed and built right here in our province,” Ron Vanderwees, VTC CEO, said.

“The products and processes developed with this support will help Canada and other countries meet emission targets and maintain Manitoba’s leadership in heavy vehicle and equipment and low volume manufacturing process technology,” he continued.

The recently released federal budget has a couple of notable mentions about the government’s goal to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. This includes creating the Canada Growth Fund, which in part, will focus on helping businesses reduce their emissions.

Source: Prairies Economic Development Canada 

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Mobile Syrup

January round-up: network expansions around Canada

5G smart mobile telephone radio network antenna base station on the telecommunication mast radiating signal

Telecom companies make multiple announcements every month on infrastructure improvements and network expansions they’re making across the county.

To keep up with the growing list and track how successful companies are in keeping up with their promises, MobileSyrup publishes monthly recaps following announcements made by telecom companies and government bodies.

Here are the announcements for the first month of 2022.

Telus

January 24th: The telecom giant partners with the University of Ottawa to create a 5G innovation hub. The $6 million investment brings 5G across the university’s multiple campuses.

Government bodies

January 25th: The government of Canada allocated thousands to bring high-speed internet to the rural Ontario communities of Hearst, Flamborough and Limehouse. 

January 26th: The federal government invested $6.9 million towards five projects that will bring high-speed internet to residents across 20 rural Ontario communities. The investment will benefit 3,445 households.

January 31st: Thanks to the Connected Coat project, residents across B.C. will see improved internet connectivity by 2023. The group laid its first 50 kilometres of fibre optic cable, which will help provide high-speed internet to 139 rural and coastal communities along the B.C coast. The federal and provincial governments support the project.

TekSavvy

January 18th: The independent service provider expands its fibre service to Cedar Springs and Blenheim, Ontario, reaching 700 households and businesses across the two communities.

January 25th: TekSavvy continues the expansion in Chatham-Kent, Ontario. It launched its fibre-to-the-home service across the communities of Grande Pointe, Mitchell’s Bay and Pain Court. Residents and businesses can receive up to 1Gbps internet and unlimited bandwidth.

January 27th: The expansion continues along Riverview Line and Grande River Line, giving access to 300 homes and businesses.

January 31st: It launches its fibre-to-the-home service in Chatham-Kent’s Bothwell neighbourhood, granting access to 480 homes and businesses.

Rogers

January 18th: Rogers expands its fibre connection to Dieppe, Moncton, Riverview, and Shediac in New Brunswick. The connection impacts 314,000 homes and businesses and allows all of them to access Rogers’ fleet of services.

January 19th: The Toronto telecom giant expands its 5G network to eight eastern Ontario communities. It’s part of a partnership with the federal and provincial governments and the Eastern Ontario Regional Network.

January 25th: Rogers announced it’s constructing six new cell towers along Highway 4 in B.C., providing 85 kilometres of coverage.

Image credit: ShutterStock

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Mobile Syrup

Federal government allocates thousands to improve internet services in Hearst, Ontario

OTTAWA, CANADA – NOVEMBER 10, 2018: Canada Wordmark, the official logo of the Canadian government, on an administrative building next to a Canadian flag waiving

Hundred of households in Hearst, Ontario will soon benefit from improved internet connectivity thanks to a recent announcement made by the federal government.

$763,000 has been allocated to bring high-speed internet to 373 households in the Northern Ontario town.

The funding is coming from the Universal Broadband Fund. The government has dedicated nearly $3 billion towards the fund to support projects bringing high-speed internet to communities in Canada.

131 projects were supported by funding through this stream last year, benefiting 75,000 households in remote communities across Canada.

The recent announcement is part of the government’s initiative to ensure 98 percent of residents have access to high-speed internet by 2026 and more announcements are expected.

“We will continue making investments like these in rural and remote communities to help connect every single Canadian to high-speed internet,” Gudie Hutchings, Minister of Rural Economic Development, said in a statement.

Image credit: ShutterStock

Source: Government of Canada