Canadians will work full-time all 2008 to earn an average wage of $38,998. But by 10:33 a.m. January 2, the 100 best-paid CEOs of public companies in Canada will have already pocketed that average Canadian wage.

And they will continue to earn the average Canadian wage every nine hours and 33 minutes for the rest of the year.

On average, the best-paid 100 CEOs make more than 218 times as much as a Canadian working full-time for a full year at the average of weekly employment earnings.

CEO Salary Calculator | GrowingGap.ca

… Alberta’s minimum wage will increase from $7 to $8 per hour on September 1, 2007, to reflect the latest economic indicators.

“This increase to Alberta’s minimum wage is good news for Albertans,” said Premier Ed Stelmach. “With an increase to $8, Alberta’s minimum wage will be the highest in Canada after taxes.”

“Minimum wage offers protection for workers,” said Iris Evans, Minister of Employment, Immigration and Industry. “It sets the minimum rate of pay that employers must meet and ensures that workers, especially women and youth, who traditionally are in the lower income occupations, are making a better wage. This will help recruit and retain new employees in Alberta’s labour force.”

With Alberta’s vibrant economy and low unemployment, most employers are already paying more than minimum wage. Three per cent of Alberta’s workforce, about 41,000 people, currently earn less than $8 per hour.

, and will be indexed to changes in the average weekly wage. Indexing minimum wage to the average weekly wage will reflect the actual wage changes that occurred the year before.

Providing a fair and balanced wage is a key action under Premier Ed Stelmach’s plan to manage growth pressures and improve Albertans’ quality of life. Other priorities for the government are to govern with integrity and transparency, build a stronger Alberta and provide safe and secure communities.

Phased Retirement
The Income Tax Regulations currently prohibit phased retirement arrangements by preventing employees from accruing pension benefits under a defined benefit registered pension plan if they receive a pension from the plan of the same or a related employer.

The Budget proposes to permit an employer to simultaneously pay a partial pension to an employee and provide further pension benefit accruals to the employee. A corresponding reduction in salary or work time will not be required. The measure will apply only to employees aged 55 years and over who are entitled to an unreduced pension. These changes will come into effect beginning in 2008.

Increasing the Age Limit for Maturing RPPs and RRSPs
The Income Tax Act currently requires that contributions to an individual�s registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) cease and the funds be converted to a registered retirement income fund (RRIF), or to be used to acquire a qualifying annuity, by the end of the year in which the individual turns 69 years of age. Similarly, registered pension plan (RPP) payments must generally begin by the end of the year in which the pension plan member turns 69 years of age and accruals must cease at such time.

The Budget proposes to increase the RRSP/RPP maturation age limit to 71 years of age, effective for the 2007 and subsequent taxation years.

RRIF owners must withdraw a specified minimum amount each year following the year in which the RRIF is established. This requirement will be waived for 2007, for those RRIF owners who turn 71 years of age in 2007, and for 2007 and 2008, for those RRIF owners who turn 70 years of age in 2007.

RRSP Qualified Investments
The list of qualified investments that can be held by RRSPs and other registered plans will be expanded to include most investment-grade debt and publicly-listed securities. These changes will apply on or after March 19, 2007, and will provide registered plan investors with greater investment choice and diversification opportunities.

Pension Income Splitting
The Tax Fairness Plan released October 31, 2006 provided for the splitting of pension income between spouses and the Budget reaffirms the Government�s commitment to enact such plan.

For further information, please contact a member of Blakes Pension & Employee Benefits Group

March 2007 Federal Budget - Pension and Retirement Savings Changes – Article Preview.

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This logbook helps employees and employers comply with both federal and Quebec tax rules dealing with the use of automobiles made available to employees. It is not intended for the computation of the stand-by charge or of the operating costs of an automobile.

In the March 30, 2004, Budget, the Quebec Ministry of Finance introduced an additional compliance requirement for employees who are provided with an automobile. Since January 1, 2005, in addition to recording the number of days during the year that the automobile was made available to the employee and the number of kilometres travelled each day for employment purposes, the employee has to provide the employer with a copy of the logbook no later than the tenth day after:

• the end of the year, when the automobile is made available to the employee at the end of the year, or
• the end of the period in which the automobile was made available to the employee, if the period ends before the end of the year.

Employees not providing employers with the logbook within the prescribed time limit may incur, in Quebec, a penalty of $200.

This logbook can be helpful to taxpayers in meeting this new compliance requirement, especially in Quebec, as Revenu Québec does not provide a prescribed logbook or form. You may request the Excel version of this logbook from your Deloitte tax advisor.

Canada, tax, automobile logbook 2007 from Deloitte & Touche LLP