Budget 2026 is tabled in the House of Commons this afternoon, and the one planning tool already visible before the document lands is the CRA prescribed rate, which has held at 3% for six consecutive quarters while the Bank of Canada tightens policy.
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced the Nov. 5 date on Oct. 20. KPMG Canada notes that budgets can introduce tax measures effective immediately, so transactions sensitive to a rule change warrant review before the release. The Canadian Press reports that Champagne has promised relief for small and medium-sized businesses without specifics, and that analysts expect deficits slightly smaller than the spring update projected because higher oil prices from the Iran war are lifting federal revenue.
What Budget Day Can Change for Each Account Type
The registered account limits are already set. The 2027 RRSP dollar limit is $35,390, announced by the CRA on Oct. 30, 2025 and up $1,580 from $33,810 for 2026. The 2026 TFSA limit is $7,000, which puts cumulative room at $109,000 for a Canadian eligible since 2009. The 2027 TFSA figure is not yet announced: the CRA published it on Nov. 29 in 2023 and 2024, and on Dec. 1 in 2025. The FHSA allows $8,000 a year to a lifetime maximum of $40,000.
The exposure sits in non-registered and corporate accounts. The capital gains inclusion rate is 50%, after the proposed increase to two-thirds was cancelled in March 2025, and no new change has been announced. A $100,000 gain at the 53.53% top Ontario combined rate produces about $26,765 of tax at a 50% inclusion rate.
For incorporated owners, the Productivity Mega Deduction, announced in September and expected to cost $36 billion over five years, offers upfront write-offs for equipment and machinery. That makes the timing of capital purchases a live question for any corporation deciding whether to wait for the budget text.
The 3% Prescribed Rate Loan Window
The CRA set the Q4 2026 base prescribed rate at 3%, the sixth consecutive quarter at that level. The rate applies to loans to a spouse, common-law partner or family trust used for income splitting, and for those loans the rate in effect when the loan is made stays locked for its life. Employee and shareholder loans differ: the taxable benefit is recalculated each quarter at the prevailing rate, which is also 3% in Q4.
The base rate peaked at 6% in the first half of 2024 and has sat at 3% since the third quarter of 2025, a flat run that the setting formula now leaves with less than one point of headroom.
The base rate is the average 90-day Government of Canada Treasury bill yield from the first month of the preceding quarter, rounded up to the next whole percentage. The shaded band marks the run of unchanged readings that began in the third quarter of 2025.
The Rounding Rule Sets the Deadline
The base rate is the average yield on 90-day Government of Canada Treasury bills from the first month of the preceding quarter, rounded up to the next whole percentage. Advisor.ca reported on Oct. 22 that two October auctions, at 2.41% on Oct. 6 and 2.53% on Oct. 20, averaged 2.47%, which keeps the Q1 2027 rate at 3%, the seventh straight quarter.
Because the formula rounds up, an October-style average anywhere above 3.00% moves the rate to 4%. The gap today is 0.53 points. The Bank of Canada raised its overnight rate to 2.5% on Oct. 28, markets price four quarter-point hikes by the end of 2027 that would take it to 3.25%, and the next decision is Dec. 9. The Q2 2027 rate will be set from January auctions, so a December hike raises the odds that the January average clears 3.00%, though it does not guarantee it.
Two cautions apply to any prescribed rate structure. The borrowing spouse must earn after-tax returns above the 3% cost, and the interest must be paid by Jan. 30 of each following year to keep the attribution rules from applying. Family trusts carry a further risk: trusts generally do not receive the alternative minimum tax basic exemption, which is $181,440 for individuals in 2026, and Scotiabank Wealth Management has said a family trust is likely to incur AMT on the interest expense and investment counselling fees.
Which Clients Sit Where Before Dec. 31
Incorporated owners face the Mega Deduction timing question and a 6.29% corporate rate on pertinent loans, against 7% on overdue tax. Unincorporated, higher-income couples with unequal marginal rates are the natural prescribed rate loan candidates. Retirees whose assets sit mainly in RRSPs, RRIFs and TFSAs are insulated from inclusion rate changes but not from the rate path.
For accumulators, the calendar-year deadlines are Dec. 31 for TFSA ($7,000) and FHSA ($8,000) room, and Dec. 31 for RESP contributions to earn the 20% Canada Education Savings Grant on the first $2,500. The RRSP deadline for the 2026 tax year is March 1, 2027. Dec. 30 is the last trade date that settles in 2026 under T+1, and the superficial loss rule can deny a loss on a repurchase within 30 days, including a repurchase inside an RRSP or TFSA.