The 12 best 5-year GIC rates sit between 4.17% and 4.45% against a Government of Canada 5-year yield of 3.60%, and the same rise in yields has opened a year-end loss-selling window.

The prescribed rate stays at 3% from October 1 to December 31, half its early 2024 peak. The rate on a spousal or family trust loan is fixed on the day the loan is made, and the interest is due by January 30.

A family loan made by December 31 locks in 3% for life, the Government of Canada 10-year yield is near 4%, and the January 30 interest deadline falls on a Saturday.

Gold bought in August now carries a capital loss worth harvesting in non-registered and corporate accounts, but a repurchase in an RRSP or TFSA can erase the deduction permanently.

CPI data the CRA has already published makes the 2027 TFSA contribution limit mathematically certain at $7,500, a number advisors can build into client conversations months before the formal announcement.

The rate that governs family income splitting loans has not moved since the third quarter of 2025, regardless of what the Bank of Canada has done with its own rate in the meantime.

Ottawa formally cancelled the increase to a two-thirds inclusion rate in March 2025, and the rate stays at 50% for 2026, but the Lifetime Capital Gains Exemption kept climbing anyway, and the 100% capital gains inclusion built into the Alternative Minimum Tax is the change most advisors have not modelled into a large realisation yet.

The indexation formula behind the annual Tax-Free Savings Account limit has already produced enough built-in inflation to trigger a jump to $7,500 next year, even before the final month of data is confirmed.

The CRA base rate holds at 3 percent for a sixth straight quarter, and the loans set up now lock that rate in for good.