The Standing Senate Committee on National Finance has the honour to present its

FOURTEENTH REPORT

Your committee, to which was referred Bill C-241, An Act to amend the Income Tax Act (deduction of travel expenses for tradespersons), has, in obedience to the order of reference of Thursday, June 8, 2023, examined the said bill and now reports the same without amendment but with certain observations, which are appended to this report.

Respectfully submitted,

Observations to the Fourteenth Report of the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance (Bill C-241)

Your committee agrees, in principle, with the intended goals of Bill C-241 especially in light of the chronic housing shortages across Canada. This bill provides greater financial incentives for tradespeople and apprentices to travel for work than the existing Labour Mobility Deduction for Tradespeople.

However, the Committee would like to highlight that the Parliamentary Budget Officer testified on October 24, 2023, that Bill C-241 “could cause confusion for taxpayers forced to choose between two nearly identical deductions that serve the same purpose” and “could result in administrative complications for the Canada Revenue Agency.” Representatives from the Department of Finance Canada made similar points.

Moreover, members of the Committee expressed concerns about the lack of clear definitions and guidelines set out in the bill which include no minimum period of relocation, no definition of what constitutes “construction activity” or “travel expenses” and no requirement for income earned from the jobs they travel for.