Qualifying for the Home Buyers’ Plan + MORE Nov 29th

LONDON – A leading credit ratings agency is warning that a surge in populism and anti-establishment sentiment is pushing the world into an era of economic nationalism to the detriment of long-term global growth.
In its outlook for 2017, Fitch Ratings says increased trade protectionism and weaker migration flows would dampen growth in advanced economies though short-term budgetary measures will likely provide a boost for next year.
Fitch has revised up its global growth forecasts for next year by 0.1 percentage point, largely on the back of a fiscal boost expected in the U.S. following Donald Trump’s January inauguration as president.
One downside risk, Fitch says, centres on whether the “populist surge” accentuates tensions in Europe.
Fitch identified Britain’s vote to leave the European Union and Trump’s election as acts of populism.
The post Fitch warns of ‘populist surge’ on global growth appeared first on Canadian Business – Your Source For Business News.

TORONTO – Scotiabank is reporting a nine per cent increase in fourth-quarter net income, compared with the same time last year.
The bank (TSX:BNS) is reporting $2.01 billion of net income for the three months ended Oct. 31, up from $1.84 billion a year earlier.
That amounted to $1.57 per share, up eight per cent from $1.45 per share in the fourth quarter.
Scotiabank’s revenue for the quarter was $6.75 billion, up from $6.13 billion.
Its provision for credit losses was $550 million, down $1 million from a year earlier.
For the full 2016 financial year, ended Oct. 31, Scotiabank had $7.37 billion or net income, or $5.77 per diluted share, up from $7.21 billion up from $5.67 per share in fiscal 2015.
The post Scotiabank Q4 profit up 9% to $2.01 billion, provisions for credit losses flat appeared first on Canadian Business – Your Source For Business News.

Holiday Travel. Everyone is excited to visit family and friends for the holidays. Drinking hot chocolate, singing Christmas carols, opening presents are just some of what we look forward to. What many people aren’t excited about is the travel part and the booking of it. You can’t get the flights you want because your loyalty program has sold all their seats or they want much higher than usual redemption amounts. Or flights are available but getting from Vancouver to Montreal includes stops in Edmonton and Toronto. Or maybe its the week before Christmas and you decide last minute that you and your family want to up and go the day after Christmas to somewhere warm and sunny, the likelihood of finding award tickets is not ideal.  So what can you do about it?You use a card that lets you book any flight at any time and then pay for it with points after the fact. We look at it in our feature Why proprietary credit card reward programs are the best option for most Canadians and one of the mainstays in our wallet and our top recommendation to many of you is the American Express Gold Rewards Card…

Q: My boyfriend and I have lived together for the last year in a house he bought before we met. Now, we plan on buying a place together. But when I asked my bank advisor how to use the Home Buyers’ Plan, he said we no longer qualify because we are not first-time buyers. Is this true?
—Amanda, Calgary
A: The confusion has to do with when you and your boyfriend are first considered a common-law couple. Typically, provincial rules dictate when this designation applies, but under federal law a couple is considered common-law if they’ve lived together for at least a year. To qualify for the federal HBP, you must be a first-time home buyer, or someone who has not owned, or lived with someone who has owned, property in the four years before applying to use your RRSP money through the HBP. So your bank advisor is correct: You don’t qualify as a first-time home buyer because you lived with your boyfriend as a common-law spouse and he owned property. Also, unfortunately, neither of you will qualify for the Home Buyers’ Tax Credit, a rebate of up to $750 given to first-time buyers (based on the same criteria as the HBP)…

CBC.caTory's pitch on tolls isn't an ideal solution, but it's the best on offerThe Globe and MailGord Perks is one of the strongest environmentalists on Toronto city council, with years of activism to his credit before he became a councillor in 2006. He is also a proud man of the left who has argued for years that city hall can't solve its money …Mayor John Tory tours future York University subway station to push road tollsCBC.caTime for 905ers to pay their share: ToryToronto SunPoll: Toronto voters in favour of road tolls to pay for transit, infrastructure projectsCTV NewsinsideTORONTO.comall 31 news articles »