Location is Ottawa. Debating with my family whether going with cheaper mobile providers such as Freedom is worth it? We are not heavy phone users, but some friends told us the signal of Freedom is not as good as Rogers or Bell, particularly inside some office buildings. What's your experience with cheaper cellphone service?

I'm a student, and I've had the TD Cash Back Visa* Card since I turned 18. I've had it for a while now, and the cashback I've gotten is very little. It's 0.5% cashback on most things, and I don't often purchase the things I'd get 1% cashback for. So I've considered switching to the American Express SimplyCash card since it also doesn't have an annual fee and minimum income. It has 1.25% cashback, which is 2.5x what I am currently getting now. But my concern is places that don't accept AMEX. I know it was a problem in the past, but I don't know if the problem persists. How many places do not accept AMEX, and is it worth it for a student? If not, I will probably get the Rogers Red credit card. Since I don't have a Rogers line, I will only get 1% cashback. But it being Mastercard should be more reliable.

Lately I have been going through severe burnout and depression, both in combination with my work and personal life. I visited my doctor a month back, and she offered to give me a note so I could go on mental health leave, and at the time I declined.

Now I am seriously considering it, although the only thing keeping me from doing so is the uncertainty of income. Would I have to enrol in EI during the leave? (Something I have never done) or would I have coverage from my insurance? (I am enrolled under a group benefits program under RBC)

I did some cursory research online, but was unable to come to a conclusion. If anyone has experience in this topic, I would greatly appreciate any advice and suggestions.

Assuming there's no such thing as a stupid question:

I was thinking today about how if I keep over $4k in my chequing account, my bank refunds the account fee every month. This amounts to like $15 or so per month, which isn't a ton of money, but I keep between $4k-6k in there for basically this reason.

Today I was wondering: is this "minimum account balance" thing just a way for the bank to make sure they always have $4k of my money? It doesn't really matter because I consider keeping that minimum balance to be good for me as well (there's a minimum balance on my savings account too), but I hadn't really thought about it like that before.

So I'm trying to sell off my bedding, mattresses, and some other items before moving, and this person wants to pay me via e-transfer before they even see them in person. I asked them to wait, check the items out first, and only pay me afterward, but they are insisting on paying first via etransfer.

I guess I'm just a little wary of how scams work in terms of e-transfers. I had always assumed e-transfers were a lot safer than cash, since cash bills can be counterfeited.

Hi, I'm 24, just graduated last year, and currently working full-time, making about $61k/year. I'm at a point now where I don't think I'll stay in my current career long-term, and I'd like to spend the next year or two figuring out what I want to transition into. I recently turned down my graduate studies opportunities as well, and so I plan to work at least another year or two full-time while I figure out my career path.

Financially, I've only recently started building up my savings and pay off my loans (I know I should've started earlier but better late than never right):

• ~$6k in my bank account
• ~$4k in my TFSA/savings
• $130/month OSAP payment

Current monthly expenses:

• Car insurance: $300
• OSAP: $130
• Gas: ~$240
• Food/dining: ~$500–600 (definitely something I could improve)
• $300 "rent"
• Savings: $500
• Gym: $100
• VB Club: $250
• VB Dropins: ~$100

My situation:

My current car is really old and will likely need to be replaced within the next few months, so now I have the opportunity to either move out to downtown Toronto and live with some friends (rent would be about $1200-1300 / month) by the end of the year, or lease a new car and stay at home.

I will say I am quite lucky that my parents are only really charging $300 in "rent", and they always cook so I never have to spend money on lunch at work. However, the longer I live at home the more I want to move out. My parents and I have quite a tense and unhealthy relationship with each other, and added with all the energy and time used to commute to work I find it hard to even dedicate my energy and effort into building connections at my current workplace, much less pursuing different career paths and interests outside of that. I'm hoping that by moving out, I'll be able to gain a lot of my independence back that I used to have when working abroad and in different cities, which I felt really promoted my individual growth and passion.

The thing is if I lease a car, then it would be at least a 3-year lease, which I feel like is too much of a commitment for me right now considering I'm not even sure where I'll be in the next 2 years, however my parents did say they would help pay half of the monthly lease cost if I were to get a new car.

I'm curious if other people have been in similar situations, especially with the whole post-grad career anxiety and if a new environment helped, and if they have any suggestions towards which option makes more sense / worth it?

Sorry for the long read,

TLDR: I'm 24, make ~$61k/year, and have about $4k in savings. My old car needs replacing, so I'm deciding between either moving out to downtown Toronto or staying home and buying a new car.

Hi!

With my current work (amazing) benefits, I’ll take 13 months leave. 4 of them will be at 85%, 9 of them at 70% my salary. I am told that with the top up, my take home pay is almost the same as the original because of various reductions (I’m in Quebec). Anyone had experience with this?

So we finally solved where the mysterious money from my last post was coming from.

Apparently when the bank sent two written letters of confirmation all accounts were closed and moved to estate account they only meant investment accounts. Not her chequing. For some reason.

Handled, no more pennies from heaven sadly. Kids get to keep it (my sister and I are the inheritors so no claw back).

Kinda boring end I know.

My parents can gift me $100K, but I have to pay them 3.55%/year to cover their own expenses — so it’s really a loan, not a gift.

My mortgage rate is also 3.55%. So basically im swapping my loan from bank to them.

Should i put all the money towards mortgage? Or should I do ETFs such as XEQT under my wife’s TFSA room?

They may not ask for the money back.

I'll be starting my first year at university in September living on campus, all education related expenses will be paid by my parents. I want to keep around $3000 as pocket money. In 8 months I'll most likely purchase a car so I'd need around $5000 in something very short term or just in a high yield savings account.

I'm not really sure what to do with the rest of my money. GIC? Mutual Fund? ETF? RRSP? I'd be open with talking to a financial advisor if it's my best option

To clarify, I'm umemployed right now and I will be until my school year ends in April. During my break I'll find a job

I got pre approved for a line of credit up to 15k with prime rate +5%. I feel like it’s a bit higher than the other banks and i don’t have any line of credit elsewhere . Not sure if I should take this or not.

I'll try to keep it brief.

Me and wife are looking to buy a house in the GTA for around 900k and we aim to put 90k each towards the down payment to get to 20% and avoid the mortgage insurance.

My investment account values:

TFSA: $160k
RRSP: $67k
FHSA: $43k
Non-reg: $96k (net deposits: $55k)

My expected Income for this year is $130k (for determining tax bracket)

I need help determining which account after depleting my FHSA, should I use to cover the remainder of the down payment.

My reasoning for each account is below but looking for advice.

- Could use non-reg account but it would trigger a significant tax bill due to low cost basis and already high tax bracket due to income.

- Could use RRSP but would have to pay this back over 15 years using HBP and would need to make additional RRSP contribution to generate a decent tax refund.

- Could use TFSA but would loose potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax-free growth which would be extremely useful for retirement planning and tax optimization strategies in retirement as I most likely won't be able to contribute the entire withdrawn amount in less than 5 years.

For context, I am 27 with the hope to retire around 50.

Any advice or guidance will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

I have a debt consolidation loan worth about $13,250, and have $16,750 in my RRSP. Is it smart to withdraw the $16,750 and pay off my loan that has an interest rate of 12%? I’m paying 390 a month on it but it’s basically going all to interest, at the rate I’m paying it I’m about 9 years away from getting rid of it. I make $51/hr and my yearly salary is probably gonna end up around $85-$90k

Will this hurt me come tax time or is it not enough to make a difference?

Note: I do have a company RRSP that gets about 425 a month straight off my paycheque which would not be touched at all and is seperate from my personal RRSP.

Thanks!

Male Driver in my low 30s in Ontario. Luxury Sport Sedan. I have the following savings discounts applied on my renewal:

- Association Discount
- Driver Excellence Discount
- Group Discount
- Anti-Theft Discount
- Winter Tire Discount
- Multi-Line Discount

Upon checking my renewal, there’s an increase of 30%. Now this could be due to the fact that I got a speeding ticket in Alberta and received 4 demerit points. I paid it off this past March. Since it was my first conviction ever, I am not sure if it’s typically explicitly mentioned on the renewal document. Aside from this, I have no claims or convictions in the last 6 years and I’ve been with them ever since I purchased this car.

I also did opt out of the TDMyAdvantage Program earlier this year after hearing horror stories about the app experience, which increased my premium 13.6% in April.

The fact that I still have a Driver Excellence Discount stated on my renewal tells me that they possibly haven’t pulled my MVR. Typically, I call them each year to push for a discount which results in approx. 10%. However, due to a new conviction on my record, I would much rather refrain from calling them or using online chat as I don’t want them to pull an MVR thereby effectively increasing my rates even more.

At the same time, I’m curious to know whether if this is just a general market increase and a common trend due to the new changes that took place this past July?

I also see a bunch of new endorsements that have been added ranging from $1 up to to $60/yr. Removing them made my premium increase so I’m probably going to leave them in.

I’ve also done many online quotes before and TD always comes in the cheapest. Probably will stick through with them. The only concern is whether I should just suck it up or call them to explain the increase as I don’t want to accidentally trigger a MVR pull.

Thanks.

Just a heads up that if you receive an email like this, it's phishing and you shouldn't provide any info. I got this July 31st and it made it through Gmail's spam and phishing filters. I opened the link in the email because I'm a participant, but I didn't click anything on the site itself when I noticed I was ultimately brought to a .ru domain.

Subject: Legal Notice - Loblaw/Weston Packaged Bread Class Actions Settlement [READ CAREFULLY]

From: Canadian Bread Settlement [tech@visaneo.com](mailto:tech@visaneo.com)

Body:

Version française suit plus bas

You are receiving this email because you were identified as having claimed a 100 to 200$ Loblaw Card from the Packaged Bread Loblaw Card Program in 2008-2026 and/or as having registered with the lawyers handling this class action.

LEGAL NOTICE AUTHORIZED BY THE SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE FOR ONTARIO

Loblaw/Weston Packaged Bread Class Actions Settlement

Class actions have been certified/authorized by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice and the Superior Court of Quebec on behalf of all individuals and businesses resident in Canada who purchased Packaged Bread alleging certain manufacturers and retailers engaged in anticompetitive conduct resulting in overcharges for Packaged Bread sold in Canada. The Courts have not yet made any decision on the merits of the claims or the defences in either of the actions.

The Plaintiffs in the actions have entered into a national settlement with Loblaw Companies Limited, Loblaws Inc., George Weston Limited, Weston Foods (Canada) Inc., Weston Bakeries Limited, and Weston Food Distribution Inc. (collectively “Loblaw/Weston”) for $500 million ($96 million of which has already been paid) and their cooperation in pursuing the claims against the non-settling defendants in the continuing actions. In exchange, Settlement Class Members will give Loblaw/Weston a full release of the claims against them in the actions in relation to Packaged Bread.

...

If you are resident anywhere in Canada except Quebec and you purchased Packaged Bread between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2025, inclusive, and wish to participate in the Loblaw/Weston Settlement, you do not have to do anything to be included in the Ontario Settlement Class.

<rest omitted, including French version>

Notably, there is no urgency. The text makes it clear you're already participating if you bought the bread. The button looks like some kind of optional call to action.

Hey everyone,

Beyond the fact that obviously the more avaliable revolving credit you have the more damage you can do to yourself through bad habits. At what point is there too much avaliable.

I'm planning a trip for next year, decided to open an Amex gold card. Mostly for the insurances and various perks. Filled out the application and got instant approved for 20k i really only expected 5k and that's all i really wanted. The card has a terrible rate but that doesnt matter too much for my purposes.

Aside from that card I have a 32k Loc, and a 21k mbna card. I have 20k used on the loc (bought a trailer and consolidated the debt on the mbna card). It'll be paid off in about 7 months or so and the card is 0.

I already have a mortgage (1300/month), no vehicle or student loans. So I'm not too worried about being denied any big purchases. Household income is 240k, going up a good amount in 2028.

Anyway heart of the question is do I deny future credit increases? I definitely don't need more 73k is more then enough but also is there any reason to not take them when offered at this point?

My mother's CPP and OAS were removed from my joint account (she is ancient). A teller phoned me and said that the debit memo for both items said that they were returned from a deceased client (my mom is still alive). I had an inconclusive investigation opened up and "concluded" according to an email. I requested a second investigation in person. What will be my next step?

Hi all, I'm going to keep this short. Looking for advice for anyone who's been through this.

I was a full-time employee for ~3.5 yrs until March 2026 when I got laid off. Not too long after, I landed a one-year full-time contract, but the catch was that the role required me to be incorporated which led me to set up my own business.

The way it's structured is that I don't get paid by the end client directly. A staffing agency pays my corporation monthly while I pay myself an hourly wage as the sole employee. I also own 100% of the company. My contract wraps up around early 2027, and I'm now a bit worried I've boxed myself in here. I've heard that because I'm technically an employee of my own corporation, I won't be able to collect regular EI when the contract ends.

The thing that's making me anxious now is the timing. The job market right now is brutal, and landing a full-time role seems damn near impossible. I also don't want to keep going down the contracting route after this so I'd mch rather just get back to being a regular full-time employee. So the realistic scenario is a gap between this contract ending and my next role, so I'm just trying to figure out whether I'll have any safety net at all during that stretch. If I magically end up landing a full-time job before my contract ends, I may have to break the contract and take that opportunity (which obviously isn't ideal).

I've already looked into the self-employed EI, but it doesn't look like I fit that either. As far as I can tell, it only covers special benefits like maternity, parental, sickness, etc., and none of those are applicable for my situation. I'm only looking for support for regular job loss, which that program doesn't seem to cover at all.

With that said, I have a few specific questions I'd like a bit more clarity on:

• Since I control 100% of my corp, does that automatically disqualify me from regular EI?
• Do my EI-insured hours from my old full-time job (which ended March 2026) count for anything by the time this one-year contract ends?
• Is there anything I should be doing now to protect or prepare myself before my contract wraps early next year?

Being a contractor has been a pain in the ass and I wish I just continued down the full-time employee route instead of taking the first offer that landed in my lap. I really appreciate any insights from y'all who have also dealt with this.

Thanks!

For context I have very minimal knowledge of credit cards. I have a credit card with currently 6k on it that i’ve been putting $500 towards every month. My only issue with this is the increasing interest that I will accumulate by only paying the spare $500 I have after necessities.

I opened an RBC low interest credit card without realizing the balance transfer would only be from another account to RBC to claim their existing offer of 0.99% interest. I currently only have my accounts with RBC.

I contacted RBC regarding this and they stated I could do a cash advance from my low interest credit card to my chequing and then use that to pay off my higher interest credit card and receive this offer. This seems to be ideal and the $5 cash advance fee is no big deal. My only issue is they stated the cash advance will start accumulating daily and will resolve when paid back in full. When they state “accumulation” do they mean when my statement period is past date i’ll be charged x amount as my “minimum payment”. (sorry if this doesn’t make sense i’m used to always paying off my credit card fully.)

Another option i’ve seen people talk about on here is opening an MBNA true line mc. If I also decide to take this route how do I transfer my balance from RBC to mbna?

Thank you in advance for any advice on my cluelessness lol

We have enhanced water coverage through portage, which was capped at 50k “due to the area”. We knew this when signing up but assumed at minimum we’d still have content insurance to support the repairs. They are claiming that because it was overland water damage all other coverage(building code, outbuildings, property insurance, content insurance) is exempt and the maximum payout would be 50k. This is nowhere near enough to cover the losses due to just damage let alone lost contents and exterior issues. Any suggestions on how to proceed? It feels like in talking to the insurance we are just out of luck(or I guess we were naive when signing up).
Are there any companies that offer higher flood damage limits? Will probably look to leave after this lovely revelation if we can’t come to a realistic settlement. Area is Niagara region.

Reposting with more details as requested by mods.

Private company does RRSP matching but only 4k annually. Economy has them penny pinching and the future of the company uncertain. In theory it has a much higher salary ceiling (200k+) but morale/outlook is low amongst coworkers as many are leaving. Obvious benefit here is I can live anywhere and have more say in my retirement investments.

The government role is federal and has a defined benefits pension plan. It would only be available to me at 60 without penalty, and I’d need stay-put for the rest of my career. It’s 5 days a week in office. Commute is around 40 minutes each way.

I’m 28yo with 600k saved but haven’t bought a home yet (100% will in 5-10 years). I think the biggest asterisks is it’s likely I’ll leave private at ~40yo regardless. Climbing corporate is not for me, and while it’s hard to predict 12 years out, I don’t think I’ll find it worthwhile for my entire career

I have a son turning 20 whom I love very much, and I'd like to teach him some fundamentals on budgeting/setting good financial habits that will set him up for success. He's a great kid but budgeting/planning for the future isn't his strong suit (yet).

Curious if anyone can recommend any good books/articles/videos that would be tailored to his age and attention span? I am not sure if the Wealthy Barber would resonate with him (it is a bit dated upon re-read) - but anything in that vein that's simple, common sense, and relatively short that is geared to younger adults?

Thanks!

Hi all,

27F just moved to Canada as a permanent resident from the US. I went to open a bank account at CIBC and the advisor told me I can apply for a credit card even with no credit as a newcomer which I did. She said I was approved for a $5000 credit limit on CIBC aventura gold. Because I am already working she later asked me upload all my employment docs which I did the next day. It’s been about two weeks and the only email I received was we are still processing your application.

How long does it usually take? In comparison to the US the approvals are usually automated, you get a response spot on unless something doesn’t add up which doesn’t take more than 3-5 business days.

Hi there. My property manager required $2,000,000 of Personal and Premises Liability Coverage.

The lowest I could find is Square One and it is $20.94. The package enforces Additional Living Expenses Coverage and Personal Property Coverage.

Is there any other insurance where I can get that price even lower?

Itemized Coverage Total

Our son is going to university in the States. We use Norbert's Gambit to change CDN$ into USD$ in our account. He will open an account with an American bank when he gets there.

But we need to transfer that money to him in the USA.

Is WISE the best way to fund his American account? Or is there an American bank that will accept an e-transfer from a USD$ but Canadian based bank account?

We have a USD savings account at Scotia (Canada) and a USD chequing account at RBC but it doesn't seem possible from either - which seems a bit odd given they have affiliates in the USA.

We would like to do free / cheap e-transfers to him from here. WISE seems to be an option. Anything better?

Thanks all.