Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has been assigned a role in the Canadian government’s agenda to expedite key housing and infrastructure projects. The newly released federal spring economic update announces that prospective proponents of “nation-building projects” will get priority in the queue for binding advance tax rulings. Investors eligible for clean technology investment tax credits are also promised that they’ll receive their rebates on a “timely” schedule as additional CRA resources are directed to the task.
“Corporate taxpayers contemplating significant transactions often require certainty on tax treatment before going ahead with a major project,” the economic update acknowledges. Prospective investors in housing, infrastructure, designated critical economic sectors and “clean economy initiatives and projects that may benefit from Canada’s suite of clean economy investment tax credits” may now qualify for quick service.
A new contingent of dedicated CRA staff is expected to speed up the delivery of clean technology tax credits — conveying a 30 per cent rebate on qualifying costs of air-source heat pumps, wind and solar energy systems and stationary electricity storage systems — by this summer. That will come after the 2025 federal budget allocated $146 million over five years for the effort. Initial funding of $23 million for 2025-26 and $28 million for 2026-27 is now taking form as a reported 450 per cent increase in capacity to process claims.
“This targeted investment will help the CRA reduce the backlog of claims over the course of 2026 and ensure a more timely delivery of these credits going forward,” the economic update states.
Meanwhile, a newly announced personal tax measure also reverberates through to the commercial, industrial and institutional sectors. The spring economic update confirms a significant increase in the deduction that tradespeople can claim for the costs of temporarily relocating closer to jobsites that are too distant for daily commuting from their permanent residences.
Previously, the labour mobility deduction allowed workers to claim up to $4,000 per year in costs for temporary lodging near employment that was at least 150 kilometres from their permanent addresses. Beginning with the 2026 tax year, they will be able to deduct up to $10,000 in temporary lodging costs to work at jobsites that are at least 120 kilometres from their permanent addresses. Both employment and temporary lodgings must be located in Canada, and claimants cannot deduct more than 50 per cent of their earnings from those jobsites.
