This year will see new Canadian laws coming into effect that impact families, workers, retirees, consumers, people with disabilities, the environment and the economy at large.
From lowering the criminal interest rate to increasing benefits and protections for workers, here is a look at some of Canada’s new rules and regulations.
Prescription drugs are seen on shelves at a pharmacy in Montreal on March 11, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz
Pharmacare Act
Bill C-64, or the Pharmacare Act, is designed to make prescription drugs and related products more affordable and accessible.
The federal government says it’s committed to long-term funding for the provinces, territories and Indigenous Peoples towards these goals. By Oct. 10, 2025, or a year after the bill became law, an expert committee must report its recommendations to the health minister and the health minister must publish on the government’s website a pan-Canadian strategy on the appropriate use of prescription drugs and related products.
Additionally, the Canadian Drug Agency must prepare a list of essential medication and related items for a national formulary and develop a national bulk purchasing strategy no later than Oct. 10, 2025.
The act immediately allows Ottawa to sign deals with provinces and territories to cover diabetes and contraceptives. It will eventually create a framework towards implementing national universal pharmacare in Canada and supports the development of a national formulary of essential medication and items.
High-interest-rate protections
New measures aim to combat predatory lenders and protect Canadians from high-interest-rate loans.
Predatory lenders target those who are most vulnerable, including low-income individuals, newcomers and those with limited credit history.
Not all alternative lenders are “predatory,” Gary Schwartz, president of the Canadian Lenders Association (CLA), said in an email to CTVNews.ca in December 2024.
Predatory lenders who exploit vulnerable people tend to be illegal lenders and payday lenders that charge up to 300 per cent interest rates and are not CLA members, Schwartz said.
To combat the practice, the federal government amended the Criminal Code under Bill C-47 to lower the criminal interest rate, or the most that lenders can charge people, from 47 per cent to 35 per cent. Canada’s new criminal interest rate came into effect on Jan. 1, 2025.
In addition, the regulations under the Criminal Code set a new limit on the cost of borrowing for payday loans at $14 per $100 borrowed.
This is the first update to the criminal interest rate since it was established in 1980.
But the CLA told CTVNews.ca last January that it fears the change could have “unintended consequences.” It said some Canadians who don’t qualify for traditional credit and have instead turned to high-interest loans could lose access to them, potentially driving borrowers to unregulated companies.
Canada Child Benefit for grieving families
As of January 2025, the eligibility for the Canada Child Benefit is extended to pay families up to six months after a child’s death.
Some families who have lost a child previously had to repay any amount received after their child’s death. The tax-free monthly benefit is generally payable to the parent who lives with a child who is under aged 18 in Canada and is the child’s primary caregiver.
The amount depends on the adjusted family net income, number of eligible children and the age of the eligible children.
‘Anti-scab’ law
New “anti-scab” legislation aims to provide more protections for unionized workers.
Under Bill C-58, which was passed in May and comes into effect later this year, federal employers won’t be allowed to use replacement workers, or “scabs,” who seek to cross the picket line to do the work of unionized employees during lockouts or strikes, with exceptions.
Offenders will be fined a maximum $100,000 for each day the offence is committed. Employers may use replacement workers only in exceptional circumstances, such as to prevent threats to life, health or safety of the public and prevent serious damage or destruction to their property. In these cases, employers must first offer the opportunity to bargaining unit members. The changes take effect on June 20, 2025.
Deceptive marketing practices
Changes to Bill C-59 expands the possible liability businesses face for greenwashing, or misleading environmental claims, according to Canadian law firm BLG. They make it easier for the Commissioner of Competition to take enforcement action against greenwashing. By June 20, 2025, private parties, such as environmental activists and climate advocacy groups, can also seek to bring actions for deceptive advertising before the Competition Tribunal if they can show “public interest.”
Bill C-59 brought significant changes to the deceptive marketing practices provisions in the Competition Act, including provisions targeting greenwashing. It took effect on June 20, 2024, placing the burden of proving that environmental benefit claims are based on adequate and proper testing on the party making them.
Absences due to pregnancy loss
Bill C-59 allows a new paid leave of absence related to pregnancy loss of eight weeks in cases of stillbirth, or three days in the case of any other form of pregnancy loss.
It applies to cases involving federally regulated employees, their spouses, or pregnancies where the employee intended to be the legal parent of the child, such as adoption.
If the employee has completed three straight months of continuous employment, the first three days of this leave are paid. The government hasn’t given a date the bill will come into force, but it must take effect by the end of the year.
New Canada Disability Benefit
The new Canada Disability Benefit is designed to help financially support people aged 18 to 64 with disabilities. Under the Canada Disability Benefit Regulations, annual payments will begin in July 2025 and the amount individuals receive will depend on their income and the income of their spouse or common-law partner.
The maximum amount for the benefit for the July 2025 to June 2026 payment period would be $2,400 a year, or $200 per month.
Before the benefit even comes into effect, advocates for people with disabilities are saying they want the federal government to increase the amount, highlighting their financial struggles of affording necessities.
“These are people that are living well under the $30,000 a year mark, for the most part,” Amanda MacKenzie, national director of external affairs for March of Dimes Canada, told The Canadian Press late last year.
Service Canada is expected to provide more information on applying for the benefit in the spring.
Information on eligibility is available here.
CPP changes
The rate Canadian employees and employers contribute to their Canada Pension Plan (CPP) is unchanged in 2025.
What’s new in 2025 is the first earnings ceiling for the CPP enhancement, also known as the year’s maximum pensionable earnings (YMPE), is increasing to $71,300 in 2025, up from $68,500 last year.
The second YMPE is at $81,200 in 2025, up from $73,200 last year.
Read more about these ceilings and how they’re calculated on the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) website.
The CPP enhancement, introduced five years ago, is meant to increase retirement income for those who are able to make additional contributions.
Tax bracket changes
In the fall, the CRA announced changes to the income tax brackets for the upcoming year.
Here’s the breakdown:
• $57,375 or less – 15 per cent
• $57,375.01 to $114,750 – 20.5 per cent
• $114,750.01 to $177,882 – 26 per cent
• $177,882.01 to $253,414 – 29 per cent
• $253,414.01 and higher – 33 per cent.
Read more on the changes.
Amnesty program for banned guns
An amnesty period for hundreds of types of banned, assault-style firearms will be lifting on Oct. 30, 2025.
The amnesty order accompanies the act to amend regulations related to firearms, called Bill C-21, which bans more than 1,500 models of assault-style firearms and certain firearm parts, as well as places maximum limits for muzzle energy and bore diameter. The law was passed in May 2020 after the worst mass shooting in Canadian history in Portapique, N.S. An additional 324 firearm models were banned in December 2024, with a new amnesty order also expiring on Oct. 30, 2025.
The amnesty orders protect people who lawfully possessed the guns before the bans from criminal liability, giving them the chance to surrender the firearms to local police or have a gunsmith deactivate them by the deadline, according to Public Safety Canada.
Indigenous Peoples who own the banned guns can continue to use them under their aboriginal and treaty rights and for sustenance hunting until they find replacements during the amnesty period.
Gunowners and businesses can also participate by Oct. 30, 2025 in a buyback program for assault-style firearms.
Changes to immigration in Canada
The federal government is reducing permanent resident targets over the next few years starting in 2025. There will be an overall decrease of 105,000 admissions in 2025, according to the government. The priority for admissions will be on those already in Canada who are applying to be permanent residents and from key sectors such as health and trades.
The plan includes targets for temporary residents for the first time, with the population expected to drop by 445,901 in 2025. The decrease takes into account temporary residents who will become permanent residents or leave Canada. As well, international student study permits are capped, falling by 10 per cent in 2025 from 2024.
The government said the plan aims to improve housing affordability, lower the unemployment rate and boost the economy.
Alcohol tax increases
The federal government is continuing to implement a two-per-cent cap on alcohol-related excise duties for Canadian businesses, including local craft brewers through 2025.
The cap applies to beer, malt liquor, ethyl alcohol, spirits and wine, products that were due to see an inflation-linked tax increase last year. The cap limits that tax increase, which had been slated for 4.7 per cent.
GST holiday
The two-month break from the federal GST started on Dec. 14, 2024, and will end on Feb. 15, 2025.
It applies to items including restaurant meals, children’s clothing, wine and beer, children’s toys and Christmas trees, but there are exemptions. The tax break doesn’t apply to some items, such as food and drinks from vending machines, magazines, clothing for sports activities, and some collectibles and toys.
Ottawa says it introduced the measure to waive the five per cent goods and services tax to help provide financial relief during the holidays. However, critics have called it a gimmick and question whether it will help much. The rules were also confusing and frustrating for some businesses and customers.
Canadians in Ontario and the Atlantic provinces will get a bigger break because the provincial and federal sales taxes are combined into a harmonized sales tax.
Carbon price hike and rebates
The consumer carbon price will increase to $95 per tonne on April 1, 2025.
It is rising an extra $15 each year until it reaches $170 a tonne in 2030, according to the federal government.
It said the carbon price is one of the most effective ways to slash greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change. Despite economists widely supporting the carbon price, most premiers have opposed it, and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says the policy raises the cost of food and fuel.
While many have pushed back against the policy, those who are subject to the federal carbon pricing system will receive a tax-free rebate.
Those eligible for the Canada Carbon Rebate will typically receive it on the 15th of January, April, July and October, including a top-up for rural residents.
It applies to Canadians who filed their income tax returns while living in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and the four Atlantic provinces.
Consumers in British Columbia, Quebec and Northwest Territories won’t receive the payments because they have their own carbon pricing systems. Although Yukon and Nunavut use the federal system, they distribute the proceeds themselves.
With files from CTV News National Correspondent Rachel Aiello and The Canadian Press
