This year, Canada Day will be on a Sunday. As the Chronicle-Herald explains, Canada's federal Holidays Act dictates that when July 1 falls on a Sunday, the following Monday is declared to be the actual holiday, with the aim of giving citizens a three-day weekend.
However, this means employees in some provinces will be required to work on July 1 - and they're not happy about it. Jim Cormier, Atlantic director of the Retail Council of Canada, has been lobbying for Nova Scotia to change its
Canadian retail legislation in order for businesses to stay closed Sunday and open Monday instead.
"Retail is a seven-day-a-week business now, so celebrate (Canada Day) on the day that it happens," said Cormier, as quoted by the
news source.
Although some provinces have been able to get around the
Canadian retail compliance requirement by writing "July 1" instead of "Canada Day" into their laws, Nova Scotia - along with New Brunswick - still follows the federal legislation.
A December 2011 survey by global employer consulting firm Mercer revealed that Canadians are entitled to the fewest number of holidays of any developed nation, prompting some to call for more days off,
CTV reports.
In a recent article for the Globe & Mail, columnist Tony Wilson took a look at the
inventory legislation that governs franchise agreements in Canada.
In short, virtually every Canadian franchise agreement requires the franchisee to purchase all equipment, supplies and inventory from suppliers that have been designated or approved by the franchisor, or the franchisor itself. Buying directly from the franchisor is likely to be cheaper, while purchasing via approved supply channels typically involves a volume rebate or other benefit to make the
inventory compliance rules worth franchisees' while.
"By purchasing inventory at a lower price than a solo operator, the money saved can be passed on to consumers in the form of lower prices," Wilson
explains. "The ability of franchisees to buy equipment, supplies and inventory at a lower cost than they would pay on their own is arguably the glue that holds the franchise system together."
According to Franchiseek Canada, the country has one of the largest franchise industries in the world, second only to the United States.
The Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP) regarding the
accounting legislation that dictates which members of each body are eligible for membership in the other.
Specifically, ICAP members with the necessary experience must pass the Canadian Uniform Evaluation to prove they are equipped to follow
accounting compliance regulations in order to meet eligibility requirements to become a chartered accountant in Canada. Conversely, members of CICA must prove their eligibility by passing ICAP examinations pertaining to advanced taxation and corporate laws.
"The Canadian CA profession has considerable expertise in determining substantial equivalency of foreign qualifications in a manner that is fair, consistent, transparent and timely,"
noted CICA president and CEO Kevin Dancey.
ICAP president Rashid Rahman Mir lauded the reciprocal membership agreement, calling it "a great example of two accounting bodies working together."
In February of last year, CICA signed a similar agreement with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.
The government of Saskatchewan is considering a change in
Canadian payroll compliance that would permit union members to opt out of paying dues in particular circumstances - for example, if they are minors or students, or currently experiencing financial hardship, CBC reports.
"Typically in unionized workplaces, union dues are a payroll deduction, with the employer transferring the money it collects to the union," the news source explains.
However, a government consultation paper revealed some groups are advocating that collecting union dues should not be a part of the
Canadian payroll legislation that governs employers. Rather, it "should be an issue for negotiation between the union and employer," according to the paper, as quoted by the
media outlet.
Labour Minister Don Morgan was careful to point out that the review of union dues collection rules is currently only in the exploratory stage.
"We're not advocating or suggesting a particular set of circumstances," he said, as quoted by the Labour Reporter. "What we're saying is, we should have the discussion."
A recent editorial in the Saskatoon StarPhoenix called for the modernization of
Canadian retail legislation pertaining to the liquor business in the province of Saskatchewan.
Writer James Romanow drew attention to a number of curious
Canadian retail compliance regulations upheld by the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority (SLGA), including the fact that it's illegal for a venue to serve liquor that it hasn't purchased itself, requiring a separate liquor license.
When it comes to ordering unlisted scotch - which Romanow was attempting to do in order to hold a scotch tasting in Saskatoon - the labels must be transported from their current warehouse in Alberta to the SLGA's warehouse, then to the vendor that carries them and finally to the buyer. As Romanow notes in the
editorial, the complexity of the process makes it impossible to obtain the liquor in less than eight weeks.
Elsewhere in the province, a variety show was recently held to highlight and protest section 63 of the province's alcohol control act, according to CKOM-FM.
The New Democratic Party of Manitoba recently tabled proposed
Canadian retail legislation that would ban the sale of tobacco in drugstores, large retail outlets and other entities that contain pharmacies, as well as healthcare facilities and vending machines.
"Research has shown that making it harder to buy tobacco products helps reduce the number of smokers and helps prevent youth from taking up smoking in the first place," noted Jim Rondeau, minister of healthy living for the province, in a
statement.
However, some pharmacy owners are questioning how much of a difference the legislation will make, given that cigarettes will still be readily available at gas stations and convenience stores, according to
CTV.
The
Canadian retail compliance is the latest in a string of provincial measures intended to reduce smoking rates, including a law that prevents tobacco products from being displayed on store shelves, an indoor smoking ban and an increase in tobacco taxes. The effort seems to be working - between 1999 and 2010, smoking rates among 15- to 19-year-olds decreased by nearly half, from 29 percent to 15 percent.
Certified Management Accountants of Canada
recently launched a new research website and blog dedicated to
accounting management for its 50,000 members around the world.
Through the website, registrants can access a wide array of resources and publications, including case studies, webinars, emerging issue papers, best practices and guidelines that offer advice for maintaining management
accounting compliance. According to a release from the organization, the site was designed to be a "one-stop shop" for CMA members, professional management accountants and students. The organization's
website notes that university professors can obtain free access for their students by submitting formal written requests.
Meanwhile, the blog was rolled out with the intention of becoming a forum through which accountants and
accounting consultants can connect, according to CMA Canada's research editor, Andrea Civichino. The organization hopes to cultivate discussions and become a centralized receptacle for ideas and best practices related to the field.
Canadian think tank the Fraser Institute recently broke down how much tax Canadians really pay in addition to income taxes.
In a Troy Media
article, Fraser Institute economists Charles Lammam and Milagros Palacios noted that while personal income taxes are the single largest tax paid by Canadians, they only represent approximately one-third of the total taxes paid, with two significant others being contributions to the Canada Pension Plan and Employment Insurance (EI). Indeed, "payroll taxes are second only to income taxes as the single largest government levy," according to Lammam and Palacios.
Residents of some provinces are hit especially hard by
Canadian payroll tax legislation. Specifically, those living in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec must pay healthcare taxes through either direct premiums or payroll taxes.
In addition, there are sales taxes and property taxes to contend with, in addition to a multitude of less visible taxes, such as those on liquor, tobacco, automobiles and gas.
Earlier this year, EI recipients and their advocates called for
Canadian payroll legislation to be revamped in order to better serve the public, according to the Journal Pioneer. Under the current system, workers must wait up to three months to receive their first check.
The government of Ontario is expected to further decrease the price of generic prescription drugs, and the impending
inventory legislation is forcing independent pharmacies to consider reducing their workforces and decreasing palliative care services, the
Toronto Star reports.
Janet McCutchon, who owns an independent pharmacy in Thunder Bay, expects the 5 percent decrease in price (from 25 percent of brand-name equivalents to 20 percent) to cost her business "tens of thousands of dollars," according to the news source.
What's more, the change may force pharmacy owners like McCutchon to sell generic prescription drugs for less than what was paid for them.
Darryl Moore, chair of the Ontario Pharmacists' Association, noted that
inventory compliance legislation requires pharmacies to provide generic drugs unless instructed otherwise by a patient or physician. He described the percentage cut as "a huge hit to all pharmacies," as quoted by the media outlet.
Canada and the United States recently grappled with pharmaceutical inventory issues of a different kind thanks to the shutdown of Sandoz Canada - the generic drug subsidiary of multinational pharmaceutical company Novartis - after the plant failed inspections by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
According to a recent
survey by Sage North America, 39 percent of Canadian small businesses do not leverage the services of
accounting consultants.
Of the 229 Canadian entrepreneurs who took part in the study, nearly three-quarters (73 percent) expressed a preference for completing accounting activities by themselves. The 61 percent that did take advantage of outside accountants relied on them mostly for accounting services (77 percent), bookkeeping duties (53 percent), personal and corporate tax support (46 percent and 36 percent, respectively) and payroll (34 percent).
"Most (small business owners) are not using these experts to their full potential," said Jennifer Warawa, vice president of partner programs and channel sales for Sage North America, in a statement. "Accountants offer so much more than general accounting and tax services; they can provide critical guidance that can help take a business to the next level."
In addition to the general services mentioned by Warawa, outside accountants can also help small enterprises maintain
accounting compliance and navigate the often complex world of
accounting legislation and regulations.