The year 2020 has been one of significant personal and economic dislocation for Canadians. The ongoing pandemic and the resulting impact to everyone’s way of life has led many to reassess their current circumstances and, often, to make changes. For older Canadians, one of those changes is likely to be consideration of whether it makes sense to accelerate retirement plans.

Each year, the due date for payment of all income tax amounts owed for the previous year falls on April 30. In 2020, however, that payment deadline has been something of a moving target. Earlier this year, the federal government, in recognition of the financial disruption and hardship caused by the pandemic, extended the payment deadline by four months, to September 1, 2020.

Notwithstanding the ongoing pandemic, the real estate market in most of Canada continues to thrive and home prices continue to rise. Some of that may be attributable to the fact that, while prices are rising, the cost of financing a home purchase is near historic lows.