Downsizing your life? You can easily lose money. Here's how to downsize and keep the most money possible
The typical vision is something along the lines of lowering costs, raising some liquid capital and simplifying the workload. Downsizing for many Canadians involves moving to a smaller home, shifting to one car or going car-less, reducing high-maintenance assets like boats, cottages, equipment and other fun machines, cancelling expensive memberships and generally having fewer things to stress about with more money in the bank.
It's a grand effort to downsize, and can take years. When done thoughtfully, it can shore up retirement savings and ease pressure on one's budget. If rushed or the plan's half-baked though, downsizers can easily lose money. Don't let this be you.
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Vancouver Sun
an hour ago
- Vancouver Sun
Canada's shooting at a moving target on defence spending, say military watchers
Canada's plan to add more than $9 billion to defence spending this year was praised by military watchers Monday, but they cautioned that the country is shooting at a moving target. Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the country would meet its commitment in this fiscal year of hitting the two per cent of gross domestic product mark that was agreed upon by NATO countries more than a decade back. 'It's very encouraging that the prime minister has come out this early in his mandate and made such a strong commitment to defence,' said Vincent Rigby, a former top intelligence adviser to former prime minister Justin Trudeau, who spent 14 years with Canada's Department of National Defence. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. 'You've gone from the former prime minister talking about the two per cent as a crass mathematical calculation to the current prime minister saying, no, this is actually a serious commitment. We committed to it 10 years ago and even before that. And we have to do it because we owe it to our allies. But we also owe it to the Canadian people. He made it quite clear this is about protecting Canada, protecting our national interests and protecting our values.' New spending could do a lot to improve crumbling military infrastructure, said Michel Maisonneuve, a retired Canadian Army lieutenant-general who has served as assistant deputy chief of defence staff, and chief of staff of NATO's Allied Command. 'The housing on bases is horrible,' Maisonneuve said. He's keen on Carney's plan to participate in the $234-billion ReArm Europe program. 'This will bolster our ability to produce stuff for ourselves' while also helping the Europeans to do the same, Maisonneuve said. 'All the tree huggers are going to hate that, but that's where we are today in the world.' Carney's cash injection includes $2.6 billion to recruit and retain military personnel. The military is short about 13,000 people. It aims to boost the regular force to 71,500 and the reserves to 30,000 by the end of this decade. 'There is no way we can protect Canada and Canadians with the strength that we have now,' Maisonneuve said. Carney promised investment in new submarines, aircraft, ships, vehicles and artillery. He also talked about adding money to the defence budget for new radar, drones, and sensors to monitor the seafloor and the Arctic. 'All in all, great promises; we'll just have to see what actually comes through,' Maisonneuve said. 'You can have as many drones as you want, if you want to hold terrain, if you want to protect yourself, you're going to need boots on the ground.' Carney promised pay raises for those in uniform, but a technical briefing after his speech was short on details about who might get them. 'Corporal Bloggins needs a lot more than General Smith does,' said defence analyst David Perry, who heads the Canadian Global Affairs Institute. 'The senior ranks are pretty well compensated. The military has got an affordability cost-of-living issue in the lower ranks.' For people who have to move regularly, like many in uniform, 'the total compensation package hasn't kept pace with changing cost pressures,' Perry said. 'The military is having a difficult time both getting people in and keeping them there once they do join. So, I think depending on how the pay measures are actually structured, it could have quite a significant impact.' Canada spent about 1.45 per cent of its GDP on defence last year. If Canada's defence spending does hit two per of GDP by March of 2026, 'by then the target probably will have moved,' Rigby said. 'So, we've hit two per cent just as the target's likely to go to 3.5 per cent or even right up to five per cent if you throw in extra security capabilities … beyond pure defence.' That will leave Canada 'playing serious catch up,' he said. NATO leaders are meeting later this month to discuss boosting military spending. 'Two per cent is not going to cut it in terms of where the rest of the alliance is,' Perry said. 'Pretty clearly there is a discussion about getting to a number much higher than that at the upcoming NATO summit. But given that we have been falling short of this now … 11-year-old target, I do think it's a good first step to help regain some Canadian credibility by putting the money in the window to actually get to the two per cent mark this fiscal year.' The other question is whether Canada be able to spend all of the promised money by next March, Rigby said. 'We all know that one of the problems over the last number of years is National Defence can't spend the money quickly enough.' The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) returns between hundreds of millions and over a billion dollars annually to central treasury, Perry told National Post earlier this year. Carney is creating a defence procurement agency to help in that respect, Rigby said. 'It's not easy setting up new agencies. There are big machinery issues. It costs money. You've got to find the people.' Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here .
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
EverGen Infrastructure Corp. Announces Participation in the 2025 Canadian Climate Investor Conference
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 9, 2025) - EverGen Infrastructure Corp. (TSXV: EVGN), a Canadian renewable energy company specializing in waste-to-energy projects, announced today that it will be presenting at the 2025 Canadian Climate Investor Conference (CCIC), taking place on Wednesday June 11, 2025 at the Arcadian Court in Toronto, Ontario. For a complete agenda of the conference and to register, see the conference website here: About EverGen Infrastructure Corp. EverGen Infrastructure Corp. ('EverGen') is a British Columbia based company focused on establishing a renewable natural gas infrastructure platform across Canada. Since incorporation in May 2020, EverGen has executed its strategy of acquiring, developing, owning, operating, and consolidating a portfolio of compost, renewable natural gas, waste-to-energy, and related sustainable infrastructure projects in Canada and other regions of North America. EverGen currently owns and operates two renewable natural gas ('RNG') production facilities, Fraser Valley Biogas, located in Abbotsford, British Columbia, and Grow the Energy Circle Ltd. ('GrowTEC'), located in Lethbridge, Alberta, and owns and operates two composting facilities, Pacific Coast Renewables, located in Abbotsford, British Columbia, and Sea to Sky Soils, located in Pemberton, British Columbia. About the Canadian Climate Investor Conference The Canadian Climate Investor Conference (CCIC), hosted by Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV), brings together growth-oriented clean technology and renewable energy companies, and climate conscious investors, to share ideas and discover ways to accelerate the deployment of capital needed to build a more sustainable future for Canadians. The conference showcases clean technology investments and is designed to help democratize the ability for investors to participate in growing the clean technology ecosystem. For further information:Laura BurnsHead of Sustainability(604)-346-0531laura@ Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Toronto Sun
2 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
LILLEY: Carney's multi-layered defence announcement is good news
Government finally heeding decades of calls to boost military spending. Get the latest from Brian Lilley straight to your inbox Prime Minister Mark Carney greets Canadian troops of the 4th Canadian Division as he attends a tour of the Fort York Armoury in Toronto on June 9, 2025 in Toronto. Carney has pledged to meet NATO's 2% spending pledge this fiscal year. Photo by Cole Burston / GETTY IMAGES The announcement that the Carney Liberal government in Ottawa would increase defence spending was multi-layered. There was a domestic message about taking national security seriously, a message to Canadian industry that investment is coming and a message to Donald Trump that Canada is getting serious once again. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account While Carney said this message was for Canadians, Trump and the need for a trade deal was clearly a motivating factor. 'Canada will achieve NATO's 2% target this year, half a decade ahead of schedule,' the prime minister said during a speech at the University of Toronto. Canada has long promised to spend 2% of GDP on defence as part of being a member of NATO but hasn't hit that mark since 1990. That was under the Mulroney government at the end of the Cold War and after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the USSR, interest in defence spending faded away like Soviet communism. We got lazy, we became complacent, we relied too heavily on the Americans, and we believed no one would want to harm us, that is if they could reach us. 'The long-held view that Canada's geographic location will protect us is becoming increasingly archaic. Threats which felt far away and remote are now immediate and acute. And as our climate changes and the polar ice recedes Canada's arctic is becoming more accessible and more vulnerable,' Carney said. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. So, to that end, Carney announced that defence spending in Canada will rise from just shy of $40 billion in the current 2025-26 fiscal year to $62 billion. Some of that will happen by moving existing government spending to the defence budget, so there isn't really an increase. For example, the Canadian Coast Guard is currently part of Fisheries and Oceans to the Department of National Defence along with its current $4.5-billion budget. The Coast Guard will then also have additional duties 'to better secure our sovereignty and expand maritime surveillance.' There will also be a push to boost Canada's defence industrial capacity with contracts in areas like light armoured vehicles, ammunitions and more going to Canadian companies. On this front, Carney described the spending as increasing defence spending while also supporting good paying jobs in Canadian industries. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'We will ensure that every dollar is invested wisely, including by prioritizing made-in-Canada manufacturing and supply chains,' Carney said. There are real questions about whether DND can spend this much money and do it wisely. The Canadian Armed Forces are currently short almost 15,000 active-duty members. Recruitment has been a problem for the past several years, but so has retention as members leave in droves. A pay boost that will be part of this increase in defence spending should help with recruitment. Having up-to-date equipment instead of antiquated or broken equipment should help. In his remarks Monday, Carney noted that only one of our four submarines is seaworthy. Read More This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. How can a country like Canada operate a navy with just one working sub? To really increase recruitment the military doesn't necessarily need to spend more money, but they do need a culture change. They need to drop the woke mentality that has seen the Royal Canadian Navy push to drop Heart of Oak as their march song. The 2% pledge comes now; expect Carney to announce future increases either just before or at the NATO meetings taking place June 24-25 in The Hague. It's all part of trying to secure a new deal with the United States under President Donald Trump. While Trump's claim that the U.S. was subsidizing Canada were mostly false, on defence it was true. By making this announcement, the Carney government is helping set the table for an announcement of a new deal with the Americans before the G7 meetings start in Alberta this coming Sunday. RECOMMENDED VIDEO Toronto Blue Jays Olympics World Toronto & GTA Canada
