OTTAWA—The existing Tax-Free Savings Account scheme is projected to cost the federal government up to $15.5 billion annually when it matures, and doubling the contribution limits would shift additional billions from tax revenues into the pockets of the already well-off, a new Broadbent Institute study has found.

Bill Curry / Globe and Mail

A plan to double the amount people can put in a tax-free savings account is facing new criticism that – like income splitting – it would benefit mainly the most well-off Canadians.

James Fitz-Morris / CBC News

A new study into tax-free savings accounts says there is no justification "on either economic or equity grounds" for doubling the contribution limit without conditions.

Lee-Anne Goodman / The Canadian Press

OTTAWA - Two studies on tax-free savings accounts sound alarm bells about their long-term fiscal impact if the Conservative government keeps a 2011 campaign promise to allow people to park almost twice as much money in the popular savings vehicles.

Peter O'Neil / Vancouver Sun

OTTAWA — Prominent B.C. economist J. Rhys Kesselman is horrified by the Frankenstein’s monster that has evolved from a tax policy idea he advanced in 2001.

The Harper government claims to be paragons of fiscal virtue. They have pledged to balance the federal budget this year, notwithstanding a slowing economy, and are likely set to announce details of  the balanced budget legislation promised in the 2013 Speech from the Throne. 

The promised legislation will disallow annual deficits in “normal economic times” (whatever they are) and “set concrete targets for returning to balance in the event of an economic crisis.” 

Hamilton Spectator

New research shows that workers across most of Ontario - including Hamilton - are becoming poorer, despite rising income levels across much of Canada.

Peter O'Neil / Vancouver Sun

OTTAWA — B.C. experienced the worst income growth — in fact, incomes declined — of any province in Canada during the 2006-12 period, according to an analysis of Statistics Canada data by an Ottawa think-tank.

Daniel Tencer / Huffington Post Canada

You’ve probably read stories about how Canada’s wage growth is nothing to write home about, but new research from the Broadbent Institute adds a surprising dimension to the story: No fewer than 15 of Canada’s 32 largest metro areas saw incomes slide during 2006-2012.

Sara Mojtehedzadeh / The Toronto Star

Lynn Beamish knows the value of a steady income. As an advisor in the financial services sector, she sees many of the city’s workers struggling to make ends meet.