Electricity, taxes, contributions… What will change in Quebec in 2023
With the new year come financial boosts and price hikes come into effect.
The new year brings with it several changes for the wallet, amid rising generalized prices. Overview of the main tariff changes for 2023.
Beneficiary of retirement, surviving spouse, disability, disabled contributor's child and orphan's pensions? Starting in January, more than 2.2 million Quebecers registered with the Quebec Pension Plan (QPP) will see their pension increase by 6.5%.
As provided by law, these pensions are indexed each new year according to the average of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) of Statistics Canada.
For example, the amount of the family allowance will increase to a maximum amount of $2,782 per child ($976 more for a single-parent family) in 2023.< /p>
In addition, Quebec is improving the refundable tax credit for seniors over 70. This tax credit will increase from $411 to $2,000 as soon as the 2022 income tax return is filed.
The QPP contribution rate will increase with respect to 0.5% in 2023. At the federal level, the employment insurance contribution rate will increase by 3%.
While residential customers will experience a 3% electricity rate increase in 2023, this will not be the case for many merchants and SMEs.
Hydro-Québec head office
For them, the increase will follow the inflation. Their bill will increase by 6.4% from April 1, 2023. Large companies will have to pay Rate L, which will increase by 4.2%.
Several merchants have also denounced their withdrawal from the Quebec government's bill aimed at limiting the increase in electricity rates to 3% in 2023.
According to a study on the repercussions of inflation on municipal budgets, the Union des municipalités du Québec concludes that municipal spending increased by 6% in 2022. Property tax increases will therefore occur almost everywhere in Quebec in 2023, a few exceptions.
Residential municipal taxes for Montrealers will increase by an average of 4.1%, but, like every year, the increase in residential tax notices will differ from one borough to another.
To balance its budget, Montreal will notably introduce two new eco-fiscal measures: owners of non-residential buildings will start paying for their water consumption in 2023. In addition, the parking tax will be extended to the entire territory Montrealers.
In Quebec, the increase in property taxes will amount to 2.5%. It will reach 2.6% in Lévis and 2.9% in Laval. Taxpayers in Longueuil will see their taxes rise by 5.6% in 2023 and Sherbrooke residents, by 3%.
Quebec has capped the maximum increase at 3% government rates, from January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2026.
The measure will apply in particular to driver's licenses, registration certificates, hospital parking fees, hunting and fishing permits, access to Sépaq parks, immigrant selection applications, but also subsidized daycare services and contributions to be paid in CHSLDs, not to mention university tuition fees.
As of January 1, 2023, new prevention mechanisms imposed on the construction sector will have to be implemented on the sites concerned.
The Minister of Labour, Jean Boulet, had a new law passed which modernized the occupational health and safety system by requiring in particular that a health and safety representative (HSR) be appointed full-time on sites with more than 100 workers or whose costs exceed $12 million.
The new requirements include a program prevention, a site committee monitors t to its application, but also coordinators and health and safety representatives.
