By Elli Schochet, CFP
In March, we wrote about Bill C-15 and what it could mean for families planning to transfer wealth to the next generation, while the bill was still working its way through Parliament. That’s no longer the case. Bill C-15 received Royal Assent on March 26, 2026, and became law. What was proposed in the winter is now the rule families and their advisors are working under. Here’s what held, what’s newly clarified, and what still matters most in practice.
What passed largely as expected
The two measures we flagged in March both made it into the final bill without material change.
Exempt life insurance issued by a Canadian life insurer is now formally recognized as a qualifying asset under the $250,000 trust reporting exemption, with the policy’s value measured by its cash surrender value. For families using insurance inside a trust structure, this removes a source of uncertainty that had been sitting unresolved for over a year.
The extended post-mortem planning window also passed. Executors can now elect to carry back a capital loss to the deceased’s final return from any of the first three taxation years of a graduated rate estate, rather than only the first year. Advisors in the estate planning community had flagged this measure as one of the more consequential ones in the bill, in part because it had been sitting in draft form through a parliamentary prorogation, leaving real doubt about whether it would survive to become law at all.
What’s new since March
A few details became clear once the bill reached its final form.
A filing process change. Alongside the extended timeline, executors will now submit a prescribed form to amend the deceased’s final return, rather than a standard amended T1 return. It’s a procedural detail, but one that matters to anyone administering an estate right now.
Retroactive application. The three-year carryback applies to graduated rate estates of individuals who died on or after August 12, 2024. Estates already partway through administration may still be able to use this election, and it is worth revisiting with your advisor if a death occurred in that window.
A gap that remains. While the $250,000 trust exemption now has a clear valuation rule for life insurance, the separate $50,000 blanket exemption does not. It’s a reminder that “enacted” doesn’t mean every edge case has been resolved.
The liquidity thesis, now with more certainty
Our core point in March was that legislation can adjust the tools available to families, but it doesn’t solve the execution problem. That is still true, arguably more so now that the rules are fixed rather than pending.
With Royal Assent behind us, the planning conversation shifts. It’s no longer about whether these measures will apply, but about whether an estate is actually positioned to use them. A three-year window for a loss carryback is only useful if the estate isn’t forced into a rushed asset sale in year one because it lacked liquidity to cover taxes due at death. A cleaner trust reporting exemption only helps if the trust was properly structured to begin with.
Life insurance remains the tool most families overlook until they need it. Structured properly, it provides predictable liquidity at the moment an estate needs it most, precisely the gap that legislative certainty, on its own, does not close.
Takeaway for Canadian families
Bill C-15 is now settled law, and that removes one kind of uncertainty. But the questions that matter for a family’s estate plan haven’t changed, no matter what legislation is in force:
- Is there enough liquidity?
- Is the timing realistic?
- Is the structure sound?
As the rest of 2026 unfolds, that’s still the conversation worth having. For more information, contact Elli Schochet, CFP, at info@algbrown.com.
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