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What to Do with Your Tax Refund: 5 Smart Moves for Canadians

  Tax Season · Personal Finance By MoneySavings.ca Editorial Team • May 7, 2026 • 7 min read Tax season is wrapping up across Canada, and for millions of Canadians, that means a refund cheque — or a direct deposit — is on its way. The average Canadian tax refund hovers around $1,800. That's real money. The question is: what's the smartest thing you can do with it? It's tempting to treat a tax refund like "found money" and splurge. But here's the truth — that refund was your money all along. The government was just holding it for you, interest-free. So before it quietly disappears into day-to-day spending, let's look at five moves that will make it work harder for you. $1,800 The average Canadian tax refund — enough to make a meaningful dent in debt, pad an emergency fund, or kick-start your TFSA for the year. 1 Pay Down High-Interest Debt First If you're carrying a balance on a credit card, this should be your very first call. Most Canadian credit car...
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Canada's Economy Shows Mixed Signals: Strong Growth in October, Contraction in November

 

Canada's economy exceeded market expectations with 0.3% growth in October, led by increases in oil and gas extraction and manufacturing, but gross domestic product likely contracted in November, data showed on Monday.

Analysts had forecast a 0.2% month-over-month rise in October, but the actual growth rate was higher. September's growth rate was also upwardly revised to 0.2% from an initial report of 0.1%. However, preliminary estimates for November indicate a contraction of 0.1%.

The stronger-than-expected growth in October was driven by a rebound in the goods-producing industry, which rose 0.9% after shrinking for four consecutive months. The mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction sector expanded 2.4% after three straight months of declines. Manufacturing also saw a rise of 0.3% in October.

Despite the positive performance in October, the preliminary data for November suggests a contraction, with declines in sectors including mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction, as well as transportation and warehousing. These declines were partially offset by increases in accommodation and food services and real estate and rental and leasing.

The Bank of Canada has been cutting interest rates to address slower growth, with a recent 50 basis point reduction bringing the key policy rate to 3.25%. The central bank will release fresh forecasts along with its next rate decision on January 29.

With October's stronger-than-expected gain and November's decline, the industry-based data point to the economy growing at a 1.7% annualized pace in the final quarter, assuming December growth is flat.



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