Budget 2025 proposes changes to qualified investment rules for registered plans such as RRSPs

On November 4, 2025, Canada’s Minister of Finance and National Revenue, François-Philippe Champagne, tabled the Liberal Government’s federal budget, Building Canada Strong, in the House of Commons (Budget 2025).

Among other things, Budget 2025 proposes significant changes to the qualified investment rules for registered plans by harmonizing and simplifying the rules for small business investments, and the qualified investment rules more generally. It also proposes to replace the registered investment regime with two new categories of qualified investments which do not require registration with the Canada Revenue Agency.

For a discussion of these tax measures and others in Budget 2025, please see McCarthy Tétrault’s 2025 Canadian Federal Budget Commentary – Tax Initiatives