The guides and roadmap pages are the foundation of Sovereign Canadian. This page is where I publish new articles, research, commentary, and updates as they’re released. If you’re looking for the latest additions to the site, you’ll find them here.
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Bigger House or Finish the Basement? How I’m Actually Thinking About It
I’ve noticed something over the last few years as I’ve written more for Sovereign Canadian. Almost every major financial decision eventually disguises itself as something much smaller. Buying a cottage isn’t really about buying a cottage. Buying offshore real estate isn’t really about buying another property. Even deciding whether to acquire a business or continue investing in…
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FIRE, FIRE Light, and Coast FIRE: Three Doors Out of the 40-Year Grind
Most people hear “FIRE” and picture a 34-year-old in a hammock who will never touch a spreadsheet again. That version exists. But it’s one door out of three, and for a lot of higher-earning Canadians it’s the wrong one to walk through first. Financial independence isn’t a single finish line — it’s a spectrum of…
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The Smith Maneuver: A Deep Dive for Canadians Who’ve Already Read the Hype
The Smith Maneuver might be the most over-marketed strategy in Canadian personal finance. Search for it and you’ll find an ecosystem of certified specialists, courses, and books all selling the same dream: turn your mortgage into a tax deduction and retire rich on the spread. The pitch is seductive because the mechanics are real —…
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Canada Pension Plan: The 2026 Owner’s Manual
Most Canadians treat the Canada Pension Plan the way they treat the furnace in the basement — they assume it works, they resent the bill, and they never once read the manual. That’s a mistake. The CPP is one of the few pieces of your retirement that is inflation-indexed for life, backed by an $800-billion…
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Second Real Estate Investment: What Comes After the Cottage?
The cottage decision is behind me. If you followed along, you know how that analysis went — cottage vs. upsizing the primary residence, two mortgages vs. one, lifestyle purchase vs. an asset with optionality. The cottage won. And after one month of Airbnb hosting on Lake Huron, the numbers are pointing in the right direction — not cash-flow…
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Cottage vs. Upsizing Your Home: Which Mortgage Decision Actually Builds Wealth?
Many people with a growing family and some equity hits the same fork in the road. Do you upgrade and buy a bigger, better house? Or do you buy a cottage? Both moves can cost roughly the same. Both put you ~$500k deeper in debt. But they are definitely not the same decision.
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The Canada Medical Expense Tax Credit – How to claim
The CRA Is Letting You Leave Money on the Table — Here’s How to Stop It with the Canada Medical Expense Tax Credit. Most Canadians file their taxes, take the standard deductions they know about, and move on. They assume if it mattered, their accountant would have caught it. They’re wrong — and the Canada…
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Rental Property Taxes in Canada: What High Earners Need to Know
You’re paying 50 cents of every rental dollar to CRA. Maybe more. And most Canadian landlords don’t even realize it — because they never bothered to understand how rental property taxes in Canada actually work at a high income. That’s not a tax problem. That’s an ignorance problem. Fix it here. Along with RRSPs, proper understanding…
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Liberals Spring Economic Update 2026
The Carney government tabled its 2026 spring economic update today. The headlines are friendly. The math is messier. Here’s what’s in it — and what a sovereign Canadian should actually do about it. BY SOVEREIGN CANADIAN·APRIL 28, 2026·10 MIN READ The Short Version The Liberals walked into the House of Commons today carrying what they called…
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Canada Strong Fund: An Introduction
The Canada Strong Fund is Canada’s first sovereign wealth fund — and it just launched. What It Is, What Gets Built, and How You Invest Carney made the Canada Strong Fund announcement on April 27, 2026, the day before his government’s Spring Economic Update. The fund is designed to give all Canadians a direct stake in the…
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RRSP Withdrawal Tax Canada: The Golden Handcuffs of Retirement
The Retirement Trap Nobody Warns You About You were smart. You maxed your RRSP and kept your taxes down. But RRSP withdrawal tax in Canada doesn’t care how disciplined you were on the way in. You can arrive at retirement with a six or seven-figure balance and a tax bill that, in the wrong circumstances,…
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Mourning the Canada that never was
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I bought an AR-15
Over the years of being a firearms enthusiast and activist, I’ve never actually purchased an AR platform rifle. That changed yesterday… I think the main reason why I hadn’t was due to the obvious impracticality of owning an AR (and really any restricted firearm in Canada). You can’t take it anywhere except to your range,…
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No Gun Ban Canada
The propaganda, leftist populism, and ignorant outrage surrounding the discussion on banning handguns in Canada is disappointing – at best. In looking at my fantastic local gun store: Bulls Eye London (https://www.bullseyelondon.com), I came across the link to a website providing information on how to petition this move and how to make your voice heard.…
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Economic Freedom of the World: 2015 Annual Report
Here’s today’s read: http://www.fraserinstitute.org/studies/economic-freedom-of-the-world-2015-annual-report
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14 Years after 9/11
A good read for today: http://www.thenation.com/article/14-years-after-911-the-war-on-terror-is-accomplishing-everything-bin-laden-hoped-it-would/
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First Time fishing in Ontario
Tomorrow I am heading up to Lake Simcoe with a couple of buddies to go fishing. Other than my high-school, backwoods, carp fishing, catch nothing but a buzz days, this is my first time fishing in Ontario. The plan is to rent a boat and go fishing for bass and pike out on Cook’s Bay. …
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Bill C-42, the Common Sense Firearms Licensing Act
Now that I am finally in the market for a restricted firearm, I had to educate myself on the changes that have recently been introduced regarding the ownership and transportation of them. There are other aspects of the Act, but of most interest to me is the change to the ATT Authorization To Transport restricted…
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Do the Liberals and NDP want to Steal our Guns?
I am was actively trying to stay out of the federal election political shit storm. But then I see the Facebook posts about what Mulcair and Trudeau have to say about firearms. Some of it is true and some of it is shock-media fear mongering. There is, however, some definite truth to the hype of…
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Gun Stores & Ranges – Links in Ontario
Mostly for my own reference, but hopefully helpful to you. Here are some notes I am making for ranges, clubs, stores, and associations here in SW Ontario. Most of my time is spent between London and Mississauga, with some time between Sarnia and up to Barrie. East Elgin Sportsman’s Association – Been highly recommended to…
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Home Security Tips – Videos
As I start my search for a home here in Ontario (not likely until spring, but we’re looking a bit now), I find myself pondering how to best secure it, whether home or not, as well as how to protect the family if someone does break in. Obviously, here in Canada we are not allowed…
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Homegrown Terror – I Never Thought We’d See it Here
Naive…maybe. I never claimed to be the most informed or wise individual who ever walked on two feet. Other than understanding that nutcases have always walked among us I didn’t really expect that we’d see acts of terrorism on Canadian soil. Of course, I’m not completely ignorant nor looking at the world through rose-coloured glasses. …
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Ontario Provincial Election
Some thoughts on the upcoming Ontario Provincial Election Well first, being a current BC resident I want to say “I don’t care”. But that would be a mistake for so many reasons. First, I grew up in rural Ontario and have many friends and family there. They have suffered enough and don’t deserver to have…
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Plants to clean the air in your house
The following is an interesting and short (4 min) video about cleaning the air in your home and producing your own oxygen. The health and mood improvements must be substantial. Working in an industrial shop, I am always worried about air quality and it’s longterm effects on my health. Thankfully the air pollution is very…
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My Start with Permaculture
How I am getting started with Permaculture The most major part of self-sufficiency is being able to grow as much of your own food as possible. I learned this at an early age growing up on a small farm. At the end of the summer and early fall, the only trips to the grocery store…
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High River, the “Abolished” Long Gun Registry & the CFP
So, what are we Canadians supposed to think? What are we to make of the recent developments regarding the so-called “abolished” Long Gun Registry, the smashing of personal liberty in High River, AB and the Canadian Firearms Program (CFP which is administered by the RCMP) nearly criminalizing thousands of legitimate gun owners with the stroke…