At a Glance 

FROM: JUL-AUG 2009 ISSUE

“Preliminary numbers show the average refund for the 2008 tax year is over $1,400.”
Canada Revenue Agency

U.S. Economy Shrinks

Estimates by the Washington-based Bureau of Economic Analysis indicate the U.S. economy shrank by an annual rate of 6.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2009, after falling 6.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2008. In the first quarter of 2009, the U.S. economy generated $84 billion less in economic resources than in the third quarter of 2008. The U.S. is also facing the highest unemployment rate in more than a quarter century. The good news? Americans increased their personal saving rate to 4.2 per cent – up from 3.2 per cent at the end of 2008. (Source – Center for American Progress)

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Use It or Lose It

The Department of National Defence lost $300 million in funding in 2008 and the money is now “permanently unavailable to the department to meet its ongoing requirements,” wrote Auditor General Sheila Fraser in her spring report. The reason? Senior managers were not given enough time to spend the department’s budget surplus. Fraser also pointed out that the military has not developed a financial plan that will allow it to fulfill its needs as set out in the government’s Canada First Defence Strategy. (Source – CTV.ca)

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Six Year Low

Investment in Canada’s venture-capital market has reached its lowest point in almost six years. The Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association’s new report shows $275 million invested in Canadian emerging companies in the first quarter of 2009, across 102 firms. Of even greater concern is the fact that only $149 million was collected in the first quarter, down 74.4 per cent from the $418 million raised this time last year. (Source – Financial Post)

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