September 26 2025

Canada Is No Longer Free

admin CBDC, Cross-Boarder Planning, Digital ID, Estate Planning, Geopolitics, Great Financial Confiscation, Money, Opinion, Precious Metals / Gold, Property Rights, Real Estate, Sovereignty, The One World Financial Order

By Peter J. Merrick, TEP® and Adrian C. Spitters, CFP®, co-authors of the international bestseller It Starts With Gold™ and the forthcoming book Guns, Gold & Land™

This analysis continues a series of long-form investigations published in The Merrick Spitters Reset Report™

I Love My Country, But My Country Does Not Love What I Have Built

We write not as detached commentators but as advisors who have guided families, farmers, and entrepreneurs for decades. Both of us were born in Canada. We know its promises and its failures. What we see today is darker than anything in living memory.

Canada increasingly feels like a tax prison hidden behind the facade of democracy. The bars are statutes, the guards are algorithms, and the cage is built from invisible chains of taxation, regulation, and surveillance. Ambition has been criminalized. Success is punished. Wealth is shackled.

This is not theory. It is confirmed in budgets, policy announcements, and regulations. The evidence shows prosperity itself is now treated as a liability.

👉 If you like what we write, please subscribe to The Merrick Spitters Reset Report™ and receive a digital copy of our international bestseller, It Starts With Gold™, along with our white paper, Last Asset Standing™ and early updates on our forthcoming book, Killing Crypto™.

Punishing the Builders

The government has declared economic war on its builders. Entrepreneurs, farmers, and professionals are no longer celebrated for what they create. They are targeted for what can be taken.

In 2024, Ottawa proposed raising the capital gains inclusion rate from 50 percent to 66.67 percent for gains above C$250,000, applying broadly to corporations and trusts. On January 31, 2025, the government announced a deferral from June 2024 to January 2026. On March 21, 2025, it cancelled the hike.

Yet the damage was done. Families reorganized in fear, farmers worried about succession, and entrepreneurs questioned whether selling was even possible. The lesson was clear: taxation will be used as a weapon whenever the government chooses.

For many Canadians, that moment became a turning point. They began asking whether staying entirely under Ottawa’s jurisdiction was compatible with preserving what they had built.

The Trap in Numbers

The numbers confirm the reality. Canada ranks near the bottom among developed nations for tax competitiveness. The top 20 percent of earners already pay more than 60 percent of personal income tax revenue. These are not oligarchs. They are professionals, small business owners, and farm families who sustain communities.

A 2024 analysis by Hammond Realty showed how Ottawa’s proposals threatened farmland transfers and succession. Even though the hike was cancelled, the psychological damage remains. Land once considered the safest legacy is now seen as a liability.

Canadian tax law currently allows parents to transfer farmland to children tax-free if the child carries on the business of farming. While this rollover defers tax, it creates a larger burden later. When children or grandchildren no longer want to farm and the land must be sold, they inherit the unrealized gains from past generations. After decades of rollovers, the eventual capital gains liability can consume a large share of the proceeds. What was meant as protection can become a trap unless supported by careful estate planning.

The logic is consistent. The more Canadians produce, the more they are penalized. Prosperity is no longer encouraged. It is treated as a problem to be contained.

Taxation as a Weapon

Taxation has crossed the line from policy to punishment. It is no longer about funding services. It is about enforcing obedience.

Consider the Digital Services Tax. Ottawa enacted a 3 percent levy on Canadian-source digital revenues in 2024, applied retroactively to 2022. Under U.S. pressure, it suspended collection and promised repeal, yet the law remains on the books until formally removed. The signal was clear. Ottawa is testing how far it can push its reach into digital platforms. Infrastructure built for corporations can just as easily be applied to citizens.

Once assets are registered, they can be revalued. Once revalued, they can be frozen. Once frozen, they can be seized. Canadians are being conditioned to accept this through programs labelled as assistance, such as the Livestock Tax Deferral program. Ottawa decides when and how farmers can access proceeds from forced herd sales. Each program normalizes the idea that the government controls the timing and terms of your wealth.

A Weakening Dollar

In September 2025, the Canadian dollar hit a multi-month low against the U.S. dollar. For Canadians, this means higher grocery bills, punishing mortgage renewals, and a shrinking standard of living. The dollar no longer reflects productivity but the weakness of a government addicted to extraction.

Meanwhile, Washington is adopting similar rhetoric of fairness and equality to justify higher capital gains taxes, wealth levies, and expanded reporting. The difference is that U.S. tax levels for citizens and corporations remain significantly lower than Canada’s. Americans have more freedom to choose jurisdictions and optimize outcomes. Canadians do not.

For Canadians who value what they have built, acting early is not optional. It is the only way to stay ahead of the curve and protect their wealth before it is too late.

The Road to Serfdom

The trajectory is predictable. Tax income heavily. Register all wealth. Restrict capital mobility. Replace cash with programmable money.

The Bank of Canada continues research on central bank digital currencies. Once launched, every transaction could be monitored, and every account subject to automatic controls. Canadians glimpsed this in 2022 when accounts were frozen during the trucker protests. With programmable money, freezes will not require emergency orders. They will happen automatically.

Those without a cross-border framework will have no escape. Those with one will retain options.

The Flight to Alternatives

Some Canadians are already shifting into physical gold and silver, assets that cannot be printed or seized. Others are securing second residencies in countries with stronger property rights. But without a cross-border plan, wealth may remain trapped in Canada even if the individual relocates. Accounts, pensions, and real estate remain subject to Canadian jurisdiction unless structured otherwise. Cross-border planning is the mechanism that makes relocation effective, not just symbolic.

Why Cross-Border Planning Works

Cross-border planning leverages lawful frameworks, especially the Canada–U.S. Tax Treaty, to prevent double taxation. With proper structuring, Canadians can claim foreign tax credits, offset liabilities, and avoid paying tax twice on the same income.

Without planning, a family could see 40 to 60 percent of an estate consumed by overlapping Canadian and U.S. rules. With planning, that burden can be reduced or eliminated, ensuring heirs inherit rather than surrender wealth to two governments.

This is not avoidance. It is preservation through treaties designed to make cross-border life viable.

State-Level Advantages

Canada taxes heavily in every province. The U.S. offers flexibility. States such as Florida, Texas, Nevada, and Wyoming impose no state income tax. When combined with treaty protections, structured residency or corporate arrangements can reduce total tax exposure significantly.

Cross-border planning allows Canadians to align with jurisdictions that reward ambition rather than punish it. It transforms taxation from confiscatory to sustainable.

Case Studies in Protection

Consider a farm family selling C$10 million of land. Without planning, capital gains taxes could consume nearly half the proceeds. With cross-border structuring through a U.S. entity and treaty provisions, millions can be preserved for future generations.

Or consider a professional selling a business. Without planning, Canadian taxation erodes decades of effort. With a cross-border structure, proceeds are sheltered under U.S. rules while remaining compliant with Canadian law.

These are not hypotheticals. They are real outcomes achieved by those who acted early.

Why Acting Now Matters

Every year without a strategy narrows your options. Ottawa may defer or cancel policies, but intent remains. Retroactive rules, digital currencies, and wealth registration are advancing. Waiting leaves families with no room to maneuver.

Cross-border planning preserves flexibility, control, and generational security. It transforms fear into resilience.

Book a Meeting with Us

If you are a Canadian entrepreneur, professional, or farmer concerned about preserving your wealth beyond Ottawa’s reach, the time to act is now.

Together, we bring over 70 years of combined financial expertise. Adrian C. Spitters, CFP®, and Peter J. Merrick, TEP®, have dedicated their careers to guiding families and entrepreneurs through complex transitions and cross-border challenges.

Peter is one of North America’s leading cross-border tax and estate specialists. As a Canadian now living in the United States, he combines technical mastery with personal insight into the risks of staying unprotected.

In a confidential review, we will: • Assess your current tax, estate, and regulatory exposure • Map treaty and U.S. state strategies to protect assets • Provide a step-by-step roadmap for preserving wealth while staying compliant

Cross-border planning is not about abandoning Canada. It is about safeguarding your legacy and ensuring your family retains control. The window for proactive action is still open, but it will not remain open forever.

👉 Book your complimentary review meeting today

Stay Informed and Strengthen Your Position

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Stay informed. Stay prepared. Take action while you still have the freedom to choose.

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